Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that Prevent referrals made by school staff do not disproportionately impact neurodiverse children.

Prevent is about intervening early to stop people being drawn into terrorism.

The Prevent duty guidance, which applies to those in the Education sector, helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes. Protecting pupils from the risk of radicalisation forms part of a schools’ wider safeguarding duties to protect children from a range of harms.

When making referral, it is important to consider that neurodivergence, may - or may not - affect a person’s risk of radicalisation. Staff in education settings receive training to help them identify the signs of radicalisation and make appropriate referrals, taking account of any vulnerabilities that may be present or other factors that may be present.

All referrals to Prevent are carefully assessed by specialist officers to ensure that there is a radicalisation risk before they receive support through the Channel process. Clinical psychiatrists work closely with counter-terrorism police to provide advice on how best to support cases where neurodiverse conditions might be present.

Additionally, the first stage of a strategic policy review into how Prevent supports people with mental-ill health or who are neurodivergent has also concluded. This will help to ensure Prevent can effectively support people who are neurodivergent. Action is underway to implement those findings, and the Home Office will continue to work closely with the Department for Education to ensure that Prevent aligns with broader efforts to support neurodiverse children in schools.