Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to conduct consultations at a local level about the best ways of rehabilitating and re-integrating upon their return young people who have left Britain to fight in Syria and Iraq.

The Government takes extremely seriously the threat posed by those who travel from the UK to areas of conflict abroad, and who may return with experiences which they may use against the UK, or with the intention of radicalising others.

People who commit, plan and support acts of terror abroad and seek to return to the UK will be prosecuted. All decisions on returnees from Syria or Iraq are taken on a case by case basis. Whether a prosecution is justified in an individual case is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide after a full police investigation. For others, it may be that support from mental health or social service bodies might be the appropriate course of action. Prevent interventions which provide individual support to people who are vulnerable to further radicalisation are among the range of options which are considered.

The Prevent programme includes work both to dissuade people from travelling to Syria and Iraq, and to intervene when they return. The approach has been shaped by ongoing discussions with operational partners and practitioners at local and national level. The Government has no plans conduct a formal consultation on this issue.