Record referrals to Prevent anti-terror programme

A record number of referrals were made to the government’s anti-terror programme Prevent in the year to March 2025, according to new data.

A total of 8,778 referrals were made – up 27% from 6,922 the previous year.

The majority of referrals where the concern was specified were made for individuals who had “no identified ideology” at 56%.

An inquiry into the killing of three children in Southport heard that there had been a sharp rise in Prevent referrals where there were “concerns about violent fixation” since the attack in July 2024.

Axel Rudakubana, who carried out the killings, had been referred to Prevent three times – but the inquiry heard he had not met the threshold for further intervention because there was no evidence that he had a fixed ideology.

The head of Prevent, Michael Stewart, resigned in March after an urgent review found it had closed Rudakabana’s case “prematurely”.

The second most-common concern for referrals in the year to March was right-wing ideology at 21%, and then Islamist extremism at 10% – following the same order as the previous year.

The latest data showed that children aged 11-15 represented the largest proportion of referrals where the individual’s age was known, at 36%.

This was followed by children aged 16-17, at 13%.

There were also 345 referrals for children younger than 10, representing 4% of the total cases.

Around a third of referrals had at least one mental health condition or were neurodiverse, the data also showed.

Lord David Anderson KC, the independent Prevent commissioner, said he had heard evidence from across the country of a “large increase in referrals” following the publicity of Rudakubana’s case.

He also cited the TV show Adolescence, released in March 2025, as a possible driver in referrals.

Prevent, which forms a key part of the UK’s counter-terror strategy, places a legal duty on public bodies – including schools and the police – to identify people who may turn to extremism.