About Prevent

Prevent is a part of the UK's counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST (opens new window). Prevent helps to protect society from terrorism by supporting people who are at risk of radicalisation and offering them appropriate interventions.

Radicalisation means someone is being encouraged to develop extreme views or beliefs in support of terrorist groups and activities. There are many different types of radicalisation and Prevent deals with all of them.

In Sunderland, we deliver Prevent in partnership with our local communities, police, and a range of statutory partners and organisations. The local response to Prevent is both focused and proportionate to risk, with commitment among the statutory partners to take decisions in an informed, transparent, and open manner with clear accountability to local communities. Our purpose is to reach the small number of people who are susceptible or vulnerable to being drawn into terrorist-related activities.

The government's Prevent page (opens new window) explains the strategy in more detail.

Channel

If someone is at risk of radicalisation, they should be referred to Prevent's support programme, Channel (opens new window). Channel is confidential and voluntary, and offers support including:

• mentoring
• mental health support such as counselling
• education or career development support
• online safety training for parents

Threat levels

Threat levels are designed to give a broad indication of the likelihood of a terrorist attack:

• Low - an attack is highly unlikely
• Moderate - an attack is possible, but not likely
• Substantial - an attack is likely
• Severe - an attack is highly likely
• Critical - an attack is highly likely in the near future

You can see the current terrorism threat levels on the MI5 website (opens new window).

What you can do

Members of the public are advised to always remain alert to the danger of terrorism and report any suspicious activity to the police on 999 or the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.

If you see online material promoting terrorism or extremism, you can report it online (opens new window).

If your information does not relate to an imminent threat, you can also contact MI5 (opens new window).