A Prevent Learning Review, jointly-commissioned by Counter Terrorism Policing and the Home Office after the Southport attack in July 2024, has been published today (Wednesday 5 February 2025).
Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Matt Jukes said:
“Elsie, Alice and Bebe, and all of those devastated by the tragic events in Southport in July, remain in our thoughts. This drives our determination to get the answers that all of those affected by what happened need and deserve.
“Immediately after the attack, Counter Terrorism Policing and the Home Office jointly commissioned a review to understand how referrals of Axel Rudakubana into the Prevent system were handled.
”Ahead of the public inquiry that will look at the role of the public authorities involved in the case, we have taken the unprecedented step of publishing the review.
“It describes decisions made in line with policy in place at the time, in a system that was not equipped to deal with emerging risks that were very different to those it had been built to address.
“In this case, there were at least 15 contact points with public services – health, education and social care systems, and the police.
“We want to see a system where every one of those contacts counts, and where the sum total of all of them taken together is seen as the red flag that it should be.
“Prevent referrals when Rudakubana was 13 and 14-years-old did not prove to be that turning point, and nor did later contact with other services.
“We have made changes to how multiple Prevent referrals are dealt with since 2021, but we take nothing for granted and must ensure we are always looking for further improvements to protect people from harm.
“We want to ensure that the right information is being gathered when cases are assessed, and that they are managed in the right place.
“Every day, officers are making difficult decisions to prioritise some cases for counter-radicalisation interventions, and to connect the majority of the remainder to support from other services to address their needs.
“Around the world, we are seeing growing numbers of young people drawn not only to terrorism but also into extreme violence online of all forms, and contending with mental health and social challenges.
“As others have recognised, as well as ensuring Prevent plays its part, new interventions for young people fixated on violence rather than terrorist ideology are needed, and their cases should have a clear home. They should not be passed from organisation to organisation.
“We will be working with the public inquiry and the new Prevent Commissioner Lord Anderson to ensure that internal reviews like this can form part of comprehensive reports for the public that are independently verified and help to identify where systems can be strengthened and adapted to keep pace with changing risks and challenges.
“We owe it to Elsie, Alice and Bebe, and their families, to ensure that systems designed to keep the public safe from harm do exactly that.”
Read the Prevent Learning Review report.
Find out more about the Government’s Prevent programme.
Find out more about Counter Terrorism Policing