York Council’s Children, Culture and Communities Scrutiny Committee heard referrals to Prevent had increased in the wake of last year’s Southport attack and as awareness of extremist beliefs has spread.
Council community safety lead Jane Mowat said referrals particularly of young people had gone up following the coronavirus pandemic but the increasing willingness of people to report concerns was positive.
It comes as there are currently three open cases in York’s Channel scheme, according to a council report on the issue.
Channel provides those referred to Prevent with voluntary support to address the reasons for them being drawn to extremist beliefs.
Prevent referral figures for York were not included in the report, but 6,922 referrals were made nationally in 2023-4 compared to 6,817 in 2022-3 according to the latest Government data.
Referrals in the North East Prevent Co-ordinator Region, which includes Yorkshire and the Humber, numbered 1,040 in 2023-4, down slightly from 1,042 referrals the year before.
The category with the highest number of referrals in the North East was conflicted, with 286.
It includes people who were referred for holding a mixture of views, incoherent ideologies or who shift between beliefs.
It was followed by 276 referrals relating to people who were found to be vulnerable but without any clear ideological link to concerns raised.
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