'Councils are best placed to do Prevent'

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The New Local Government Network (NLGN) has defended local authorities' role in the Prevent programme, saying they are the right people to build safe and cohesive communities.

A report from the Communities and Local Government Committee (CLG) said the government's strategy to prevent violent extremism – Prevent – was actually stigmatising and alienating the muslims it wanted to work with.

The committee said that despite millions being spent on the programme, it was difficult to tell what good was being done.

Committee chairwoman Dr Phyllis Starkey said: "We agree that a targeted strategy must address the contemporary al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist threat, but we do not believe a government department charged with promoting cohesive communities should take a leading role in this counter-terrorism initiative."

The MPs said the government should shift most of Prevent back to the Home Office, where it started, so that it could be more clearly seen as a crime prevention scheme.

But the NLGN's deputy director, Anna Turley, said local authorities are "the right people to take on this role".

She said she did not agree with concerns that local authorities have been "left with too much responsibility for deciding how engagement and project funding should be managed".

"Many local authorities are keen to embrace this agenda and are the right people to take on this role in supporting communities, being at the heart of building safe, secure and cohesive communities. The problem is that they have not always felt they have the guidance, shared-intelligence and tools needed to enable them to fulfil their obligations to the best of their ability," she added.

Shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman said the report had confirmed "our longstanding concern that there are serious failings in the way the government has used taxpayers' money in this important policy area".

She added: "It's clear that that too much money has been wasted on unfocused and irrelevant projects which have created confusion and increased the risk of alienating the very communities it ought to engage.

"We need a complete review of the Prevent strategy, with an emphasis on removing the confusion between counter-terrorism and cohesion work, shifting the emphasis to funding groups which bring communities together and ensuring compatibility with fundamental rights and freedoms."

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "The Prevent programme alienates and marginalises muslim communities, and exacerbates racist bias and ignorant views.

"This programme has just prevented a practical solution to tackling violent extremism."

The Communities and Local Government department said it was disappointed the report had not recognised important reforms.