Issue - meetings

            The Board considered a report by the Director Enterprise, Community and Resources, which outlined the transfer of Channel and Prevent responsibilities from the Police to local authorities’ responsibility. The Prevent Strategy had been reviewed and revised in line with the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. The Act placed a duty on specified authorities requiring them to have due regard to preventing people from being drawn into terrorism.  It also established a statutory responsibility for every local authority to ensure they had an identified panel to assess the vulnerability of identified individuals and put in place support plans, known as ‘Channel Panels’.

            Since the establishment of the Channel Programme the responsibility for assessment and case management had been held by the Police.  However, in line with a broader aim to position all Prevent activity closer to local communities and forging a stronger link with local authority safeguarding activities, the Home Office had indicated their desire to transfer many responsibilities from the Police to local authorities.

            In 2016, the Home Office initiated the ‘Dovetail’ pilot to assess the feasibility of transferring the resources and responsibility for administering the process and case management aspects of Channel from the police to local authorities, trialled initially in nine areas. The evaluation of the pilot was broadly positive and the decision of the Home Office was to extend the transfer of functions from the police to local authorities in more areas on a regional basis, commencing in the North West. The intention was to implement a regional model with funding being provided by the Home Office to resource the assessment of referrals and management of cases by Local Authority Channel Coordinators.

            An initial consultation meeting was held in October 2017 with Channel Panel Chairs and other local authority representatives on the options on the allocation of Coordinators in the region, based on current referral and case activity, and the expectations on local authorities to manage and recruit to these nationally defined roles.  For the Merseyside and Cheshire part of the region a preferred option of a ‘Three-Hub Model’ was identified on the day by the local authority representatives in attendance. Consequently, discussion was held on possible management arrangements and the expectation of hosting by one local authority in the area. It was considered that, due to the level of existing resource and understanding already in place on Prevent and Channel, Liverpool City Council was best positioned to host these new roles, subject to clarity of hosting requirements, funding provision and service level arrangements across the wider area.

            It was noted that work was currently being progressed to draw up job descriptions, finalise funding and for the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism to confirm the preferred model.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.