Referrals to UK's controversial Prevent scheme surge, with most involving children

The number of people referred to the UK government’s controversial anti-terrorism programme, Prevent, has surged sharply, new data shows.

Figures covering the year to March 2025 reveal that children aged 11 to 15 made up the largest share of referrals, accounting for 36 percent of the total. Teenagers aged 16 to 17 represented the second-highest group, while 345 referrals were made for children under the age of 10.

Referrals to Prevent can come from police, schools, members of the public, or local authorities. The latest figures indicate a rise of more than 25 percent compared with the previous year.

Launched in 2005 under then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, the controversial scheme has long drawn criticism from rights groups for disproportionately targeting Muslims and undermining their freedoms. Activists also warn that Prevent's intelligence-gathering practices raise serious concerns over privacy and discrimination.

Most referrals were listed as involving "no ideology identified" or "no ideology – other susceptibility to radicalisation identified". However, 1,798 cases were recorded as "extreme right-wing" and 870 as "Islamic extremism".

Most cases were documented as "no ideology identified" or "no ideology – other susceptibility to radicalisation identified".

The release of the data comes as reports revealed new details about the Southport murderer who killed three girls last year.

A review into the case found that Prevent officials had closed the file prematurely, despite the perpetrator being referred to the programme three times between 2019 and 2021.

The case led to the resignation of Michael Stewart, head of Prevent, in March this year.

The Home Office also confirmed a spike in referrals around the time of the Southport killings and during the subsequent trial, when the perpetrator was convicted and sentenced to 52 years in prison.