Channel

UK Home Office and Police Service

Type of Organisation: Governmental institution

Channel was first piloted in 2007 and rolled out across England and Wales in April 2012. Channel is a programme which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.

The programme uses a multi-agency approach to protect vulnerable people by:

• identifying individuals at risk;
• assessing the nature and extent of that risk; and
• developing the most appropriate support plan for the individuals concerned.

Channel may be appropriate for anyone who is vulnerable to being drawn into any form of terrorism. Channel is about ensuring that vulnerable children and adults of any faith, ethnicity or background receive support before their vulnerabilities are exploited by those that would want them to embrace terrorism, and before they become involved in criminal terrorist related activity.

Success of the programme is very much dependent on the co-operation and co-ordinated activity of partners. It works best when the individuals and their families fully engage with the programme and are supported in a consistent manner.

Individuals and organisations holding extremist views or supporting terrorist-related activity of any kind, in this country or overseas, have no place in delivering Channel and will not be given public funding to do so. This applies irrespective of the source of the funding: central government, local government, policing or other publicly-funded bodies.

The police co-ordinate activity by requesting relevant information from panel partners about a referred individual. They will use this information to make an initial assessment of the nature and extent of the vulnerability which the person has. The information will then be presented to a panel.

The Counter Terrorism & Security Act 2015 is intended to secure effective local co-operation and delivery of Channel in all areas and to build on the good practice already operating in many areas. In practice, the legislation requires:

1. local authorities to ensure that a multi-agency panel exists in their area;
2. the local authority to chair the panel;
3. the panel to develop a support plan for individuals accepted as Channel cases;
4. the panel to consider alternative forms of support, including health and social services, where Channel is not appropriate;
5. all partners of a panel (as specified in Schedule 7), so far as appropriate and reasonably practicable, to cooperate with the police and the panel in the carrying out of their functions.

Establishment of multi-agency panel chaired by the Local Authority capable of developing bespoke interventions utilising both mainstream safeguarding techniques as well as bespoke CT/extremism interventions.

Address

NCTPHQ,
10 Victoria Street,
SW1H 0NN, London,
United Kingdom

Contact person: David Smart, Superintendent
Telephone: (+44) 02070848773
Email