Letter to the HASC confirming appointment of the Independent Reviewer of Prevent
Updated 18 May 2020
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12 August 2019
Dear Yvette
Independent Review of Prevent
On 22 January 2019, the government agreed to an amendment to the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 which committed us to making arrangements for an independent review and report on Prevent, the government strategy for supporting people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. Prevent is one of the 4 strands of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, and is therefore a critical part of our approach to reducing the risk we face from terrorism. These arrangements were to be made within 6 months of that act receiving Royal Assent on 12 February 2019.
We have now made arrangements for the review, which will be open, transparent and objective. Further to this, I am writing to inform you that after careful consideration I have decided to appoint Lord Carlile of Berriew QC CBE, to be the Independent Reviewer of Prevent, and he has agreed to take on this role. Lord Carlile brings with him the skills, experience and independence to carry out this review and provide recommendations to further develop our approach to supporting people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism in the future. A team has also been recruited to support Lord Carlile in his role as the Independent Reviewer of Prevent. The team will sit separately from the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism, which has policy lead for Prevent.
The appointment of Lord Carlile demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that our strategy for supporting people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism is as effective as possible in the future. The terms of reference for the review will be published shortly once Lord Carlile has had an opportunity to consider and recommend amendments to them.
I will arrange for a copy of this letter to be placed in the libraries of both Houses and will issue a Written Ministerial Statement about this appointment when the House returns in September.
Yours sincerely,
The Rt. Hon. Priti Patel MP.