Provision of Services for the Evaluation of PREVENT Local Projects in 2017/18 That Aim To Build Individuals' Resilience To Radicalisation

The Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT) in the Home Office, works to counter the threat from terrorism. Prevent is part of our counter-terrorist strategy, CONTEST .

The aim of the Prevent Strategy is to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. A fundamental part of delivering these objectives and countering local threats is our work with civil society organisations (CSOs) in local communities.

A key strand of this is working with these organisations to deliver projects which aim to build individuals' resilience to radicalisation by addressing risk factors and providing people with the skills and confidence to resist the threat posed by terrorist influences. Evaluating these projects is a key priority for OSCT.

We are keen to build our understanding of what impacts these projects have for people who participate on them, why these impacts may or may not occur, how projects effectively deliver to local communities and what constitutes a successful Prevent project. This evaluation work is also crucial for informing ongoing and future delivery, key policy planning decisions, and also developing the evidence base on what works in this area and why.

Projects that aim to build individuals' resilience to radicalisation typically work with people who are at risk of radicalisation, and primarily aim to provide these individuals with the necessary skills and confidence to resist the threat from terrorist influences in their communities, including online. For example, these projects may: • Provide bespoke mentoring and 1-2-1 support to people in difficult circumstances, such as those with drug addictions or gang affiliations, which may put them at greater risk of being radicalised by terrorist influences.

They may also provide support for their wider family networks, and provide opportunities for them to raise awareness of the dangers of radicalisation in their local communities. • Develop individuals' critical thinking skills to better assess and challenge extremist narratives, and produce counter-arguments to them. They may also encourage these individuals to promote their work to facilitate discussions on countering these narratives in local communities. • Upskill individuals on how to better communicate and engage young people on the dangers of radicalisation, creating safe spaces for individuals to discuss how best to support young people, and encourage the sharing of good practice and building of local support groups.

OSCT would be interested to better understand the impact of these projects in relation to developing individuals' skills to counter terrorist narratives, and whether there are any associated attitudinal changes. There are a range of local Prevent projects being delivered in 2017/18, and projects will be allocated to the supplier once appointed. Proposals should demonstrate a degree of flexibility in their methodology given that projects vary in scale, length and who they work with.