FOI/25/213

Request

For each financial year (April 2019-March 2020, April 2020-March 2021, April 2021-March 2022, April 2022-March 2023 and April 2023-March 2024 - or as close to these time frames as possible), please provide:

A) The number of Prevent referrals made by your Trust?

B) The number of your Trust’s Prevent referrals that have been discussed at the Channel Panel?

C) The number of people that your Trust referred under Prevent who received Channel support?

 

For A), B) and C) can you please provide where possible the numbers distributed by:

 

1. Whether the referral was made by a mental health service/department, or a non-mental health service/department?

2. The ethnic groups of the referred people?

3. The religious/faith groups of the referred people?

4. The type of concern?

 

Secondly, I would like to request the following under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

All recorded information in the form of (i)Correspondence including emails & letters, (ii)Documents, (iii)Meeting Minutes - held by or on behalf of the Trust since October 1st 2023, referencing the terms [‘Prevent’ or ‘Prevent Duty’ or ‘Prevent Referral’] collocated with the terms [‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian’ or ‘Gaza’ or ‘Israel’ or ‘Israeli’ or ‘Middle East’].

 

Response

In response to the requested information above Central London Community Health Care NHS Trust (CLCH) has made the decision to apply the following exemption due to the low number of referrals and the potential for the individuals to be identified.

See details below of the exemption being applied:

Section 41 Information Provided in Confidence.

Section 41 is an absolute exemption which prohibits a public body from disclosing information obtained from any other person if the disclosure of this information to the public would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person. Releasing specific Prevent referral data could increase fears around the identification of individuals and partners involved in the process – irrespective of whether identification actually takes place.

An actionable breach of confidence may also arise if an individual can be identified from the information that has been disclosed. If those engaging with Prevent are told that their information is given in absolute confidence and will not be disclosed, then it must be ensured that there is no risk of anyone being identified from released information.

 

Secondly, I would like to request the following under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000:

All recorded information in the form of (i)Correspondence including emails & letters, (ii)Documents, (iii)Meeting Minutes - held by or on behalf of the Trust since October 1st 2023, referencing the terms [‘Prevent’ or ‘Prevent Duty’ or ‘Prevent Referral’] collocated with the terms [‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian’ or ‘Gaza’ or ‘Israel’ or ‘Israeli’ or ‘Middle East’].

 

In response to the above question, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust has come to the decision to apply the following exemption:

Section 24(1) FOIA – National Security

The potential risk of identifying individuals would have a prejudicial impact on national security. Section 24(1) applies because the FOIA 2000 states that

although there has to be a real possibility that the disclosure would undermine national security ‘the impact does not need to be direct or immediate’.

If the identity of a vulnerable patient or individual at risk were to be unintentionally revealed by the release of Prevent referral data, this would likely result in a loss of confidence amongst partner agencies and discourage future referrals. This would increase the risk that individuals may be drawn into radicalisation. Furthermore, concerns regarding a lack of confidentiality could lead to individuals currently subject to ongoing intervention withdrawing from Channel, leaving them at greater risk of becoming involved in radicalisation and terrorism. This could compromise national security.  

For further information and guidance regarding your Freedom of Information request please refer to NHS England who may publish information related to Prevent Referral.