RSI reveals that Prevent guidance on ‘ideology’ is missing; gaps create risk of bias
11th August 2026
Today, RSI releases documents showing that the UK government has no specific guidance on when people should be referred to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme regarding most types of ‘ideology’. Instead, the guidance relies on referrers – such as teachers and NHS staff – to make decisions about what counts as potential ‘extremism’ based solely on a few lines of generic advice.
RSI is concerned that the lack of any specific guidance in areas such as what constitutes ‘Northern Ireland related extremism’, ‘Pro-Khalistan extremism’ and ‘Hindutva extremism’ creates a serious risk of referrals based on bias and misunderstanding.
In response to RSI’s freedom-of-information requests, the Home Office confirmed on 23 June 2026 that it has only provided referrers with specific guidance on the ‘incel’ and ‘fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks’ categories. Collectively, these categories amount to less than 10 per cent of all referrals, according to the most recent government statistics.
For all other types of concern, referrers are directed to the Home Office’s official Prevent training (which includes only a few sentences of information for some ‘types of concern’) and its official Prevent duty guidance (which contains no such information).
RSI is releasing this information following the government’s publication of its most recent statistics on Prevent, which show an increase in referrals to 10,293 during the year ending September 2025.
The lack of guidance means referrers are left to rely on their own perceptions about whether a person is showing signs of ‘extremism’, which in turn opens the door for biased decision-making, in RSI’s view. The organisation is concerned that when referrers have no other information available to them, many will make under-informed decisions or allow their internal biases to influence how they proceed.
The lack of guidance is also a human rights issue. As RSI documented in its 2022 report, Secret, Confused and Illegal, the government has an obligation under human rights law to ensure that any interferences with our rights are based on clear, accessible rules and have foreseeable consequences.
For more information, see the freedom-of-information responses linked below.