Overview
- Newly released Home Office data, obtained by Hyphen, show 45 infants under one were referred over eight years to 2024, including 29 recorded for Islamist concerns, alongside 91 referrals for one- and two-year-olds (67 Islamist) and 75 for three-year-olds (54 Islamist).
- Across the same period there were 388 referrals for children below school age, while wider figures reported by the Independent show 2,989 referrals for under-10s since 2016–17, with 46% recorded as Islamist concerns and a 70% share for children under three.
- Prevent received 8,778 referrals in 2024/25, a 27% year-on-year rise and the highest total since records began, according to the Home Office.
- Following the Southport murders on 29 July 2024, there were 6,350 referrals through March, a 34% increase on the comparable period a year earlier, with officials also noting a record quarterly tally in early 2025.
- The Home Office says early intervention can provide vital safeguarding and that cases are closed if no risk is found, while critics and a recent independent commission urge tighter legal definitions and a narrower operational focus to avoid overreach.