Written question asked by Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Conservative) on Tuesday, 16 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 December 2008. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 12 January 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.

Community Relations

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures she has put in place to (a) provide accountability and (b) maintain community confidence in relation to the Channel Project.

Answer: The Prevent Strategy: A Guide for Local Partners in England makes it clear that the police and local authorities need to take a lead in ensuring that local partnerships have been clearly tasked with driving delivery of a jointly agreed programme of action that:"Meets the specific objectives of the Prevent strategy;""Is jointly agreed and managed by the police, local authority and other partners;""Is proportionate to the level of threat in the area;""Reflects local needs; and""Sets out clear and tangible milestones in tracking progress."The guide makes it clear that local communities should be actively engaged in multi-agency partnerships and should shape the development and implementation of the jointly agreed programme of action.Where Channel is operational it will form an important part of local areas' programmes of action.All local authorities have to report on progress on the prevent strategy through National Indicator 35 —'Building Resilience to Violent Extremism', which is replicated in the Assessments of Policing and Community Safety performance framework. The introduction of the Comprehensive Area Assessment in April 2009 will further ensure effective and efficient performance by local authorities and other local partners on Prevent.

Secondary information