Agenda item

Mark Norris, Senior Advisor, explained that the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill had been published and had its first reading on 26 November 2014. The Bill would bring in a number of measures, including a duty on local authorities to have due regard when exercising their functions to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.  It also places a duty on councils to set up panels to assess the extent to which people referred to them are vulnerable of being drawn into terrorism.  They would have to prepare a support plan for vulnerable individuals and review, revise or carry out further assessments. 

Attempts to amend the legislation were unlikely to be successful, and therefore it was proposed that the LGA should highlight that having a stand-alone panel to consider these issues was unnecessary.  The Board agreed that local agencies should be given the flexibility to decide if existing structures, such as Community Safety Partnerships, could be adapted for this purpose. The Home Office should be asked to work with the LGA and councils to ensure that the final estimates reflect what councils would have to do in practice. 

Action:

Make representations on the Bill to government, particularly regarding the creation of stand-alone panels to consider people who were vulnerable to terrorism. 

Decision:

Members noted the report.