Hundreds of children under the age of six reported to Prevent counter-terrorism scheme

Hundreds of children under the age of six were referred to the Government's counter-terrorism surveillance scheme between the years 2015 and 2018, with some referrals coming from nursery and primary schools.

The counter-terrorism Prevent scheme was informed about possible radicalisation attempts for 532 children under the age of six and 1,181 children under the age of nine.

The Government introduced Prevent in 2003, but it was not made public for some years.

The programme was expanded greatly in the wake of the 2005 London bombings, with almost £80million spent on 1,000 schemes in the six years after the attacks.

Over the years the programme has evolved as the terror threat changed.

While al-Qaeda was considered the main threat at first, now the policy is aimed at combating ISIS and the pull of militants in Syria.