Tackling extremism in prisons

Background

The UK government defines extremism as the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance , that aims to:

1. negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedomsof others; or
2. undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or
3. intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in (1) or (2).

According to the latest government figures, there were 252 people in custody for terrorism and terrorism-connected offences in Great Britain on 30 June 2024, which is the highest number since comparable records began in 2020.

Of those in custody, the majority (63%) were categorised as holding Islamist-extremist views; a further 29% were categorised as holding extreme right-wing ideologies and 9% were categorised as holding ‘other’ ideologies.

In the year ending 31 March 2024, a total of 53 prisoners held for terrorism and terrorism-connected offences were released from custody in Great Britain.

The majority of prisoners convicted of terrorism and terrorism-connected offences in England and Wales are dispersed throughout the mainstream prison estate and held under normal regimes. However, in 2017, the Conservative government announced the creation of three separation centres so that up to 28 of the most dangerous extremists can be separated from the mainstream prison population in order to limit their influence over other prisoners.

International research has found that prisons can be a “breeding ground for radicalisation” (PDF), with frustration at being incarcerated, overcrowding and understaffing potentially leading to indoctrination.

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), a think tank based at King’s College London has described prisons as a “focal hotbed of almost all terrorist groups in modern times” with prisons serving as a “springboard for many prisoners to grow more radicalised.” The ICSR has also stated that prisons have also “helped many to turn away from extremism and stave off terrorism.”

In April 2022, Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s Independent Reviewer of Terrorist Legislation, found that the “last four completed attacks in Great Britain have been carried out by prisoners serving their sentences in custody (HMP Whitemoor) or on licence in the community (Fishmongers’ Hall, Streatham, Reading).”

This has led to concerns about how the prison service tackles extremism and whether its approach needs to change.

Examples of extremism in prisons

A government ordered review into Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and youth justice in 2016 provided the following examples of Islamist extremism in prisons:

• offenders advocating support for Daesh (an international terrorist group) and threats against staff and other prisoners,
• charismatic prisoners acting as self-styled ‘emirs’ and exerting a controlling and radicalising influence on the wider Muslim prison population,
• aggressive encouragement of conversions to Islam,
• unsupervised collective worship, sometimes at Friday Prayers including pressure on supervising staff to leave the prayer room,
• intimidation of prison Imams, and
• exploitation of staff who fear being labelled racist.

A review has not been carried out into the other forms of extremism in British prisons. It is expected that other extremists would follow similar tactics to the ones described above.  

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s Prevent duty

The UK government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, aims “to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens and interests overseas, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.”

One of the main pillars of CONTEST is the Prevent duty  “to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.”

Under the Prevent duty, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) have a legal duty to deliver Prevent, with the HMPPS Joint Extremism Unit providing operational leadership to “ensure processes are in place for identifying, assessing and managing people at risk of being radicalised into terrorism or those convicted of terrorism offences.”

HMPPS seek to manage risks posed by those convicted of terrorist offences and those individuals who are assessed as posing a terrorist risk through multi-agency meetings.

All HMPPS staff are required to “understand the terrorist risk and threat, and how to recognise, report and respond to it” and regular training is provided to all staff including the government’s Prevent duty training, which includes courses on different forms of extremism and terrorism, how to support people susceptible to radicalisation and the interventions and support available.

Deradicalisation programmes in prison

There are several deradicalisation programmes in the UK for those who have been involved in extremist activity. 

Healthy Identity Intervention 

The main deradicalisation programme in prisons is the Healthy Identity Intervention (HII) programme.

HII seeks to address two areas: the reasons why people are motivated to offend, and the beliefs that enable them to offend. The programme aims to prevent extremist offending by minimising an individual’s engagement within a specific group or ideology. 

The intervention is delivered on a one-to-one basis. The programme is open to those convicted of Islamist terrorism offences and those jailed for “extreme right-wing violence”. 

In 2023, the Ministry of Justice published a report on the findings from an interim outcome evaluation of HII. Whilst the evaluation had a small sample size and other methodological limitations, the report stated that initial evidence suggests that HII “supports individuals to make positive changes that may contribute to their desistance and disengagement from extremism” which suggests that HII “may play an important role in reducing reoffending and protecting the public.”

The Desistance and Disengagement Programme

The Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) is another deradicalisation intervention which can be offered to both prisoners and those released on licence.

DDP provides a range of “intensive, tailored interventions and support designed to tackle drivers of radicalisation”. The programme includes mentoring, psychological support, theological and ideological advice. The government said DDP is designed to introduce “protective factors” to support individuals to disengage from terrorism and reintegrate into society. 

In 2023/24, 202 people participated in DDP.  There is currently no impact evaluation of this programme.

Review of Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and youth justice

In 2015, the then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Michael Gove, asked Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and now a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project (an independent policy organisation), to review Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and youth justice.

Mr Acheson’s review of Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and youth justice was published in August 2016. The review stated that Islamist extremism was “a growing problem within prisons” and that a “central, comprehensive and coordinated strategy is required to monitor and counter it.”

The review also recommended that the current system under which prisoners convicted of terrorism and terrorism-connected offences are dispersed across prisons should be reviewed, with “consideration given to containment of known extremists within dedicated specialist units.”

The review made 11 further principal recommendations, including:

• the creation of an independent advisor on counter-terrorism in prisons,
• the systematic recording of the promotion of extremist beliefs and threats of violence to staff, with tougher sanctions enforced,
• tackling the availability and source of extremist literature, and
• improved coordination with the police, who should be given primacy in handling serious.

Government response

The government published its response to the Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and youth justice review in August 2016.

The government stated that it would implement eight of the eleven principal recommendations, including the creation of a new Security, Order and Counter Terrorism Directorate responsible for the development and delivery of a plan for countering Islamist extremism in prisons and probation.

The government stated it would also introduce “specialist units within the high security estate to allow greater separation and specialised management of extremists who pose the highest risk to other prisoners”.

The government also announced that it would “strengthen […] staff training and faith teaching to ensure that extremist ideologies are never allowed to flourish” as well as taking steps to remove extremist and offensive literature from prisons and introducing a greater focus on the safe management of corporate worship.

Terrorism in Prisons report

In 2021, the government asked Jonathan Hall KC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, to review terrorism in prisons.

The Terrorism in Prison report was published in April 2022 and found that the prison service had “failed to recognise the dangers of Islamist gang-type activity” and had “lost its role in the national endeavour to reduce the risk of terrorism.”

Mr Hall stated that there was “no other comparable threat” in prisons to Islamist terrorism and that the rise in Islamist group activity and terrorist ideology in prisons was “concurrent with a dramatic downsizing of prison staffing levels.”

Mr Hall highlighted concerns about the number of different agencies with overlapping functions that manage terrorist offenders which he stated can lead to terrorist offending behind bars getting lost in the “patchwork of responsibility” that exists within the prison service.

He also stated that “public confidence in the criminal justice system is shaken if terrorism occurs in prison or if people enter prison only to come out more dangerous”.

Mr Hall made 14 recommendations on how the government could improve its response to terrorism in prisons, including:

• when assessing or taking action to reduce terrorist risk, officials should pay more critical attention to the role played by Islamist groups and hierarchies,
• governing governors should be formally accountable for reducing the risk of terrorism from prisoners in their establishments,
• all staff should have regular training on terrorist risk in the prison estate,
• data on identification and prevalence of Terrorist Risk Behaviour and on steps taken to reduce terrorist risk in individual prisons, should be collected and assessed,
• officials should establish Terrorist Risk Behaviour as a recognised and codified phenomenon in the prison context,
• the Separation Centre referral process should be redesigned so that decision making is more streamlined and the focus is on the evaluation of terrorist risk rather than whether a particular event has occurred, and
• a specific crime in prison agreement between HMPPS, CT Police, and the Crown Prosecution Service should be drawn up on the subject of potential terrorist offences, and offences committed by terrorist risk offenders.

Government response

In April 2022, the then Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab, published the government’s response to the Terrorism in Prisons report.

Mr Raab outlined the changes the Conservative government had introduced following the terrorist attacks in 2019/2020 including ending the automatic early release of terrorist offenders through the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020 and the introduction of tougher sentences for the most serious terrorist offences through the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021.

Mr Raab stated that he had accepted 12 of the 14 recommendations in the Terrorism in Prisons report, as well as partially accepting another. In addition, he stated that the government would invest “an additional £1.2m over three years to create a new Separation Centre and High-Risk casework team” who would be responsible for ensuring that “decisions to place prisoners in Separation Centres are taken in an effective and targeted way.”

Mr Raab also stated that the government would invest “£6.1m over three years to create a new Close Supervision Centre unit with an extra ten cells” which would “hold some of the most violent men in the prison system.”

HMP Frankland Independent Review

In April 2025, Hashem Abedi (one of the men responsible for the Manchester Arena bombing), attacked three prison officers in the separation centre at HMP Frankland. The officers were taken to hospital with “life-threatening injuries”.

Following the attacks, in May 2025,  the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, announced that Jonathan Hall KC had been appointed to lead an independent review into HMP Frankland.

The independent review will:

• consider whether any changes to how convicted terrorists are placed into separation centres are needed,
• consider whether the policies, operating procedures, legal framework, and relationships with other agencies that underpin separation centres are fit for purpose, and
• provide findings and recommendations that can be implemented to reduce the likelihood of any such incident occurring in the future.

Ms Mahmood has asked for the review to “report back promptly.”

Following the attack at HMP Frankland, Ms Mahmood also announced that stab-proof vests will be mandatory in separation centres and close supervision centres.

Stakeholder comments

Ian Acheson has said that the current threat posed by violent extremists in UK prisons is “intolerable” and has called for the creation of a “new purpose-built High Control Centre, outside the current prison estate—ideally on a military base—to house exceptionally dangerous extremists.”

Former Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England, Nazir Afzal OBE, has raised concerns about the funding of deradicalisation programmes in prisons, stating:

[…] there is a real problem with deradicalisation and disengagement programmes. They have been largely underfunded. They are poorly executed. This is all down to the impact of austerity on the probation service.

Following the attack in HMP Frankland, Shadow Justice Secretary, Robert Jenrick, described extremism in prisons as a “national security emergency”, stating:

We have to stop pussy-footing around Islamist extremists and violent offenders in jails.

That means arming specialist prison officer teams with tasers and stun grenades, as well as giving them access to lethal weapons in exceptional circumstances.

If prison governors can’t easily keep terrorist influencers and radicalising inmates apart from the mainstream prisoners they target, then we don’t control our prisons – they do.

The charity Maslaha, who seek to challenge inequalities faced by Muslims, state that the prison system has “created a stigma in prison around Islam” with Muslim prisoners feeling they are viewed by staff and other prisoners “through the lens of terrorism and extremism and that everything they did was treated with suspicion.”

In 2022,  HM Inspectorate of Prisons reported that separation centres were “not focused enough on changing prisoners’ behaviour” and that “offending behaviour programmes aimed at deradicalising their beliefs were too ambitious, and most prisoners were not willing to engage.”

Useful links

Recent debates and parliamentary questions about tackling extremism in prisons are available on the Parliamentary database.

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