3. What action is the Welsh Government taking to tackle extremist views amongst young people? OQ59064

Working in partnership with counter-terrorism policing, we have produced videos and resources on preventing radicalisation and extremism, delivered in schools by our SchoolBeat officers. Our Prevent board brings partners together to oversee activities in Wales designed to protect those who are most vulnerable to radicalisation.

Thank you, Minister. I was really disturbed to read the comments of Detective Superintendent Gareth Rees, the right-wing terrorism lead at counter-terrorism policing, who said that there has been an incredibly alarming rise in teenagers involved with neo-Nazi groups and far-right extremism. His comments came following the conviction of a Cardiff man for belonging to a banned far-right group and recruiting others to the cause. Another British teenager was also convicted in the past few days for recruiting and inciting US teenagers to commit terrorist attacks in the USA. Minister, I am sure that you will agree that this rise in far-right hatred among our young people is extremely concerning. How are the Welsh Government working with partner agencies to prevent the radicalisation of young teenage boys?

Thank you, and I certainly would agree with the Member that it is very concerning, and the sentencing of the young person from Cardiff that you referred to—it was a range of offences, including offences under terror legislation. What that does is really serve us all as a reminder that extremism is a very, very real issue right across the UK. 

Obviously, our education sector plays a hugely important role in safeguarding our young people through providing counter-narratives, support and engaging with counter-terrorism policing in the relevant authorities when necessary. We have our Wales police schools programme—that's been supported by Welsh Government, I think, now for nearly 20 years, and we invest just under £2 million each year, and match funding's also provided by police forces right across Wales. Counter-terrorism policing provide routine briefings to all our school liaison officers to enable them to provide inputs across Wales. 

I mentioned the important role of education, but also, I think our best chance of protecting those who are most vulnerable to radicalisation is to adopt a whole-system approach, and that does include front-line staff in our health services and also in our local government services.