79% of Child Referrals to UK's Prevent Anti-Terror Programme Closed Without Action

England's Children's Commissioner found that 79% of child referrals to the Prevent anti-terror programme (April 2024–March 2025) were closed without progression, and 71% involved children with no identifiable ideology. Child referrals have risen from 2,918 in 2016–17 to 4,715 in 2024–25. The commissioner calls for a parallel safeguarding pathway for violence-fixated children that Prevent's ideological framework cannot accommodate.