Southport Inquiry

Lord Harper Excerpts

Wednesday 15th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Harper (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for his comprehensive answers. He is of course absolutely right that, for many of the recommendations, the Government must take the time to think through their response to get it right. However, people looking at the Fulford report will have noticed the systemic failures. One of the things they will be concerned about is whether there are currently people who present a risk to the community, who may not have been referred to Prevent, who are going to fall through the cracks. That is an urgent matter.

Is the Minister confident that the welcome steps that the Government have already taken to strengthen the way Prevent works, and the other changes they have made, will capture any of those individuals in the system? Can he provide that assurance to the House—or is there more in a short-term way that the Government need to do to check that no-one has already fallen through the cracks who may present a risk to the public?