Hambleton District Council
Hambleton District Council is the local authority for the Hambleton District.
Contents
Prevent Policy
'Safer Hambleton' is the 'delivery team' for the government's controversial Prevent strategy in Hambleton, which imposes staff in all public sector bodies to have a 'statutory duty' to prevent people from becoming 'drawn into terrorism'. This team also delivers the ‘prevent’ strategy to the wider community. [1]
Linking anti-fracking protestors with extremists
Despite the North Yorkshire Police chief's statement on December 6 2016 [2], Hambleton's delivery team appears to have considered anti-fracking protests as a potential ‘extremism’ or ‘terrorism’ risk since July 2015.
Hambleton's approach is at odds with that of the Home Office, which told the Yorkshire Evening Post on 2 December 2016 and the i newspaper on 6 December 2016 that:
- 'Prevent is about safeguarding people at risk from being drawn into terrorism - support for anti-fracking is not an indicator of vulnerability.'
Hambleton in North Yorkshire has numerous Petroleum Exploration and Development License (PEDL) blocks awarded to fracking firms INEOS and Igas in late 2015. Fracking plans for the region have faced overwhelming opposition from local people, NGOs, parish councils, town councils and district councils. In May 2016 a large, peaceful rally in the town of Northallerton in Hambleton protested against fracking firm Third Energy’s application to frack at nearby Kirby Misperton in Ryedale. [1]
The ‘counter terrorism local profile questionnaire 2016’
In January 2016, Hambleton District Council and North Yorkshire Police launched a questionnaire linking anti fracking protestors with the ‘extreme right wing’ and ‘issues relating to Syria and Iraq’. According to Safer Hambleton's team the purpose of the questionnaire was to help develop a ‘Counter Terrorism Local Profile’. [3]They describe this as:
- ‘a document that is collated on behalf of both police and partners which describes the current risks, threats and vulnerabilities in relation to terrorism and violent extremism.’ [1]
The 2016 questionnaire includes a specific section on fracking and asks the community these three questions:
- Is there any information regarding individuals or groups who are engaged in fracking protests which have the potential to become more radical and disruptive in nature?
- Have there been any suspicious sightings around the proposed fracking areas within North Yorkshire?
- Is there any information regarding protests to be held in the North Yorkshire? [3]
Contact
Website: https://www.hambleton.gov.uk
Address: Hambleton District Council
Civic Centre
Stone Cross
Northallerton
North Yorkshire
DL6 2UU
Tel: 01609 779977
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Russell Scott and Melissa Jones, Update: more documents show police, councils and schools labelling anti-fracking protestors as extremists, Spinwatch, 09 December 2016, accessed 12 December 2016.
- ↑ North Yorkshire Police response to concerns raised by anti-fracking campaigners, North Yorkshire Police, 6 December 2016, accessed 12 December 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Safer Hambleton COUNTER TERRORISM LOCAL PROFILE - CAN YOU HELP "It might be nothing but......", Hambleton District Council, accessed 12 December 2016.
