UK: Nearly one in five Prevent referrals had autism, new Home Office figures reveal

UK: Nearly one in five Prevent referrals had autism, new Home Office figures reveal Submitted by Areeb Ullah on Thu, 08/06/2026 - 17:09 Critics question Prevent's reliance on subjective assessment after Home Office data reveals sharp rise in referrals involving autistic people Figures showed that nearly 10,000 people were referred to Prevent in England and Wales, the highest annual number of referrals since 2015, with the vast majority referred for far-right extremism (AFP) Off Nearly one in five people referred to Britain's controversial Prevent counter-extremism programme had autism recorded as a condition, according to new Home Office figures, raising fresh concerns over the scheme's impact on neurodivergent people. Analysis of the figures show that 1,833 of the 9,957 people referred to Prevent between October 2024 and September 2025 had autism recorded, with 1,199 classified as confirmed cases and a further 634 recorded as suspected. The Home Office data also shows that almost 10,000 people were referred to Prevent in England and Wales during the period - the highest annual total number of referrals since records began in 2015, following a 39 percent increase on the previous year.