EIGHT Swindon children were put on a terror watchlist last year.

The youngsters were referred to agencies in the town under the Government’s counter-terrorism programme Prevent.

The figures were shared in a report for the Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group this week.

They reveal that 21 referrals were made under Prevent rules in 2016/17.

Of the 21 individuals referred, eight were under 18 years of age. All except one of 21 people referred under Prevent rules were male.

The referrals fitted into three “themes”. Five related to extreme right wing radicalisation and three related to Islamic radicalisation concerns.

Thirteen of the people referred fell into a “no ideology” theme, in that they were not deemed to be driven by a religious or political ideology.

The referrals came from schools, health professionals, probation, police, members of the public and Social Services, the report said.

Only one case was “opened” to Channel, the Government’s intensive de-radicalisation scheme. However, this was closed at the end of the year.

Wiltshire Police said they were working with national agencies and local partners to stop radicalisation.

The Prevent programme, originally introduced by the Labour government in 2003, is one of four planks of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy.

Its aim is to stop people from being radicalised into becoming a terrorist or supporting terrorism. Nationally, the programme has proven controversial – accused of “targeting” young Muslims.

Under law, public authorities like the NHS, police and councils must have “due regard” to preventing people from being drawn into terrorism.

Earlier this month, it emerged that a quarter of all referrals under the Prevent programme in 2015/16 were children under-15.

A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police said: “Since 2006, police forces across the country have played a vital role in stopping people getting drawn into terrorism and violent extremism.

“This has been essential in boosting the UK’s ability to counter the threat posed by terrorists, at the same time helping build stronger and safer neighbourhoods.

“These critical interventions between police officers and staff engaging with the public take place up and down the country every day, with the aim of supporting and safeguarding those who are vulnerable.

“Our work under Prevent builds on existing strong relationships between professionals involved in protecting young people from sexual abuse, neglect and other risks.”

She urged people to report suspicious behaviour to police on 101, in confidence via terror hotline 0800 789 321 or gov.uk/ACT. In an emergency people should call 999.

At a meeting of the Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group’s governing body this week, concerns emerged that the NHS body was not meeting the counter-terror legislation demands.

In a safeguarding report, the CCG wrote: “Prevent is an identified area of non-compliance in the CCG. Very few CCG staff have received basic awareness training at the levels required by NHS [England] Prevent Training and Competencies Framework.”

Nurse Maggie Arnold told the meeting: “It’s a reminder that we should have done that, because we have a duty in statute.”

Rob Mills, the CCG’s designated safeguarding nurse, said: “We recognise our responsibility and we’re doing everything we can to make sure all our staff are trained.”

He said that new level 3 eLearning modules for GPs would be released by NHS England next year.

Swindon CCG said half its staff have completed their required Prevent training and GPs would receive training by next March.