The Home Office has issued a letter (18 June 2018) to the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee regarding Ahmed Hassan’s interaction with the police and Home Office prior to the Parsons Green bombing incident in September 2017.

Surrey Liberal Democrats, for a number of months, have been pressing for a report on the lessons to be learnt from the review of this incident to be put in the public domain and we are pleased that this letter has been published and that the lessons that need to be learned are now available for all to see and to be acted upon.

The fact that there was no formal documented plan to manage Ahmed Hassan’s risks and vulnerabilities was a fundamental gap in his care and the lack of such a plan meant that he did not get the support that he needed and appropriate action was not taken.

It is clear that various warning signs were not acted upon in terms of his demeanour, behaviour and his periods missing from home, with the delay in processing his asylum application clearly causing him concern. It is also clear that sharing of information, training and processes between those involved in the care of asylum seekers need to be improved for the future.

We fully support the County Council’s commitment to carry out training for social workers to identify signs of radicalisation, which is a necessary step forward, and believe that everything possible must be done to ensure that a similar incident does not happen in the future.