WORK being done in Bradford to prevent extremism includes projects to tackle the influence of far right groups like the English Defence League as well as Islamic extremism, a new report reveals.

The Government's Prevent strategy is being discussed by Bradford Council's corporate scrutiny committee on Wednesday, and members will be told the agenda "is seen as divisive to some" in the district.

Prevent was introduced by the Government in 2011 as part of its counter terrorism strategy, and its aim is to tackle terrorism by stopping people becoming radicalised at an early stage.

Bradford is one of 46 councils to get Government funding for prevent work, and has received £45,000 a year since the policy was introduced.

Work done so far include projects involving schools, mosques and madrassas, and a project to "challenge the narrative" of far right groups.

Last month, Prime Minister David Cameron made a speech where he described extremism as the "struggle of our generation" and referred to Bradford as being one of the most segregated places in the country, and somewhere where extremism could easily spread.

The speech came only weeks after three Bradford sisters and their nine children family are thought to have crossed the border into Syria.

Khadija Dawood, 30, Sugra Dawood, 34, and Zohra Dawood, 33, along with their children, aged between three and 15, are feared to have travelled to link up with terror group Islamic State.

The report being presented to the Council says of Mr Cameron's comments: "Locally his speech has received a mixed reaction, with many echoing his condemnation of British Muslims who have travelled to Syria to join ‘so called’ Islamic State, while others argued that this unfairly stigmatises people.

"Many in our communities still point to foreign policy contradictions, lack of opportunity and alienation from broader society as drivers for radicalisation. Some criticism has been received from local organisations regarding the lack of consultation about national Prevent policies at a regional level.

"There is now more than ever the need to work across partnerships and communities to address extremist threats to the district."

Members of the committee will be told that 6,000 Council staff have attended "workshops to raise awareness of Prevent" which teaches them how to spot the signs of radicalisation.

One aspect of Prevent being carried out in the district is Rewind - a programme to tackle far right extremism that has so far been rolled out in four secondary schools.

The report says: "This programme educates to challenge the far right extremist narrative including current movements such as the English Defence League."

The Families Matter Programme is aimed at women, and is based around a film featuring interviews with families of people who have died after joining terrorist groups.

The BD3 Connecting Schools programme that has seen citizenship training programmes involving students at Thornbury Mosque Madrassa and Carlton Bolling College.

Ishtiaq Ahmed, secretary of Bradford Council for Mosques, said: "There is widespread concern amongst Bradford Muslims that they are being blamed and held responsible for radicalisation.

"There should be a collective responsibility as a society to deal with these issues. Identifying the Muslim community as being solely responsible doesn't help, and at the same time can play into the hands of right wing extremists."

The meeting is held at Bradford City Hall from 5.30pm.