The Government’s Prevent Duty provides advice for training providers within the police to help prevent young people from being drawn into terrorism. Carole Loader, director at standards software developers Mesma, pictured, offers guidance on the areas to consider if the duty applies.
The advice and social media guidance the Prevent Duty provides will contribute significantly to making sure training providers help keep young people safe from the risk of radicalisation in this country, which can lead to extremism and terrorism. Building the resilience of young people lies at the heart of the matter, and local authorities providing training can do this by offering safe places in which individuals can engage with and discuss controversial issues – and be given the knowledge and confidence to challenge extremist beliefs and ideologies. So, as a training provider, what are the important points to consider?
External speakers and events
You should have policies and procedures in place for the management of any events held on your premises, as it’s essential that institutions do not provide a platform for individuals to invite support for organisations engaged in terrorism. You need to check if there are sufficient welfare arrangements for students or learners who may be being subjected to radicalisation, which happens off campus, and are staff trained and equipped to recognise changing behaviour that could be associated with radicalisation?
Partnerships
This is important – are you building relationships with your local BIS prevent co-ordinators to get support and advice on strategies and what to do? If you don’t know who they are you can access their contact details at www.safescampuscommunities.ac.uk. Is your institute of a size, which warrants management arrangements to be shared across several curriculum areas or geographical sites? If so, have you considered introducing a single point of contact where people can go for advice and support?
Risk assessment
Procedures for assessing the risk for students/learners, staff and visitors should be in place. Any assessment should examine policies regarding, for example welfare facilities and resources, including equality and diversity, safety and physical management of the estate. There should also be a clear policy in place for whistle-blowing and complaints, and if you are in England, does this specify that the matter can be raised with the SFA or EFA if the individual feels their grievance is not being taken seriously by the provider? It’s also expected that the systems you have in place to monitor sub-contracted provision are rigorous enough to ensure that you are not inadvertently funding extremist organisations. If you are in Wales, then you should adhere to the Safe Working Practice Guidance.
Action plan
Are there systems for notifying risks to the BIS Prevent Coordinator and other necessary organisations and these should be clear and unequivocal.
Staff training
Its expected that staff training is appropriate to the job role and provided in a timely manner. It’s not just for front-line staff – Board members, leaders and managers are also expected to be properly trained to deal with issues. Encouraging all staff to lead by example and demonstrate British values, and respect for other people is essential.
Welfare and pastoral care/chaplaincy support
There should be a clear and widely available policy covering the use of prayer-rooms or faith-related facilities.
IT policies
There should be policies around general IT and BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) usage. These must make it clear what is and is not permissible and be clearly references to the duty. With regards to learning, a clear policy must be in place to outline how student/learners and staff using IT equipment can safely use these facilities to research terrorism and counter terrorism where appropriate as part of their learning.
Monitoring, enforcement
Ofsted inspects publicly funded further education institutes and independent training providers in England. If found to be inadequate for independent training provider this is likely to result in their contract being terminated by the SAF or EFA. Training providers can carry out a full self-assessment of each of the key areas outlined by accessing the new Prevent Duty Self Assessment feature on Mesma. This affordable, easy-to-use online self assessment tool will help users to gain oversight of Prevent Duty areas for improvement while the improvement plan gives an oversight of progress against all on-going activities.
Check if The Prevent Duty applies to you at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445915/Prevent_Duty_Guidance_For_Further_Education__England__Wales_-Interactive.pdf.
More at www.mesma.co.uk.
