Protecting Communities
Safeguarding individuals vulnerable to violent extremism
Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015
With effect from 1 July a large number of organisations are subject to a duty under s.26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 in exercising their functions "to
have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism".
This is known as the Prevent duty. The organisations to which it applies include:
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schools and childcare providers;
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higher and further education institutions in receipt of public funding;
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local authorities;
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NHS trusts and foundations; and
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children’s homes, independent fostering agencies and other bodies which carry out local authority functions (either under voluntary delegation arrangements or by use of statutory powers) and which provide services to children.
A number of organisations which work with children and/or vulnerable adults are not subject to the Prevent duty but may nonetheless confront the issue of radicalisation. We would advise all such organisations to read the Home Office Prevent Duty Guidance referred to below and to consider revising their policies and procedures in light of it.
Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015
Schools
From 1 July 2015 all schools, registered early years childcare providers and registered later years childcare providers (referred to in this advice as ‘childcare providers’) are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as the Prevent duty (please refer to the below Protecting children from radicalisation: the prevent duty)
New advice and social media guidance has been issued to schools and childcare providers to help them keep children safe from the risk of radicalisation and extremism.
Building resilience of young people and the promotion of fundamental British values is at the heart of preventing radicalisation. Schools can do this by providing safe places in which children can discuss controversial issues, and be given the knowledge and confidence to challenge extremist beliefs and ideologies.
Departmental advice for schools and chilcare providers;
Protecting children from radicalisation: the prevent duty
FE Colleges
Earlier this year Government laid out their plans and guidance on the ‘Prevent Duty’ initiative which is one of four strands that make up the Counter Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST), which is designed to reduce the risk of terrorism to the UK and its interests overseas.
The Counter Terrorism & Security Act 2015 (Risk of Being Drawn into Terrorism - Amendment and Guidance) came into effect on 1st of July.
This legislation will require further education institutions to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism, and advises that they must provide information to the monitoring authority to prove compliance with this duty, moreover adherence to the act will also form part of the OfSTED Inspection Framework from September 2015.
Prevent Duty Guidance for Further Education institutions in England & Wales
Local Authorities
The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act received Royal Assent on 12 February 2015. Among other provisions, the act places the Prevent programme on a statutory footing. This means that from the 1st July 2015 every local authority will have a legal duty to, "when exercising its functions, have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism". Prevent is one of four strands of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, and aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Prevent Strategy was revised in 2011.
The other three strands are:
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pursue: to stop terrorist attacks
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protect: to strengthen our protection against terrorist attacks
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prepare: where an attack cannot be stopped, to mitigate its impact.
The Prevent duty guidance, published alongside the act sets an expectation that local authorities will:
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Establish or make use of an existing local multi-agency group to agree risk and co-ordinate prevent activity
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Use the existing counter-terrorism local profiles to begin to assess the risk of individuals being drawn into terrorism.
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Engage with Prevent coordinators, schools, universities, colleges, local prisons, probation services, health, immigration enforcement and others as part of the risk assessment process.
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Mainstream the prevent duty so it becomes part of the day-to-day work of the authority, in particular children’ safeguarding.
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Any local authority that assesses, through the multi-agency group, that there is a risk will be expected to develop a Prevent action plan.
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Ensure frontline staff have a good understanding of Prevent, are trained to recognise vulnerability to being drawn into terrorism and are aware of available programmes to deal with this issue.
Prisons & Probation
Prison governors will be expected to conduct “an initial interview and assessment” with new inmates.
Prisoners who “might be at risk from being drawn into any form of extremist ideology or terrorism” will come under scrutiny from the prison’s Intelligence Management Unit to look for “any indication that the prisoner endorses extremist ideology or supports terrorism”.
The guidance suggests “a raft of intervention measures” including mentoring or “theological, motivational and behavioural interventions”.
It adds: “In some cases additional management actions may be required and could include moving the individual away from those he or she is seeking to influence including separation from the wider prison regime.
Prevent Duty Guidance: for England & Wales
Health
The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 puts the existing Prevent programme on a statutory footing. Prevent is part of the Safeguarding agenda within the health sector.
Healthcare professions must be trained to recognise the signs that someone at risk of radicalisation and they have a duty to find appropriate support through established arrangements. Such arrangements may include Channel – a multi-agency programme which provides tailored support to people who have been identified as at risk of being drawn into terrorism, for example by referring them to a health or social care provider
Prevent Duty Guidance: for England & Wales
– issued by the Department of Health (England) to all organisations providing healthcare services to NHS patients.
Universities
Higher education institutions have a duty of care to students, staff and visitors. The Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 introduced a new statutory duty for higher education institutions to have "due regard to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism". This means that institutions now have a statutory duty to engage with the government's Prevent agenda. The government has published guidance setting out what steps higher education institutions are expected to take to meet this duty. The guidance is available in two forms; one for England and Wales and the other which is applicable in Scotland.
Awareness of Prevent involves an understanding of the strategy itself and the wider legal context within which universities must operate including the Education Act (No.2) 1986, the Education Reform Act 1988 and the Equality Act 2010. Details of all the legal considerations universities must consider can be found here.
Prevent Duty Guidance for Higher Education institutions in England & Wales