Prevent Policy
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Version: V6
Ratified By: Strategic Safeguarding Group
Date ratified: 25/09/2024
Job Title of Author: Safeguarding Adults and Learning Disabilities Lead
Reviewed by Subgroup or Expert Group: Strategic Safeguarding Group
Equality Impact Assessed by: Safeguarding Adults and Learning Disabilities Lead
Related Procedural Documents:
SGPOL07 Adult Safeguarding Policy
SGPOL02 Children’s Safeguarding Policy
SGPOL10 Mental Capacity Act Policy
Adult Intercollegiate document RCN 2018 Department of Health and Social Care 2022 NHS Prevent Training and Competencies framework
Review Date: 25/09/2027
It is the responsibility of users to ensure that you are using the most up to date document template – i.e. obtained via the intranet.
In developing/reviewing this policy Provide Community (CIC) has had regard to the principles of the NHS Constitution.
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V4 April 2018 Safeguarding Adults and Learning Disabilities Lead Approved
V5 April 2021 Safeguarding Adults and Learning Disabilities Lead Approved Rewritten
V6 April 2024 Lead Professional for Safeguarding (Adults and Families) & LD Head of Safeguarding
1. Introduction
The aim of Prevent is to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent also extends to supporting the rehabilitation and disengagement of those already involved in terrorism.
The Prevent duty requires specified authorities such as education, health, Local Authorities, police and criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation) to help prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of other harms, such as substance abuse, involvement in gangs, and physical and sexual exploitation. The duty helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance/prevent-dutyguidance-for-england-and-walesaccessible#:~:text=The%20Prevent%20duty%20requires%20specified,becoming%2 0terrorists%20or%20supporting%20terrorism
The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 places a duty on specified authorities including Health, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/6/contents/enacted
The term “due regard” means that the authorities should place an appropriate amount of weight on the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism when they consider all the other factors relevant to how they carry out their usual functions. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance/revised-preventduty-guidance-for-england-and-wales
CONTEST (2023) is the overall UK Counter-Terrorism strategy and aims to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens and interests overseas, so people can live freely and with confidence. CONTEST is now 21 years old and has become a worldleading counter-terrorism capability CONTEST has stood the test of time. Its robust framework enables us to analyse the threat; marshal an effective response; and communicate across government, to the British people and private sector, and to our international partners. These partnerships are the CONTEST: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism 3 core of our counter-terrorism efforts and successes. Efforts such as preventing radicalisation, investigating closed online spaces, and responding swiftly to events in the UK and around the world, cannot be done alone.
Terrorist groups often draw on ideology developed by extremist organisations. Some people who join terrorist groups have previously been members of extremist organisations and have been radicalised by them. The Government has defined extremism in the Prevent strategy as: “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces”.
The White Supremacist ideology of extreme right-wing groups has also provided both the inspiration and justification for people who have committed extreme right-wing terrorist acts.
CONTEST’s risk reduction model has four strands: Prevent, Pursue, Protect and Prepare. The Prevent Statutory Duty applies to all organisations including Health and is essentially about safeguarding vulnerable people from being radicalised and reporting any concerns to the Police Prevent Lead
The Prevent strategy deals with all forms of terrorism and with non-violent extremism, which can create an atmosphere conducive to terrorism and can popularise views which terrorists then exploit. It also made clear that preventing people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism requires challenge to extremist ideas where they are used to legitimise terrorism and are shared by terrorist groups. The strategy also means intervening to stop people moving from extremist (albeit legal) groups into terrorist-related activity.
The main objectives of Prevent are to:
• Tackle the causes of radicalisation and respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism.
• Safeguard and support those most at risk of radicalisation through early intervention, identifying them and offering support.
• Enable those who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate. (Channel Duty Guidance, 2020)
The PREVENT Strategy focuses its work on preventing radicalisation by challenging ideology that supports terrorism, protecting vulnerable individuals and supporting sectors and institutions where there is a link to radicalisation.
Prevent is about recognising when vulnerable people are being exploited for terroristrelated activities and within health care organisations is most appropriately managed within existing safeguarding structures. The key challenge for the health sector is to ensure that, where there are signs that someone has been or is being drawn into terrorism, healthcare workers can interpret those signs correctly, are aware of the support that is available and are confident in referring the person for further support. Preventing someone from becoming a terrorist or from supporting terrorism is no different from safeguarding vulnerable individuals from other forms of exploitation. (DOH, 2011)
Channel is a key element of the Prevent strategy. It is a multi-agency approach to protect people at risk from radicalisation. Channel uses existing collaboration between local authorities, statutory partners (such as the education and health sectors, social services, children’s and youth services and offender management services), the police and the local community to:
• Identify individuals at risk of being drawn into terrorism.
• Assess the nature and extent of that risk.
• Develop the most appropriate support plan for the individuals concerned.
Radicalisation is a process by which an individual or group adopts increasingly extreme political, social or religious ideals and aspirations that reject or undermine the status quo or undermine contemporary ideas and expressions of freedom of choice. The
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Prevent strategy is focused on providing support and redirection to individuals at risk of or in the process of being groomed/radicalised into any terrorist activity before any crime is committed. Radicalisation is comparable to other forms of exploitation: it is a safeguarding issue that all colleague working in the health sector must be aware of. (SET 2019).
2. Key Functions of the Policy
This policy sets out howProvide CIC will approach the PREVENT agenda to contribute to the Government’s Policy to prevent and reduce the risk to vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation and offer support to individuals to make informed decisions without coercion.
This Policy sets out how colleague will be supported to develop an understanding of the Prevent Strategy and how they can utilise their existing knowledge and skills to recognise that someone may have been or is being radicalised.
This Policy sets out where colleague can seek advice from and how to escalate their concerns within Provide CIC. Where concerns need to be raised with external agencies, this Policy describes how referrals will be managed within the existing multiagency safeguarding processes.
This Policy sets out how PREVENT related referrals or requests for information from external agencies will be managed by Provide CIC. It will also support colleague in ensuring that any information sharing is appropriate for the purpose of preventing a vulnerable individual from being radicalised.
3. Training and Recognition
The Prevent Training and Competencies Framework (NHS England, updated 2022) has been developed in order to meet the Prevent Duty (Updated 2024) and to encourage a consistent approach to training and competency development in respect of Prevent.
The Prevent training and competencies framework was developed to encourage a consistent approach to training and competency development in respect of Prevent and to ensure that NHS trusts and foundation trusts meet their legislative responsibilities to equip people to work effectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and adults in relation to Prevent.
This document provides a clear framework which identifies the competencies required for all Provided CIC colleagues, as well as setting out minimum training requirements. This framework uses the 6 levels (see below) of competence as outlined in the intercollegiate documents and gives examples of groups that fall within each of these:
• Level 1: all colleagues working in healthcare settings, including non-clinical managers and colleagues
• Level 2: all clinical and non-clinical colleagues who have regular contact with patients, their families or carers, or the public.
• Level 3: all clinical colleagues working with adults, children, young people and/or their parents or carers, who could potentially contribute to assessing, planning, intervening and/or evaluating the health needs of a service user.
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• Level 4: specialist roles – named professionals
• Level 4 and Level 5: Prevent Lead
• Level 5: specialist roles – designated professionals
• Level 6: and Board level: Chief Executive Officers, trust and health board executive and non-executive directors and/or members, commissioning body directors
The guidance framework provides best practice advice and is not statutory guidance.
It is at the discretion of Head of Safeguarding to conduct training needs analysis, and they may decide that certain roles have additional responsibilities that require a higher level of training than stated below.
Basic Prevent Awareness Training
This should be delivered to all colleagues identified in both Adult (RCN 2018) and Children’s (RCN, 2019) Intercollegiate documents as requiring safeguarding training.
ROAN information sheet 36: Intercollegiate document on safeguarding guidance, 2019 revision highlights that doctors at all levels should be aware of the recommendations for safeguarding training described in the Intercollegiate document and consider their own needs in respect of this
Level 1 training is usually delivered within Provide CIC by the Prevent Lead or other members of the Safeguarding team to all new employees as part of Corporate Induction, and also in Level 3 training. It is also included in the Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children Level 2 eLearning packages.
Workshop Raising Awareness of Prevent (WRAP)
WRAP training is delivered to all colleague identified in both the Adult (RCN 2018) and Children’s (RCN, 2019) intercollegiate documents as requiring Level 3 Safeguarding Training and is incorporated into both Training packages delivered by the Prevent Lead and other members of the Safeguarding Team.
This training is required to be updated every three years. In addition, an annual written update should be circulated to all colleagues
Organisational Prevent Leads
• Are also required to attend regional Prevent Forums at least twice per year.
• Evidence Partnership working with the area Channel co-ordinator.
• Complete Prevent related training.
Board Level
All Board members including non-executive members must have a level of knowledge equivalent to all colleagues working within the healthcare setting. (Intercollegiate documents, level 1) as well as additional knowledge-based competencies by virtue of their Board membership. They must provide strategic leadership, promote a culture of supporting good practice with regard to child protection/safeguarding within their organisations, promote a culture of learning and professional curiosity, and collaborative working with other agencies. All Board members should have access to Safeguarding advice and expertise from their named professionals within the Safeguarding Team.
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Managing Concerns in Relation to Employees
Although there have only been a few instances of healthcare colleague radicalising others or being drawn into extremist acts, it is still a risk that Provide CIC needs to be aware of and have processes within which to manage any concerns.
Where a Provide CIC employee expresses views, brings material into the organisation, uses or directs patients to extremist websites or acts in other ways to promote terrorism Provide CIC will look to use non-safeguarding processes in order to address the concerns.
Where a colleague has a concern about a colleague, this should be raised with their manager. The line manager will discuss the concerns with Provide CIC Human Resources. Where appropriate, the Lead Professional for Safeguarding Adults and relevant Service Manager will liaise with the Police PREVENT Lead and the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service. The HR Advisor will lead on advising the Line Manager in relation to the disciplinary process if required.
4. Channel and how to refer
See Prevent referral process in Appendix 1.
Channel Panels oversee and co-ordinate Prevent interventions across England. The panel has a statutory basis: under the terms of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015, local authorities must:
• Ensure a multi-agency panel exists and chair the panel.
• Use the panel to develop a support plan for accepted cases and signpost to other support where cases are not accepted.
• Ensure consent is sought prior to support being provided
• Co-operate with other panel partners.
Membership: The Channel Panel meets monthly and is chaired by the Local Authority Prevent Lead and permanent members will include Social Care (Adult and Children), and Police Prevent team. Other agencies will be invited depending on need.
The role of the multi-agency panel is to develop an appropriate support package to safeguard those at risk of being drawn into terrorism based on an assessment of their vulnerability. The panel is responsible for managing the safeguarding risk which is in line with other multi-agency panels where risk is managed, such Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).
Channel is not a process for gathering intelligence. It is a process for providing support to people at risk. In common with other such programmes, it does require the sharing of personal information to ensure that the full range of an individual’s vulnerabilities are identified and addressed. Information sharing must be assessed on a case-by-case basis and is governed by legislation.
It is not the purpose of Channel to provide an alternative to the criminal justice system for those who have been engaged in illegal activity. Channel is about early intervention to protect and divert people away from the risk they may face before illegality relating to terrorism occurs. Therefore, in line with other safeguarding processes, being
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referred to Channel will not lead to an individual receiving a criminal record as a consequence of the referral, nor as a result of any support they may receive through Channel. (SET, 2019)
Channel assesses vulnerability using a consistently applied vulnerability assessment framework built around three dimensions:
• Engagement with a group, cause or ideology.
• Intent to cause harm.
• Capability to cause harm
These dimensions are assessed by considering contributory factors to form a rounded view of the vulnerability and support needs of the individual and undertaking regular vulnerability assessments to monitor progress.
5. Consent
People who are vulnerable to violent extremism or radicalisation are more likely to be reached by supportive services if issues of consent are handled with sensitivity and an informed understanding of the issues. For children, this will usually involve talking to the child/young person and their family (unless the family is implicated in potential extremism) and to other professionals working with the child/young person. Any referrals should be made with the young person/family’s awareness unless to do so would place the child/young person at risk of harm.
For Adults (over age 18 years) practitioners should seek the consent of the person who may be at risk of extremism or radicalisation before taking action or sharing information. In some cases, where a person refuses to consent, information can still be lawfully shared if it is in the public’s best interest to do so. This may also include protecting someone from serious harm or preventing crime and disorder.
Should any member of colleague have a concern relating to an individual’s behaviour which indicates that they may be being drawn into terrorist related activity, they will need to take into consideration how reliable or significant the indicators are. All colleagues must raise their concerns and seek advice on how best to address them.
When there are grounds to doubt the capacity of those aged 16 and oversteps need to be taken to provide support to enable an informed decision to be made whether to consent to work with the Channel Panel. A best interest decision may need to be considered if they are assessed under the Mental Capacity Act as lacking capacity to consent.
As a voluntary programme, no Social Care work can take place without the agreement and engagement of the adult.
6. Referral Process
Any organisation or member of the public can make a referral to Channel Any Provide CIC colleague who becomes aware of a person vulnerable to radicalisation should contact the Provide CIC Adult Safeguarding Lead who will offer support in making the decision as to whether a referral to Channel Panel is needed and if this is the appropriate route.
Referrals should be made without delay where there are concerns about significant harm or directly to the Police on 999 if there is an imminent risk of harm from terrorist activity.
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Provide CIC colleagues can contact the national police Prevent advice line 0800 011 3764, in confidence, to share your concerns with their specially trained officers.
A referral form, which is also known as person vulnerable to radicalisation (VTR), can found in Communications and letters on SystmOne Colleagues can contact the Safeguarding Team if unable to access.
Once completed, this should be returned securely to:
provide.safeguarding@nhs.net
(This is secure if sent from an nhs.net email account). A copy of the completed referral form should be saved in the patient electronic record and emailed to the Safeguarding Team
Any referral received by Channel will initially be screened. All cases that progress through the Channel process will be subject to a thorough assessment of vulnerabilities in a multi-agency safeguarding environment. The preliminary assessment is coordinated and should be informed by multi-agency information gathering and can include consideration of an initial vulnerability assessment. The referrer and any identified relevant agency working with the individual is required to attend the Channel Panel meeting if the case is heard.
If there are concerns that the person is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, a referral to Children’s or Adult Social Care must be made, this will be discussed and determined who will raise this before the case exits the process. If there are no concerns or low risk but the person requires additional support, a referral may be made for Common Assessment Framework and Early Help
Report online material promoting terrorism or extremism.
Report illegal or harmful information, pictures or videos you’ve found on the internet.
You can report things like:
• articles, images, speeches, or videos that promote terrorism or encourage violence.
• websites made by terrorist or extremist organisations.
• videos of terrorist attacks
If you see online material promoting terrorism or extremism, you can report it online https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism
7. Information Sharing
All requests for information sharing from Channel come through via secure email to the Safeguarding Team from the Channel co-ordinator as a multi-agency Channel Collection Document and contains the original referral information. The Safeguarding administrator will register the subject to the Safeguarding Unit on SystmOne, record the information on the Safeguarding Adult Spreadsheet and forward the request to the Prevent Lead for actioning.
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The Prevent Lead will then check the record for any involvement with Provide CIC Services and update the Channel Collection Document. If the subject is currently open to any Provide CIC Service, the clinician will be informed, and the current concerns discussed prior to completion of the Channel Collection Document. The completed document is returned to the ESAB (Essex Safeguarding Adults Board) Channel coordinator, a copy is saved to the Safeguarding shared drive Prevent folder and the spreadsheet updated. A note is made in the subjects record and if not known to Provide then the referral is closed.
8. Internal and External Reporting
Anonymised information regarding PREVENT related incidents, PREVENT Training Data and PREVENT related infrastructure changes/challenges, are included in the Adult Safeguarding Lead’s Quarterly report to the Strategic Safeguarding Group which is a subgroup of the Quality and Safety Committee. Serious concerns will be directly communicated to the Chief Operations Officer.
All NHS Trusts are required to submit a quarterly report on Prevent data to the Home Office. Provider organisations are required to submit the same data to the ICB Most of this data is collected from the Fitness to Practice report and sent to Designated Nurse for Safeguarding Adults.
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9. References
Channel Duty Guidance: Protecting people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism 2020. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/651e71d9e4e658001459d997/14.320_HO_Ch annel_Duty_Guidance_v3_Final_Web.pdf
Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, HM Government https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/counter-terrorism-and-securitybill#:~:text=The%20Counter%2DTerrorism%20and%20Security%20Act%20contains%20 powers%20to%20help,then%20return%20to%20the%20UK
Counter-Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST) 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counter-terrorism-strategy-contest-2018
DOH 2011 Building Partnerships, Staying Safe: The health Sector contribution to HM Government’s Prevent Strategy: guidance for healthcare organisations. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c243eed915d1b3a307ab8/dh_131912. pdf
Department of Health and Social Care 2022 NHS Prevent Training and Competencies framework. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-prevent-training-and-competenciesframework/nhs-prevent-training-and-competencies-framework#context
RCN 2018, Adult Safeguarding: Roles and Competencies for Healthcare Colleague 1st Edition Intercollegiate Document
https://www.england.nhs.uk/professional-standards/medical-revalidation/ro/infodocs/roan-information-sheets/intercollegiate-document-on-safeguarding-guidance/
RCN 2019, Safeguarding Children and Young People: Roles and Competencies for Healthcare Colleague 4th Edition Intercollegiate Document https://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/pub-007366
Revised Prevent Duty 2023, Statutory Guidance for England and Wales. Home Office https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance
SET 2019 “Prevent Policy and Guidance”, version 7 Southend, Essex and Thurrock Adult and Children’s Safeguarding Board. https://www.escb.co.uk/media/2151/set-prevent-policy-guidance-v7.pdf
Appendix 1: Prevent referral process (Department for Education 2022)
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Appendix 2: Person Vulnerable to Radicalisation (VTR) Referral Form V2
RESTRICTED WHEN COMPLETE
This form is to help you refer concerns into the Prevent/Channel team, regarding an individual who may be vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. Below are questions which may assist in helping you quantify and structure your concerns in order to better record them on the form. They are intended as a guide to help communicate your professional judgement about what has led you to make this referral.
GUIDANCE NOTES FOR COMPLETING THIS FORM
The list is not exhaustive and other factors may be present, but they are intended as a guide
Reason for Referral
• Has some context been obtained from the subject e.g. What do they mean by their comment? Do they understand what they are saying? Has their response been noted?
• Has there been any similar incidents / comments made in the past?
• Was it aimed at someone in particular?
• What is the concern?
• Does a separate Safeguarding referral need to be considered?
Faith / Ideology
• Are they new to a particular faith / faith strand?
• Do they seem to have naïve or narrow religious or political views?
• Have there been sudden changes in their observance, behaviour, interaction or attendance at their place of worship / organised meeting?
• Have there been specific examples or is there an undertone of “Them and Us “language or violent rhetoric being used or behaviour occurring?
• Is there evidence of increasing association with a closed tight knit group of individuals / known recruiters / extremists / restricted events?
• Are there particular grievances either personal or global that appear to be unresolved / festering?
• Has there been an increase in unusual travel abroad without satisfactory explanation?
Personal / Emotional / Social issues
• Is there conflict with their families regarding religious beliefs / lifestyle choices?
• Is there evidence of cultural anxiety and / or isolation linked to insularity / lack of integration?
• Is there evidence of increasing isolation from family, friends or groups towards a smaller group of individuals or a known location?
• Is there history in petty criminality and / or unusual hedonistic behaviour (alcohol/drug use, casual sexual relationships, and addictive behaviours)?
• Have they got / had extremist propaganda materials (DVD’s, CD’s, leaflets etc.) in their possession?
• Do they associate with negative / criminal peers or known groups of concern?
• Are there concerns regarding their emotional stability and or mental health?
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• Is there evidence of participation in survivalist / combat simulation activities, e.g. paint balling?
Risk / Protective Factors
• What are the specific factors which are contributing towards making the individual more vulnerable to radicalisation? E.g; mental health, language barriers, cultural anxiety, impressionability, criminality, specific grievance, transitional period in life etc.
• Is there any evidence of others targeting or exploiting these vulnerabilities or risks? What factors are already in place or could be developed to firm up support for the individual or help them increase their resilience to negative influences? E.g. positive family ties, employment, mentor / agency input etc.
Do they use social media?
• Which platforms (apps) do they use i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat etc?
• Do you know their usernames?
Once completed, email to: provide.safeguarding@nhs.net
This form is to help you refer concerns into the Prevent/Channel team, regarding an individual who may be vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. Please use the guidance to help you quantify and structure your concerns. Completed forms should be sent to: provide.safeguarding@nhs.net
The Safeguarding Team will then review the document before sending it on to the Police.
This form DOES NOT replace existing safeguarding referral processes. It should only be used where concern being reported relates to an individual’s vulnerability to radicalisation and there is no immediate risk of harm.
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