Prevent is designed to support individuals who may be vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism or extremist activity, whether in the UK or overseas.
It forms one of the four key strands of the Government’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy, CONTEST, alongside Prepare, Protect and Pursue.
What is the Prevent strategy for terrorism?
Prevent is one of the four aims of Contest, its objective is to reduce the risk from terrorism in the UK, its citizens and interests overseas.
Prevent works as a safeguarding referral system that allows those who are concerned that a person may be susceptible to radicalisation or could be at risk of becoming involved in or supporting terrorism, to make a prevent referral to the police to help safeguard them.
The main goals of prevent are:
- Tackling the ideological causes of terrorism
- Intervening early to support people susceptible to radicalisation
- Enabling people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate
Those the prevent duty applies to are expected to follow the Notice, Check, Share process to determine if their concern is relevant to Prevent.
If there is a cause for concern it is then shared by informing the police using the prevent Nation Referral Form (NRF).
Who does Prevent Duty apply to?
The prevent strategy is to place the duty of preventing people being drawn into terrorism onto public bodies, including schools, colleges, universities, police, prisons, health and local authorities across England, Wales and Scotland.
Whilst those outside of these sectors are not legally required to report those they believe are vulnerable, PREVENT gives them a route to act early when they are worried about someone being drawn into terrorism.
Those outside of these sectors can call or make an online referral to ensure their concerns are looked into.
How can businesses support Prevent Duty even if it is not a legal requirement?
Businesses can raise awareness of Prevent by including it their policies and inductions, ensuring new starters know who to speak to and what to do. Prevent can also be supported with courses and training on awareness, how to recognise the warning signs, what information to gather for a referral and the key principles of making a Prevent referral.
Ensuring online safety and safeguarding measures are beneficial to businesses across the UK as it offers better support systems to those who are vulnerable and allows for early intervention.
Promoting Prevent in the workplace encourages the workforce to be more inclusive and help mitigate risk of a vulnerable person being targeted.
How can WA Management help?
WA Management offer a Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism online training course which provides the knowledge to understand extremism and radicalisation and spot potential red flags.
