Prevent Duty

Prevent is part of the UK’s counter terrorism strategy and aims to prevent people from becoming involved in terrorism or supporting terrorism.

On July 1, 2015, the UK government introduced a new Prevent duty as a part of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015.

This places a duty on all statutory bodies, including Charnwood Borough Council, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. 

A copy of the Prevent Duty Guidance can be found below:

Prevent Duty Guidance

What is the Prevent Duty?

Prevent is a statutory duty for specified agencies, including the council, NHS Trusts, schools and the police; it is aimed at combating extremism and creating a safe and secure county. The programme is managed by the council's Community Safety Team and has been developed in response to the Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015), and the Government's Prevent Strategy - a national counter extremism programme aimed at stopping people from becoming violent extremists or supporting extremism, both violent and non-violent.

Leicestershire and Rutland's Prevent Strategy is aimed at preventing violent and non-violent extremism, but is also very much about protecting our communities and supporting vulnerable people who may be targeted by extremists trying to recruit or radicalise them. There is no single profile of a person who may be vulnerable to grooming by extremists, and the Prevent programme relies on community support and information to identify and safeguard people.

Please see the Home Office’s video, which provides an introduction to how Prevent works.

For more information, including advice and support, head to www.lrsb.org.uk.

For further details on our work with Prevent or to find out what support may be available to you, contact our Community Safety Officer on 01509 634522 or email community.safety@charnwood.gov.uk.

Online radicalisation

There is no exhaustive list of warnings signs that would indicate that someone is being groomed online, but some things to look out for could include:

• isolation from family and friends
• increased secrecy, accessing extreme material, refusal to say who they are talking to
• using the dark web or anonymous browsing to hide online activity
• interest in conspiracy theories and/or changes in social media profiles

Reporting concerns

If you have concerns that someone is being exposed to extremism, you can find further advice on the 

Home Office Awareness training course

The Home Office has an online awareness course which is available to anyone new to Prevent.

It's for anyone working with members of the public on a regular basis, for example those who work in education, health, probation, police and local authorities. Members of the public who would like to learn more about how to identify behaviours that cause concern may also complete it.

If you're unsure what Prevent is and what signs to look for when it comes to risks of radicalisation, awareness is the first course in the Home Office's Prevent training.

Find out more and complete the course.

Make a complaint about how Prevent has been applied

Practitioners and members of the public can use this Standards and Compliance Unit (StaCU) form on the Government website for any complaints about the way the Prevent duty has been applied. The StaCU is not able to respond to complaints related to Prevent policy, only to how it has been applied.

Information on safeguarding

For further advice and information about safeguarding, head to the safeguarding web page.