Prevent duty

What is the Prevent Duty?

Manchester Met has to adhere to the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, which requires all Universities to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This is known as the Prevent Duty.  The Prevent Duty seeks to protect and support those vulnerable to radicalisation. 

The Home Office has published a video that provides an overview of the Prevent Duty.

Prevent provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and makes sure that vulnerable people are given appropriate advice and support. Support can include help with education or careers advice, dealing with mental or emotional health issues, or digital safety training.

An important consideration at the core of the Prevent is that people drawn into radicalisation, and therefore at risk of recruitment into terrorist activities, can be identified, supported and ultimately prevented from being radicalised. It is for this reason that implementation of the Prevent Duty focuses mainly on the safeguarding and welfare of students and staff.

Useful definitions

Terrorism

Terrorism is an action or threat designed to influence the government or intimidate the public.  Its purpose is to advance a political, religious or ideological cause. 

In that context, terrorism is defined in the UK as a violent action that:

• Endangers a person’s life
• Involves serious violence against a person
• Causes serious damage to property
• Creates a serious risk to the public’s health and safety
• Interferes with or seriously disrupts an electronic system

Radicalisation

Radicalisation is the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and extremist ideologies associated with terrorist groups.  The Prevent Duty covers a broad spectrum of beliefs including far-left, far-right, environmental, religious fundamentalism and pro-life ideologies.

Extremism

Extremism is the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and respect and tolerance for different faiths and beliefs.  Calls for the death of members of our armed forces are also regarded as extremist.

It’s important to remember that not all extremist groups will commit terrorist or violent acts.  However, some groups post particular threats, both online and offline.

The Prevent Duty and Manchester Met

If you have any concerns about a student or member of staff’s vulnerability to radicalisation, please contact preventduty@mmu.ac.uk.

There is no single route to radicalisation. However, there are certain behaviours that may indicate that someone is at risk of being radicalised.  You can find out about identifying signs that someone may be vulnerable to radicalisation on the ACT Early website.

If at any time (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) you become aware of a student who is at imminent risk of harming themselves or others, contact Campus Security on 0161 247 2222.

The University takes a consistent approach to the management of concerns about individuals under the Prevent duty, and has a protocol for engaging with external agencies.  Further information about the University’s approach to Prevent is set out in the Statement on compliance with the Prevent duty.

The University has published a Privacy Notice detailing how it handles information relating to Prevent Duty concerns.

The Prevent Duty and research

Under the Prevent Duty Universities are required to have clear policies and procedures for students and staff working on extremism-related research.

If you are working on research topics that involve extremism-related research please review and follow the guidance featured in “SOP 16 The Prevent Duty in Research.”

Please contact Ramona Statache if you have any queries about the guidance: r.statache@mmu.ac.uk

Further information

Government guidance about the University’s responsibilities with regards to the Prevent Duty is available here.