Prevent

Our Prevent policy outlines our approach to The Prevent Duty in line with counter terrorism legislation.

The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 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. 

There are two documents published by the Government which outline universities’ obligations under the Prevent Duty:

• Prevent Duty Guidance for England and Wales
• Prevent Duty Guidance: for higher education institutions in England and Wales. 

What is Bath Spa University's approach to Prevent?

The University is committed to providing support to all members of our community.

We take seriously our responsibilities and duty to prevent anyone at risk from being drawn into terrorism. We recognise that these responsibilities and duties are no different to those needed for Safeguarding or helping anyone with other wellbeing needs. 

Bath Spa University does not seek to vilify or discriminate against any part of our community, and we are careful to ensure our approach is proportionate and equitable. 

Our focus on Prevent is to emphasise our existing frameworks that provide access to support and advice for students and staff.  

How Bath Spa University manages its Prevent Duty 

The University’s Prevent Lead is the Head of Student Wellbeing Services. This postholder acts as the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for all Prevent Duty matters and is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for students. The Prevent Lead can be contacted via safeguarding@bathspa.ac.uk. 

The University’s Safeguarding Steering Group (SSG), chaired by the University Secretary (Principal Safeguarding Lead), maintains oversight of the University’s Prevent Duty risk register and action plan and reports to senior management and the Board of Governors. 

What else Bath Spa University is doing to implement the Prevent Duty: 

The Prevent Duty places a number of requirements on the University, requiring us to:

• have a risk register and action plan
• undertake specific actions relating to IT facilities including reference to Prevent in our Regulations for the Use of Computer Facilities and have procedures for students and staff working with sensitive or extremism related material
• have policies and procedures in place for the management of events and speakers, both on and off University premises such as our External Speaker policy. This ensures events don't promote extremist views that risk drawing people into terrorism while also balancing our legal duties in ensuring freedom of speech and academic freedom and protecting student and staff wellbeing
• provide staff training and raise awareness of wellbeing services and referral processes
• engage with partners, including other universities, local authorities, law enforcement and the government
• share information about Prevent, and work with the Students’ Union
• have procedures for sharing information about individuals who may be at risk, both internally and with external agencies
• provide multi-faith chaplaincy services and have policies in place for using faith-related spaces.

Further information about the University’s policies and procedures can be found here. 

How Prevent is monitored 

Implementation of the Prevent Duty in higher education is monitored by the OfS (Office for Students). 

We must submit an annual Accountability and Data Return (ADR) to the OfS every year that states what has been done over the preceding year to ensure the University is fulfilling the requirements of the Prevent Duty. 

The OfS assesses this report and informs the University whether it considers that we do, or do not ‘have due regard to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism’. 

Safeguarding team 

We have a single point of contact (SPOC) for Safeguarding: Head of Student Wellbeing Services. 

Bath Spa University has a SPOC for all external enquiries related to Safeguarding and they can be contacted via: safeguarding@bathspa.ac.uk.

Find out more about the University process on Safeguarding and Prevent Concerns/Allegations in this BSU flowchart document.