The Prevent Duty

The university is committed to providing support to all students and staff and it recognises that its duty to prevent anyone at risk from being drawn into terrorism is no different to safeguarding individuals or assisting anyone with any other type of welfare need.

The university does not seek to vilify or discriminate against any part of the university community and is careful to ensure that its approach is fair.

Apart from our duties outlined above, the university’s approach to Prevent is to emphasise the use of existing university processes providing welfare, support and advice to students or staff. This is not about identifying ‘extremism’ but identifying general behaviour changes that may indicate individuals require many different types of further support.

The university does not expect individual students, colleagues or members of the public to identify the reasons someone may need support; therefore any concerns should be referred, in the case of students to Wellbeing and Counselling (wellbeing@salford.ac.uk, +44 (0)161 295 0023) and in the case of staff to HR (hradvice@salford.ac.uk, +44 (0)161 295 2121). 

If you have a concern that  a colleague or a student is being radicalised please contact us at safeguarding@salford.ac.uk for advice.

When we receive a concern from a colleague, a student or a member of the public , if there is sufficient evidence of concerns that a student or staff member may be at risk of being radicalised, the university has a legal duty to refer that individual to Channel. The University’s Safeguarding and Prevent Steering Group would consider information from student or staff welfare concerns before making a decision to refer a person to Channel. We also may seek external advice where appropriate.

Channel is a multi-agency process which ensures vulnerable people of any faith, ethnicity or background receive support before their vulnerabilities are exploited by people drawing them into harm. Channel is not a criminal matter, and being referred to Channel does not give you a criminal record - it is a multi-agency process to provide support to prevent a person from being drawn into terrorism.

Salford Channel is headed up by the Council's Safeguarding Lead and the police. Other members of Channel include social services, NHS, and education providers, including the university.

Participation in the Channel process is voluntary; it can’t be forced on an individual and student or staff welfare concerns will always be considered before making a decision to refer a person to Channel.

If a student is referred to Channel and either they are not adopted by them or they refuse to engage with Channel, then we will monitor and support the student internally.

The university is required to fulfill a number of obligations under the Prevent Duty which form part of the work the university does under its wider safeguarding and welfare activity. The obligations are achieved through;

• Regular monitoring and review of our risk assessment and action plan regarding safeguarding, which include a specific focus on the duty;
• Undertaking of specific actions relating to IT facilities. Specific reference to Prevent is included within in our Acceptable Use Policy, which outlines university practice on the use of web filters and the procedures in place for students and staff working on sensitive or extremism-related material;
• Regular monitoring and review of our policies and procedures for the management of university affiliated, funded or branded campus events on or off campus. We ensure events do not promote extremist views that risk drawing people into terrorism, balancing our legal duties to ensure freedom of speech and academic freedom, and also protecting student and staff welfare;
• Providing staff training and awareness regarding welfare referral arrangements and practices;
• Working closely with the Students' Union (SU) and our students to ensure they are fully aware of the university approach to safeguarding and prevent, our obligations and how we are working to ensure our systems and processes are effective;
• Engaging with partners including other universities, law enforcement and the Government;
• Sharing information about Safeguarding and Prevent across the whole university, ensuring the university community is made aware of any changes to working practices or safeguarding and prevent more generally;
• Robust processes and procedures for sharing information regarding vulnerable individuals with appropriate partners (internal and external) and agencies;
• The provision of chaplaincy and pastoral support, including relevant policies and procedures for the use of faith-related facilities.
• Annual reporting to the senior leadership team and governing body regarding all activity related to safeguarding and prevent. 

Implementation of the Prevent Duty is overseen by the Associate Director (Student Support and Safeguarding) and University Safeguarding and Prevent Lead who reports on a regular basis to University senior management and to Council. The University also ensures that all members of senior management are aware of the requirements of the Prevent Duty and has also provided briefings to SU sabbatical officers and staff.

The University’s Prevent Officer, who works alongside the Prevent Lead, manages day to day information, training and guidance and support to the University.

Associate Director Student Support and Safeguarding

The University Safeguarding and Prevent Lead chairs a Safeguarding and Prevent Steering Group with staff from Legal and Compliance, Student Union, Equity and Social Justice,  Security, and Student Experience and Support, Senior School Leads and Apprenticeship leads. The Group also considers any potential referral to Channel, fully considering all circumstances and following advice from relevant departments and external bodies. The Steering Group also approves the reports to University committees and the OfS annual return.

A wider Safeguarding and Prevent Community of Practice forms part of the structure in this area with attendees invited from all parts of the University as well as the Students Union and accommodation providers. The group will meet at least once a trimester to consider and discuss the University’s approach to Prevent and provides in depth training for a core group of staff on Safeguarding and Prevent.  

The government has specified a set of values, named ‘British Values’ which universities are expected to promote.  These values are:

1. Democracy.
2. The rule of law.
3. Individual liberty.
4. Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. 

The University’s statement on commitment to British Values and how we embed these can be found on our The Prevent Duty page.

Implementation of the Prevent Duty in the HE sector is monitored by Office for Students (OfS) . Each Higher Education Institution must provide an annual report to OfS by around 1 December each year stating what it has done over the previous year to ensure that the duty is implemented. Following assessment of this report OfS writes back to the University to advise that in its opinion, the University does or does not have due regard to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism.

After the submission of its most recent annual report, the University of Salford was deemed by OfS to have due regard to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism.

More information on OfS's work. 

There are two guidance publications by the Government which outline universities’ obligations under the Prevent Duty.

The general publication can be read at Prevent duty guidance for England and Wales 2023 (GOV.UK). Additional, specific university guidance can then be read at Prevent duty guidance: for higher education institutions for England and Wales (GOV.UK).

Additionally, the Office for Students have a guide to the duty.