Safeguarding & the Prevent Duty for Employers

All Further Education providers have a duty to safeguard their learners, which includes apprentices. Prevent is about safeguarding our learners to keep them both safe and within the law. The Prevent Duty is not about preventing learners from having political and religious views and concerns, but about supporting them to use those concerns or act on them in non-extremist ways.

What is Safeguarding?

At the heart of Prevent is safeguarding children and adults and providing early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.  Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as: protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

What is the Prevent Duty?

The Prevent duty is a legal obligation in the UK for specified authorities, including Education, Health, Social Care and the Police, to have “due regard to the need to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism.

 It is a part of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, and aims to safeguard vulnerable people from radicalisation and extremism, as well as to provide support for those who want to disengage from terrorism. 

What are the Employer’s Responsibilities?

As an employer who has appointed an apprentice, you have a responsibility to:

>   alert Preston College to any concerns regarding your work-based learner to allow us to explore what the causes might be; and to

>   provide opportunities for employees to discuss their own concerns about extremism, events in the news and about British values.

>   be alert to any changes in your work-based learner’s behaviour, that in your professional opinion gives you cause for concern.

Reporting Safeguarding or Prevent Concerns Involving an Apprentice

If you have a concern, would like more information or have any questions, please contact our Safeguarding Team via safeguarding@preston.ac.uk or by telephoning Student Services on 01772 225656, asking for the Duty Safeguarding Officer.

You will find more details about the Prevent Duty in our Safeguarding and Prevent policy, available on our website at www.preston.ac.uk