ACL Safeguarding Training Newsletter – Anti Bullying, Prevent

National Safeguarding Adult Week – 15– 21^st November 2021

The theme for National Safeguarding Adults Week this year is ‘ Creating Safer Cultures’. Some ways we can look to create a foundation for safer cultures could be:

• Listening – have an environment where we openly and actively listen to others, concerns are welcomed and acted on accordingly
• Lead – Promote change, lead by example and empower others and promote a positive reporting process
• Learning – adapting and learning all the time, continuous learning and development and encourage others to learn

Anti-Bullying Week – 15-19^th November 2021  

‘One Kind Word’ is the theme for Anti-BullyingWeek 2021 and the charity Anti-Bullying Alliance have ‘a call to action’ and below are their actions:

• Ask if someone’s OK. Say you’re sorry. Just say hey.
• In a world that can sometimes feel like it’s filled with negativity, one kind word can provide a moment of hope. It can be a turning point. It can change someone’s perspective. It can change their day. It can change the course of a conversation and break the cycle of bullying.
• Best of all, one kind word leads to another. Kindness fuels kindness. So, from the playground to Parliament, and from our phones to our homes, together, our actions can fire a chain reaction that powers positivity.
• It starts with one kind word. It starts today.

And this year again there is odd socks day on 15^th November. The aim of this is to raise awareness that everyone is unique and let’s be kind to one another and respect each other’s individuality. It would be great to raise awareness with learners and encourage them to take part this year.

https://youtu.be/A2PPN3-n7xU  – video for their One Kind Word initiative.

Anti-Bullying Week 2021: One Kind Word (anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk)

Prevent  

The government have recently published an updated factsheet on Prevent, in line with recent events:

The programme:

• works in partnership with front-line professionals such as teachers, healthcare practitioners, social workers, the police, charities and civil society, psychologists, community leaders and others,
• is delivered by local authority teams, local policing teams, community organisations, and charities that have the best expertise in their area,
• does not target any one community and deals with all forms of terrorism, including Islamist, extreme right-wing and Mixed, Unclear or Unstable (MUU) ideologies.
• is not limited to any age group.
• will not show up on any criminal record checks and has no bearing on an individual’s prospects, including work or education.
• is not a tool for spying or surveillance, and the Prevent Duty does not place any restrictions on free speech. It is part of the wider safeguarding obligations we have towards protecting vulnerable people, in this case people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.
• provides training for educators, healthcare staff and more to understand and implement the Prevent Duty and protect vulnerable people in their care. The Prevent Duty must be implemented in line with the requirements set out in the Equality Duty.

What is a Prevent referral?

A Prevent referral can be made by anyone who is concerned about someone they know being at risk of radicalisation or drawn into terrorism. This could be a family member, friend, colleague, or a professional.

If an individual is found to represent a security threat, they will always be referred to the police for further investigation.

Prevent referrals are not made to the Home Office; they are handled by expert officers in the local police force.

When a referral is made, initial checks will be conducted and if the individual is found to not be at risk of radicalisation, the case is immediately closed to Prevent.

Making a referral

If someone is worried about another individual becoming radicalised and would like to seek advice before making a referral, they can contact their local authority safeguarding team, or speak to a teacher, healthcare provider or another trusted authority. Contacting the authorities will not get the person into trouble if a criminal act has not been committed. The local authority or police can discuss concerns, suggest how they can best help and provide access to relevant support and advice.

Alternatively, people can visit Counter Terrorism Policing’s safeguarding website, ACT Early or call the national police Prevent advice line on 0800 011 3764 to discuss their concerns. If the person is a learner please take concerns to the ACL Safeguarding Team, who will pass the concern on.

What is Channel?

If the referral progresses and it is assessed that there is a genuine risk of radicalisation, the case is considered by a multi-agency ‘Channel Panel’ of safeguarding professionals who collectively assess the risk to a person and decide on a tailored package of support that can be offered to the person to help them move away from harmful activity.

The Channel panel is chaired by the local authority and can include a variety of partners such as the police, children’s services, social services, education professionals and mental health care professionals.

What kind of support is offered via Channel?

Channel is voluntary and people who are referred to Prevent must give consent (via a parent or guardian if they are underage) before they can be given support.

If a person does not engage with Channel or decides not to continue with the process for any reason, alternative forms of support may be available from the local authority or other providers. Any risks are then carefully managed by the police.

 Key statistics and facts

• Prevent supported 2,352 individuals identified as vulnerable to radicalisation between 2015 and 2020.
• 6,287 referrals to Prevent were made in the year ending on 31 March 2020. Of all the referrals in 2019/2020:
  • 51% were related to mixed, unclear or unstable ideologies
  • 24% to Islamist radicalisation
  • 22% to extreme right-wing radicalisation
• 1,424 cases were discussed at a Channel panel and 697 were adopted as a Channel case.
• Prevent addresses all forms of terrorism. Of all the Channel cases adopted in 2019/2020:
  • 43% were related to extreme right-wing radicalisation (302)
  • 30% were linked to Islamist radicalisation (210)
  • 18% came under a Mixed, Unclear or Unstable (MUU) ideology (127)
  • 8% were related to other radicalisation concerns (58)
• Prevent makes up an extremely small part of overall safeguarding referrals. In 2018-19, over one million safeguarding referrals were made, in comparison to just 6,287 Prevent referrals in 2019-20.

Please report any concerns to the Safeguarding Team at ACL.