Prevent

HEFCE-funded Universities are required to submit their second annual statement in relation to Prevent compliance to HEFCE on 1st December 2017, with Alternative Providers due to submit on 1 March 2018.  The statement should summarise any relevant evidence which demonstrates continuing active and effective implementation of the Prevent duty, for the academic year 16-17.  Where an institution had actions specified in its most recent HEFCE outcome letter, it must explain how it has responded to those actions.

There is no significant shift in emphasis from the requirements of the first annual statements, but institutions should ensure they read the Framework for the monitoring of the Prevent duty in HE in England: 2017 onwards which has been developed in line with the Office for Students’ proposed approach to regulation (responsibility for monitoring HE compliance with Prevent will move from HEFCE to OfS at some point in 2018). 

Universities should expect further scrutiny of their IT policies in relation to the Prevent duty; the Home Secretary has recently stated an intention to increase the maximum penalty for those who repeatedly view terrorist content online, and to extend the offence of possessing information likely to be useful to a terrorist to include material viewed repeatedly or streamed online, rather than as previously that downloaded and saved.