Prevent
Information about Prevent at Kingston University
Introduced under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, the Prevent Duty requires universities to take appropriate steps to prevent people being drawn into terrorism. As part of its role safeguarding and supporting students and staff, the University, like other educational institutions, has a statutory responsibility to adhere to the government's Prevent Duty.
The Prevent Duty guidance for higher education institutions in England and Wales was updated in 2019. It is monitored by the Office for Students (OfS), which has provided a framework (PDF) that all registered higher education providers in England are expected to satisfy.
Contact us
Please email us at prevent@kingston.ac.uk if you have any concerns in relation to Prevent.
If any employee or worker of the University wishes to report any concerns or issues with the implementation of any of the University's policies or regulations they should refer to the University's Whistleblowing Policy.
University responsibilities
The University must be able to demonstrate that its policies and procedures fulfil the requirements of the Prevent Duty. Measures in place to do this include:
- Processes to assess speakers invited on to campus or to participate in online forums
- Ensuring those expressing extremist views do not go unchallenged
- Ensuring there is no gender segregation at university-approved events
- Coordinating and making available training for staff
- Making sure students and staff are aware of the different types of support available to them
Further information can be found in the University's Prevent Policy and below.
More details can also be found in our Prevent training guidance for managers.
We are proud to be a vibrant University community, where people from all backgrounds can come together to share their views and experiences and in which ideas can be heard and tested.
We encourage our students to show they can challenge and interrogate different viewpoints in a thoughtful, tolerant and courteous way.
The University is committed to upholding freedom of speech and has a statutory responsibility to do so. At the same time, it has a responsibility to all staff, students and members of the public, including any speakers, to ensure there are processes and procedures in place to safeguard them.
Our Freedom of Speech: External Speakers and External Events Policy supports this by requiring staff and students to seek clearance for speakers whose engagement may require exceptional resources or safety considerations. The University works closely with the Union of Kingston Students to agree mitigating safety measures ahead of such events going ahead.
We expect all speakers who attend events across any of our campuses, or being held online, to conform to the University and the Kingston Students' Union equality policies, which include a joint values statement. Both the University and Union reserve the right to deny access to a speaker, or to stop a talk, if an individual or organisation refuses to comply with these requirements or breaches the values statement in any way.
This policy does not apply to guests invited to speak on campus as part of standard course delivery or other core University operational activity. Decisions about what constitutes day-to-day University business of this nature are made by Faculty Deans and other members of the University's senior leadership.
The University has a longstanding commitment to equality and takes its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 extremely seriously. It does not permit gender segregation at University-approved events.
The University Secretary, Adrian Parry, is the institution's Prevent Lead. He is supported by members of the Prevent (Review and Implementation) Group, drawn from across the University.
The group reviews all activity in relation to the Act and monitors implementation of statutory guidance relating to it. The group is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor, as the University's Accountable Officer.