Employing An Apprentice | Prevent Strategy And Advice

What is Prevent?

Prevent is a government strategy about safeguarding people and communities from the threat of all types of extremism and radicalisation, including terrorism which will apply when employing an apprentice.

Extremism and radicalisation might include violent religious groups, the extreme right wing and other causes. 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.

The Government’s strategy has three core aims:

respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it;
prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support; and
work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation which we need to address.

Key terms

Extremism – vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values such as democracy, the rule of law and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
Ideology – a set of beliefs
Terrorism – a violent action against people or property, designed to create fear and advance a political, religious or ideological cause
Radicalisation – the process by which a person comes to support extremism and terrorism

How does Prevent relate to British values?

British values have been promoted since 2014, British values include:

Democracy
The rule of law
Individual liberty and mutual respect
Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

PM Training’s Duty

As a training provider, providing services to you and your learners, we have a duty to ensure learners are protected and are not drawn into radicalisation but we need your help to achieve this when employing an apprentice.

When employing an apprentice, PM Training has a policy with respect to Prevent that we will discuss with all learners; it would be helpful if you also made yourself aware of its contents.

Many of the things we already do help learners to be positive members of society and engaged citizens, these include:

exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity
challenging prejudices and racist comments
developing critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
active promotion of British values

We will provide learners with information so they understand how to protect themselves from extremist views that go against British values that they may encounter, now or later in their lives.

We use a range of methods to protect learners from the risk of radicalisation, such as filters on equipment that access the internet, ensuring they can’t access extremist and terrorist material, vetting other providers who deliver services on our behalf and ensuring learners feel safe and know who to contact if they feel threatened or uneasy. All staff are subject to DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks.

What can you do as an employer, who is employing an apprentice or offering educational services to learners?

Alert PM Training of any concerns regarding your staff regarding these issues, to allow us to explore what the causes might be.
Constructively challenge views and opinions which might suggest prejudicial views
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 employee’s behaviour, that in your professional opinion give you cause for concern or unease.

Concerns which should always be passed on are:

evidence of sharing of extremism websites/materials
encouraging others to become involved in gangs, extremist groups or similar
evidence of homophobic; religion based or racist bullying

When employing an apprentice, it is always better to raise any issue no matter how small they might seem, early intervention can often address issues and ensure these are challenged before they escalate. If you’d like to discuss this further, please contact your designated Contract Manager or Tutor/Assessor at PM Training who will be pleased to discuss it with you.

If you would like to report a concern, please contact PM Training 01782 27 9121 and ask for the Prevent lead or email Safeguarding.

What will we do?

We will discuss any concerns you may have and where appropriate contact the multi-agency Channel team to raise concerns. Channel works by partners jointly assessing the nature and the extent of the risk and where necessary, providing an appropriate support package tailored to the individual’s needs. The overall aim of Channel is early intervention and diverting people away from the risk they may face when employing an apprentice. The three key stages of Channel are: