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Emerge can offer vital help and support to young people aged 10-25 years where there has been incidents of self harm or suicide attempt.

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Emerge can offer vital help and support to young people aged 10-25 years where there has been incidents of self harm or suicide attempt.

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If you are aged 10 - 25 and are in hospital because you've self-harmed, taken an overdose or if you are feeling suicidal; our specially trained staff and volunteers can come and support you. Check out our Projects Page to find your nearest Emerge Project.

EMERGE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU FOLLOWING A CRISIS ADMISSION TO HOSPITAL, HOWEVER, EMERGE ARE NOT A CRISIS LINE. IF YOU NEED IMMEDIATE SUPORT IN A CRISIS MOMENT, PLEASE CALL 999 OR GO TO YOUR NEAREST HOSPITAL A&E.

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We're Recruiting - See Our Latest Vacancies Today Emerge Projects Our youth workers support young people attending A&E because of self-harm or a suicide attempt. FIND OUT MORE Emerge Follow Up

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Samaritans works to make sure there's always someone there for anyone who needs someone. Read more.

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Schools in knife crime hotspots to get targeted support

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Schools in knife crime hotspots to get targeted support

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Schools in knife crime hotspots to get targeted support

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Schools in high knife crime hotspots to get targeted support to divert children away from crime.

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Stay up to date with current safeguarding news

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Stay up to date with current safeguarding news

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We understand that everybody's experience is different. When you come to one of our services, we will personalise your care to help you achieve your goals.

If you're concerned about something and you don't know what steps to take, we have lots of advice and information that can help.

We're here to help with life's challenges, whether it's problems with drinking or drugs, or you're just looking to live a happier and healthier life.

When you come to a service for the first time, a friendly member of the team will greet you. Feel free to bring a friend or family member with you for support.

If someone was nervous to go to a service I'd say 'don't be fearful. Even if you need help for other issues like housing, the workers will do everything they can.'

Danielle works at our Bromley service

Read Danielle's story

Through volunteering, I see something in my future. I know I can still make something out of my life. I can make a difference in someone else's life.

Jose volunteers with us

Read Jose's story

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We're a national health and social care charity. We can help you with challenges including drugs and alcohol, housing, justice, health and wellbeing.

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Evidence your learning and claim the time spent exploring PADLET. Add entries to your OTJ log on your Ecordia portfolio.

It will be important to say you have used PADLET and then reflect on what you have learnt.

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How to Get Help If You Are Experiencing Homelessness

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Step One: Accessing Shelter or Housing Services If you are at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness, the first step is to get in touch with the shelter system in your community. You may need to call a hotline or […]

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If you need help or advice about bullying there are helplines and websites that can help.

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If you have a concern about something you have seen online, here are some ways you can report:

For adults: Report Harmful Content - We Help You Remove Content

For 16-18 year olds Report Harmful Content Child Friendly Version

Report Harmful Content - UK Safer Internet Centre

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Mediatory Support

We have a team of dedicated practitioners who not only review content but actively communicate with victims, ensuring they are listened to whilst offering guidance and mediatory support where needed.

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Report Harmful Content - UK Safer Internet Centre

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A national reporting centre that has been designed to assist anyone in reporting legal but harmful content online.

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Designed and Developed by South West Grid for Learning (https://swgfl.org.uk/)

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Video title: Refuge's 24-hour, Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline
Video duration: 1 minute 20 seconds
Description: Information video on what it is like to call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline and who can call it.

Refuge's 24-hour, Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline 'Transcript'

[Background music plays]

Soft down beat music

[Animated sequence]

Animation in hand-drawn style showing a woman in a house standing behind a man on a sofa. The woman looks worried and the man appears angry, a speech bubble comes out of the man's mouth.

[Text displays]

!*!!*!!

[Female voice over]

I was walking on eggshells around my partner didn't know where to turn.

[Animated sequence]

The door in the background slams shut. We zoom in on it and it turns into a smart mobile phone in the women's hand. The phone displays the details of the National Domestic Abuse Helpline Number and a green phone icon. Her finger hovers over the phone icon.

[Text displays]

Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247

[Female voice over]

I'd read about refuges National Domestic Abuse Helpline, but I was hesitant to call.

[Animated sequence]

The scene transitions to the woman sitting on a couch to the left of the screen, and another woman, the Helpline adviser, sitting on the right on a computer. They are facing each other. The screen is split into two different backgrounds with a window in the background that crosses over both.

[Female voice over]

The woman I spoke to really understood my situation though, it was such a relief just to talk.

[Animated sequence]

The woman begins to smile. The blinds in the window open up to show a sun and both rooms become brighter.

[Animated sequence]

Scene transitions to a top down view of the Helpline worker writing on lined paper.

[Female voice over]

I was reassured that it was a confidential and non-judgmental service run by a charity.

[Text displays]

Confidential

Non-judgemental

[Female voice over]

She said I could ring at any time, even if I just wanted to talk about what I was going through

[Text displays]

Any time

Just talk

[Female voice over]

It's free and open 24 hours a day.

[Text displays]

Free

24 hours

[Animated sequence]

Scene zooms out to show a group of five women of mixed races and ages including the Helpline adviser from the earlier scene.

[Female voice over]

It was comforting to know that the helpline is staffed by an all female team of experts,

[Animated sequence]

Scene zooms out to show smart mobile phone showing an animation of the live chat page on nationaldahelpline.org.uk. The women's finger begins to type.

[Female voice over]

and that I can also contact them using live chat.

[Sound effect]

Keys tapping

[Animated sequence]

The phone fades away and four framed picture swing into view. They show four women of various ages and races, one of who is pictured with a child, including the women from the first scene.

[Female voice over]

I was told that the helpline is open to any woman who is afraid of her partner,

[Sound effect]

Glass cracking

[Animated sequence]

The glass in one of the picture frames cracks

[Text displays]

[Female voice over]

whether you're being physically abused or not

[Animated sequence]

The picture of the woman from the first scene is zoomed in on. She picks up her mobile phone as the frame turns into a circle. Another circular frame, showing the Helpline adviser, comes into view and begins to merge with the woman's frame. The woman and the Helpline worker turn to face each other and hold hands.

[Female voice over]

The Helpline advisor helped me realise I'm not alone and reassured me it wasn't my fault.

[Text displays]

I'm not alone

[Animated sequence]

Scene scrolls across to show the woman looking in a mirror and hugging herself. She begins to smile.

[Female voice over]

That was really empowering and I began to believe in myself again.

She made me feel like I had choices.

[Background music plays]

Music becomes more upbeat

[Animated sequence]

Scene zooms in on mirror until the frame is not visible. The background transitions to show a countryside scene with rolling hills, trees and butterflies. The woman lifts a hot drink to take a sip and closes her eyes.

[Female voice over]

From that moment on, I could see a life free from violence and fear.

That phone call was the beginning of the rest of my life.

[Animated sequence]

The woman opens her eyes and looks up.

[Animated sequence]

Scene fades to show black text on a white background below the Refuge pink and black logo.

[Text displays]

Refuge's Freephone, 24 hour, National Domestic Abuse Helpline.
Call us on 0808 2000 247
Or visit wwww.nationaldahelpline.org.uk for information and support, including our live chat and secure online contact form.

We know our lines are often busy but we really want to hear from you.

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Home | Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline

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Video title: Refuge's 24-hour, Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline Video duration: 1 minute 20 seconds Description: Information video on what it is like to call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline and who can call it.

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Getting help for domestic violence and abuse

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Find out about the signs of domestic violence and abuse, and where to get help. Domestic violence and abuse can happen against women and against men, and anyone can be an abuser.

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There is information on individual types of abuse that impact woman and girls across the safeguarding Padlet page, this section helps you to understand the key term being used. VAWG stands for violence against women and girls.

Violence against women and girls encompasses a wide range of abusive behaviours, including but not limited to:

Domestic violence: Physical, emotional, or psychological abuse within intimate relationships.

Sexual violence: Sexual assault, cohesive control and harassment.

Human trafficking: Exploitation of women and girls for labour or sexual purposes.

Harmful practices: Female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, and honour-based violence.

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Here you can find support services that cover all aspects of violence against women and girls otherwise known as VAWG

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If you’re in an abusive relationship, find local help in your area. Use our online directory is available to find the right support near you.

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Domestic violence can be affecting anyone behind closed doors. Use the links to information and support below to widen your knowledge or to seek help.

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Help and advice for leaving a relationship and further information can be found here.

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The Survivor’s Handbook provides practical support and information for women experiencing domestic abuse, with simple guidance on every aspect of support.

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Shelter believes everyone should have a home. More than one million people a year come to us for advice and support via our website, helplines and national network of services. We also tackle the root causes of bad housing by campaigning for new laws, policies, and solutions.

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Thousands of people in Kent are facing homelessness

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The Safeguarding Alliance news, articles and policy updates - The Safeguarding Alliance

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News and articles from The Safeguarding Alliance, safeguarding policy updates, safeguarding news

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Keep up to date with news from the NSPCC

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The BBC reports on current events linking to safeguarding within the UK

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All the latest content about Child protection from the BBC.

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It's never okay for another person to pressure you to do something sexual. The person you're with should care about you enough not to pressure you or make you do something you're not happy about.

Pressure can include:

asking you over and over again

making you feel bad for not saying yes or changing your mind

threatening to tell other people or share things about you

being told you owe someone sex

feeling like you have to do it because of peer pressure or things you see online.

It's not okay for someone to make you feel like you have to do something sexual, and being made to do something can be considered rape or sexual assault.

If you're being pressured, then we're here to support you.

Even when you've said yes or felt comfortable before, it's always okay to change your mind. And you have the right to stop things any time you want to.

Remember, it's wrong for anyone to:

do anything sexual without your consent

make you feel bad, scared or guilty for not saying yes

do something sexual with you when you're drunk or have taken drugs

pressure you or make you feel like you have to do something

bully you or call you names because they don't agree with your decision

threaten to tell other people or share stuff online

offer you something in exchange for sex

force you into anything or hurt you.

If someone does something sexual with you without your consent, then that's rape or sexual assault. And if you've been made to feel like you can't say no, then we're here to support you.

Nobody is owed sex, and it's never okay for someone to make you feel like you owe them sex or that you have do something sexual if you don't want to.

Whether or not you do something sexual is always your choice. Even if someone has done something for you, helped you or bought you gifts, they have no right to expect you to pay them back sexually. Expecting someone to have sex or do something sexual in exchange for things is sometimes called sexual exploitation, and it's a type of sexual abuse.

If you're worried about owing someone sex, it's important to talk about it. You can ask about it anonymously on the message boards, talk to an adult you trust or speak to Childline any time.

Sexting is when you send a sexual message, photo or video to someone else. It could be a picture of you, but sometimes people send pictures and videos of other people.

If you're thinking about sexting or sending a nude, it's important to think about what might happen to anything you send, whether it's what you want and how it might make someone else feel. We've got lots of advice to help before you decide.

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Relationships can be confusing. Especially if you really like someone but they do things you're not comfortable with.

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Working together to safeguard children 2026 update is now live on the government website

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Working together to safeguard children 2026 update is now live on the government website

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The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaced the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

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The Lucy Faithfull Foundation | Preventing Child Sex Abuse

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We are the only UK-wide charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse. Find out more.

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Working with young people

This area is designed for all staff that work with young people, whether that be in a school, community setting, or as a service.

Here you will find what you need to ensure that you are able to fully support young people's emotional wellbeing and resilience, through access to tools such as whole setting approach resources, training, session plans and even support for your own wellbeing.

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Working with young people - Kent Resilience Hub

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When working with young people you need to ensure that you are able to fully support young people's emotional wellbeing and resilience.

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At Quest Training safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to providing a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for all our learners and employers.
Our team actively promotes the welfare of every learner, ensuring that all individuals are protected from harm, abuse, and neglect. We offer clear guidance, practical advice, and ongoing support to help learners and employers recognise, respond to, and report any safeguarding concerns.
To achieve this, we use a range of tools and approaches including Padlet, newsletters, and regularly updated policies to share information, raise awareness, and engage our community. We also invest in continuous improvement through regular in‑house and external training, ensuring our team stays informed and compliant with the latest safeguarding standards and best practice.
We believe safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and by working together we can maintain a culture of awareness, respect, and safety across all our training programmes

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LADO Education Safeguarding Advisory Service (LESAS) - KELSI

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Practical support for parents of children being bullied

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Practical support for parents of children being bullied

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How to stop a bully and the impact of bullying

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Panorama programme about knife crime can be seen via BBC I player - follow the link for information and the link

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Panorama programme about knife crime can be seen via BBC I player - follow the link for information and the link

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Frankie McCamley, Tim Robinson, Leanne Hayman

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My son was exploited and killed, but my pleas for help were ignored

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Jodian Taylor says her murdered son Daejaun was let down by authorities who did not treat his case with urgency.

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Back to Domestic Abuse Services Domestic abuse can happen in any relationship irrespective of someone's sexuality or gender identity.IDAS provides free, confidential advice and support to anyone who is subject to abuse. We support hundreds of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer people every year and our teams are compassionate,...

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Advice and support for the LGBTQ+ community

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Advice and support for the LGBTQ+ community

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Need Help?

It's important you get the help and support you need.

If you need help and advice on any issue, the following organisations are experienced in dealing with your concerns. Some of these organisations also provide counselling advice.

Always remember, if you are ever in immediate danger you should always call 999.

Equality and human rights issues

Equality Advisory and Support Service (England, Scotland, Wales) offer free, confidential advice and support if you feel you have been discriminated against or if you feel your human rights have been breached.

Travel advice

GOV.UK offers travel advice specifically for LGB&T people travelling abroad. Click here for country or territory specific advice.

Revenge Porn

Revenge Porn Helpline provide free, confidential advice and support for all victims of revenge porn.

Hate crime

True Vision provide advice on hate crime, how to report it, and where to get support .

GOV.UK also provides advice on how to report hate crime.

Trans health

NHS offers transgender health advice and support.

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust's Gender Identity Development Service offers health advice and support to young people presenting with difficulties with their gender identity.

LGB health advice

NHS offers LGB health information and support.

Domestic abuse

Galop is a national LGB&T domestic abuse helpline.

Young people under 25

The Mix (formerly Get Connected) provide phone, email or web chat support on any issue. Also includes a comprehensive searchable directory of other LGB&T support services.

Children and young people up to the age of 19

Childline provides free, confidential advice, support and counselling on any issue.

If you require emotional support

Samaritans provides emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide.

If you need more information or guidance on your rights, the following links below might be helpful.

Gender Identity

Information on Application for a Gender Recognition Certificate (and how this interacts with marriage.)

Marriage

How to apply for a Marriage or Civil Partnership in the UK.

Discrimination

There is a range of guidance and advice on your rights.

GOV.UK has information on discrimination and your rights.

Guidance for employers and service providers on supporting and including transgender customers and recruiting and retaining transgender staff.

Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance for workers.

Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance for service users.

There is also information on the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Crime

Information on how to get a historical conviction for consensual gay sex deleted from the record.

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Need Help? It's important you get the help and support you need. If you need help and advice on any issue, the following organisations are experienced in dealing with your concerns. Some of these organisations also provide counselling advice. Always remember, if you are ever in immediate danger you should always call 999.

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Safeguarding LGBTQ+ children and young people 

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Safeguarding LGBTQ+ children and young people 

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Introduction

Best practice for protecting LGBTQ+ children and young people

All children and young people have the right to be protected and kept safe from abuse and neglect.

LGBTQ+ children and young people face the same risks as all children and young people, but they are at greater risk of some types of abuse. For example, they might experience homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying or hate crime. They might also be more vulnerable to or at greater risk of sexual abuse, online abuse or sexual exploitation (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016; McGeeney et al, 2017; Xu and Zheng, 2014).

What does LGBTQ+ stand for?

LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning and more. This term covers a broad range of people who have different lived experiences and may be at different stages in exploring their identity. It includes people who are asexual or have differences in sex development (sometimes known as being intersex).

There are a wide variety of terms people might use to describe their sexuality (who they feel attracted to) or their gender identity (their personal, internal perception of their own gender). For example, someone who has a different gender identity from the sex that was registered at their birth might identify as trans or transgender. Other people whose gender identity doesn't sit comfortably with 'boy' or 'girl' might identify as non-binary, agender, gender fluid or genderqueer (Government Equalities Office, 2018).

Children and young people might identify as LGBTQ+ in more than one way, for example they could be gay and transgender. Children who are LGBTQ+ might also have other characteristics that mean they face additional challenges or need extra support, for example being in care, being disabled or being from a Black, Asian or minoritised ethnic group.

Adults who work with LGBTQ+ children and young people need to understand the challenges they might experience and know what action to take to support and help keep them safe.

What does this page cover?

Adversities faced by LGBTQ+ children and young people.

Risk of harm for LGBTQ+ children and young people.

Understanding intersectionality.

Policies and procedures you should have in place.

Best practice for supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people.

Relevant legislation and guidance.

Adversities

Adversities faced by LGBTQ+ children and young people

People's perceptions of, or ideas about, LGBTQ+ young people's identity can make children more vulnerable to negative experiences or interactions. These might include:

experiencing homophobia, biphobia and transphobia (The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council, 2018; LGBT Health & Wellbeing et al, 2018; McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018; Scottish Government, 2021)

feeling the pressure of sexual and gender norms (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018; Scottish Government, 2021)

having to manage their sexual and gender identity across different life areas (for example, coming out at school but not at home) (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018)

feeling isolated or 'different' from their family and friends (The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council, 2018; LGBT Health & Wellbeing et al, 2018)

feeling like they can't express their identity because they're worried about people's responses (LGBT Health & Wellbeing et al, 2018)

having complicated or negative feelings about their gender identity or sexuality (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018)

experiencing gender dysphoria (NHS, 2021).

"I am transgender but it's so hard living like this when there are so many ignorant people out there. It's really stressing me out and sometimes I wish I wasn't here. I wish people would just accept me for who I am and that I could feel normal"
Childline counselling session with a child, age unknown.
These negative experiences and interactions can impact on all areas of a young person's life.

Family relationships

Some young people who talk to Childline about gender and sexuality also talk about their family relationships. Topics discussed include:

experiencing negative reactions from family members after coming out

being afraid of not being accepted by their family

worrying about not being able to be themselves at home.

"I came out to my parents recently and they were really shocked and shouted at me which really upset me. I feel uncomfortable and I don't like being at home as I am having to constantly hide how I am feeling. I have been going to the LGBT club at school and find it really helpful. It provides a safe space for me to be who I am. I feel I can talk to the teacher who runs the club about my feelings as they are so supportive and understanding"
Childline counselling session with a 13-year-old child.
Homelessness

LGBTQ+ young people are more likely to become homeless than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. This might be because of:

parental rejection

being subject to physical, emotional or sexual abuse from family members

family violence

(Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), 2015).

If they are homeless, LGBTQ+ young people are more likely to experience targeted violence and be exposed to sexual exploitation. For example, perpetrators might offer a child a safe space to stay in order to sexually exploit or abuse them (The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs' Council, 2018).

Mental health

Puberty can be a distressing and sometimes traumatic time for LGBTQ+ children and young people as their body and hormones start to change. They might start to have new or confusing feelings about their gender or sexuality. This can be particularly distressing if young people don't have anyone to talk about things with or don't feel supported.

Research suggests that LGBTQ+ children and young people might be at higher risk than their non-LGBTQ+ peers of:

self-harm

experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings

anxiety

depression

(McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018; LGBT Health & Wellbeing, Scottish Trans, Equality Network, LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall Scotland, 2018; Becerra-Culqui, 2018).

Isolation or barriers to speaking out

There are some factors that might mean LGBTQ+ children and young people feel less able to speak out about any worries or negative experiences they're having.

Barriers include:

worrying that telling someone will 'out' them before they're ready

fearing that it will make the bullying or abuse worse

thinking no one will believe them

feeling they are to blame for what they're experiencing

worrying that adults will think their gender identity or sexuality is to blame for their experience of abuse

(Bradlow et al, 2017; The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council, 2018; Stonewall and Childnet International, 2022).

Young people who are questioning or exploring their sexuality or gender identity might have confusing or difficult feelings. They might worry they will face discrimination if they come out or not feel able to talk to anyone about what they're going through. (Becerra-Culqui et al, 2018).

Risks of harm

Risks of harm

Evidence suggests that LGBTQ+ children and young people might be at increased risk of some forms of harm.

Child sexual exploitation

LGBTQ+ relationships are underrepresented in educational resources and the media (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016). This means there are fewer examples of relevant, healthy relationships available to LGBTQ+ young people. If LGBTQ+ young people are not taught about healthy and unhealthy relationships, it might be easier for an abuser to groom them into believing an abusive relationship is normal.

If LGBTQ+ young people are unable to get information about sex and relationships from school or family, they might seek advice and support from people in adult spaces, such as gay clubs. This is particularly true of young people who live in rural areas or in communities where their gender identity or sexuality is not accepted. Adult spaces don't have the same safeguarding and child protection measures in place as spaces specifically for children. Children might be pressured or coerced into doing something they don't want to do, particularly if they are already isolated and don't have anywhere else to turn for support (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016).

The adults around a child can sometimes assume that it's normal for LGBTQ+ young people to have sex at a younger age as part of exploring their identity. This means the adults might not consider being involved in underage sexual activity as a possible sign of abuse, and do not take appropriate action to protect the child. Similarly, professionals might not always consider the possibility that an adult woman is sexually exploiting a girl (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016).

Online abuse

The internet can be a great place of advice, support and community for young LGBTQ+ people. However, there are also risks associated with using the internet.

LGBTQ+ children might use adult dating apps to meet other LGBTQ+ people, especially if they can't find inclusive offline spaces or communities nearby. These apps are designed for adults and are not moderated in the same way as platforms designed specifically for children. This means the young people using them might encounter sexual content which could be harmful, and are likely to come into contact with adults who are looking for a sexual relationship (Internet Matters, 2021).

"I am really struggling with my emotions. I met someone online and we got on really well. We talked a lot and he knew I was desperate for money so offered to pay me for nudes. I trusted him and really needed the money, so I sent them. I immediately regretted it afterwards and got scared so I have blocked him and deleted everything to do with the account and images. I feel so disgusting and vile about it. I just want to be able to live with myself and not feel constantly guilty. I am ashamed and have learnt a lesson from it and will never let myself be manipulated like this again".
Childline counselling session with a 15-year-old boy
There is some evidence to suggest that LGBTQ+ children and young people are more likely to meet a partner or ask someone out online (McGeeney et al, 2017). The research suggests this could be because young people find it hard to meet other openly LGBTQ+ people in their community, or because they don't want to come out to people in their offline lives (McGeeney et al, 2017). This research also showed that gay and lesbian young people were significantly more likely to meet up with someone offline who they had first met online and who was not who they said they were (McGeeney et al, 2017).

Online grooming could happen to any child or young person. But if an LGBTQ+ child or young person hasn't come out, or feels that their gender identity or sexuality needs to be kept secret, perpetrators can take advantage of this to prevent the child from telling anyone about the relationship or to coerce them into meeting offline without telling anyone else.

Any young person might become involved in sending or receiving sexual photos or messages online. They might do this consensually, or they could feel pressured by their peers or adults. Once an image is shared online, young people have no control over how other people might use it. Some adults online might target LGBTQ+ young people to groom or blackmail them into sending explicit images or videos of themselves (Internet Matters, 2021).

> Find out more about sexting
> Take our Sharing nudes and semi-nudes training

Children and young people might also encounter non-sexual harmful content on the internet.

They might seek information about a range of LGBTQ+ issues online, particularly if they don't have any other sources of information. While doing so, they might come across inaccurate material, hate comments or content that isn't age appropriate. All of these can cause children distress (Government Equalities Office, 2018; Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

Children might see anti-LGBTQ+ posts or homophobic, biphobic and transphobic comments even if they aren't specifically looking for information about LGBTQ+ issues. These can be distressing whether or not the child or young person is directly being targeted (Internet Matters, 2021).

Bullying

Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying is based on prejudice or negative attitudes about gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people. This can include name calling, using offensive language and negative stereotyping. Bullying can happen anywhere, including at home, at school or online (cyberbullying).

HBT bullying can affect children who have come out as LGBTQ+, who are questioning their gender identity or sexuality or who don't conform to gender stereotypes and are seen as 'different' (Scottish Government, 2021). It might also affect children and young people who have LGBTQ+ family members.

"People in my school bully me. They push me around, hit me and spit at me and call me names. I go to the LGBTQ+ club at school to avoid them, but they follow me and keep shouting names at me. I feel stressed and annoyed and like I am not part of the school or welcomed anymore. I am too scared to tell on the bullies because last time I reported them it made the bullying worse."
Childline counselling session with a 13-year-old child
Some children have reported experiencing HBT bullying, verbal assault and physical assault in school because of their gender identity or sexuality. This can leave them feeling unsafe in school environments (Government Equalities Office, 2018; Ofsted, 2021; Scottish Government, 2021).

Children and young people who experience HBT bullying can be more likely to have suicidal thoughts and feelings, or self-harm (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2017).

Intersectionality

Taking an intersectional approach

LGBTQ+ children, like all children, have diverse identities. As well as experiencing prejudice or bias related to their gender identity or sexuality, they might experience challenges relating to other parts of their identity, such as:

ethnicity

disability

mental health

having been in care

where they live, how much money they have and how much access they have to education.

The way these challenges interact is known as intersectionality.

For example, a child may be growing up in a culture which does not accept their sexuality or gender identity. It can be difficult for children to cope with this and it can have a negative impact on their welfare.

"I'm upset because I came out to my family as transgender and they're refusing to support me. My family are from Pakistan and don't want me to dress in girl's clothes because they say it will bring shame to the family. I've been self-harming and recently the pressure from my family has been so much that I'm feeling suicidal again, I don't know what to do"
Childline counselling session with a transgender girl aged 16. > Listen to our podcast episode on intersectionality in social work practice
Learning for practitioners: understanding the child

When you're working with a child, consider all the factors that might influence their safety and wellbeing. Take the time to get to know them, understand their lived experience and how they might face risks due to how other might perceive their identity.

You could consider creating safe spaces for children who have similar identities and come from the same community. This might help them talk about their experiences and get peer support.
Find out more about: > Safeguarding children who come from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities > Safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children and young people > Safeguarding children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) > Looked after children > Child mental health

Policies and procedures

Creating policies and procedures

LGBTQ+ inclusive policies

Your organisation's policies and procedures should set out how you will create a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for all children and young people.

You should ensure that LGBTQ+ children and young people are fully represented in all your policies and procedures as part of your work to ensure your organisation is fully inclusive.

Think about how you can work collaboratively and make sure you include the views of people in the LGBTQ+ community. How can you engage with the LGBTQ+ adults and children in your organisation so that they feel comfortable?

For example, you should consider how you can support transgender and non-binary children and young people to wear the clothes (e.g uniform or sports kit) and use the toilets and changing rooms that they feel comfortable with. Your policies should reflect that decisions need to be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration all children's safety. You should discuss options with the young person and their parents or carers (as long as this does not put the young person at risk of harm) (Scottish Government, 2021).

It's important to use appropriate language when talking to and about children and young people. You should ask LGBTQ+ children and young people what language they use to describe themselves, and use these terms in your policies and procedures.

You could also create a dedicated policy outlining how you will support LGBTQ+ children and young people specifically.

> Learn more about peer-on-peer sexual abuse
> Read our blog about contextual safeguarding
Safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures

All organisations that work with children and young people need to have a safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures.

This should include your commitment to protect all children regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

You should make sure that your safeguarding and child protection policy recognises the additional risks and vulnerability factors for LGBTQ+ children and young people.

You should complete risk assessments for specific contexts, such as changing rooms, taking into account all safeguarding risks that might be present and taking appropriate action to keep all children safe (Scottish Government, 2021).
> Read more about safeguarding considerations for getting changed at school > Find out more about writing a safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures > Take our introductory safeguarding and child protection courses
Recognising and responding to child protection concerns

All your staff and volunteers should know how to recognise and respond to concerns about children and young people's safety and welfare.

Concerns about LGBTQ+ children and young people should be dealt with sensitively, taking into consideration any complicated feelings they might have about their sexuality or gender identity. For example, if a child has been using adult dating apps you need to take immediate steps to keep them safe. But you should also consider the reasons why they might be using those apps.

Make sure children know they can talk to you about anything that's worrying them. Make sure children also know about Childline and how they can contact them for confidential advice and support. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also get support and advice via the Childline website.

Young people under 18 who are worried that a sexual image or video of them may have been shared online can use Childline and IWF's Report Remove tool to see if it can be taken down.
> Learn more about recognising and responding to abuse > Find out more about how to respond to a disclosure of abuse
Information sharing

If you are worried about a child or young person's safety and welfare you should share this information promptly, following your organisation's safeguarding and child protection procedures.

However, you should be mindful that LGBTQ+ children and young people might not want to come out to everyone in their life. Sharing a child or young person's gender identity or sexuality might put them at extra risk if the person you tell is not supportive.

You could also break a child or young person's trust if you share information about their gender identity or sexuality without their permission, or without letting them know first.

You should only share information about a child or young person's sexuality or gender identity if they give you permission, or if it's relevant to a child protection concern.

For example, you might have to tell someone about a young person's sexuality or gender identity if:

they are experiencing homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying

they are using adult dating apps

there is a concern they might have been groomed or coerced into a sexual relationship

there is a concern they might be experiencing sexual abuse or exploitation

they are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness because their family are unsupportive of their gender identity or sexuality

(Stonewall, 2022).
> Learn more about when to share information about a child

> Learn more about gaining a child's consent to share information

Supporting children and young people

Supporting children and young people

There are a range of ways you can help support and protect the LGBTQ+ children, young people and families you work with.

Understanding a child's lived experience

It's important to remember that any child or young person you're working with could be LGBTQ+, whether or not they have told you about their identity. You should aim to understand the lived experience of every child, the risks that might be present and how that interacts with their life and identity.

Make it clear to the children and young people you work with that you're someone they can talk to about their identity and feel safe with. Be open minded and don't make assumptions about a child's sexuality or gender identity. Always consider how gender identity or sexuality could impact on their life and any risks they might face.

You could ask children and young people their pronouns, chosen name and how they would like to be referred to.

Relationships and sex education

Some young people who are exploring or questioning their sexuality or identity might struggle to accept themselves if they have insufficient knowledge about being LGBTQ+. This can contribute to low wellbeing or mental health issues (Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

LGBTQ+ people and families should be reflected throughout the curriculum to help LGBTQ+ children feel safe and included (Scottish Government, 2021). It is important that children and young people are taught about all kinds of relationships, including LGBTQ+ relationships. When having discussions about relationships, make it clear to children and young people that same sex relationships and different gender identities are valid and should be respected. Talk to them about what a healthy relationship looks like, and make sure they know who to talk to if they are ever worried about anything.

Each nation in the UK has guidance on how schools should deliver relationships and sex education.

> Learn more about promoting healthy relationships in school

Children and young people can learn more about gender identity and sexuality on the Childline website.

Parents and carers can find out how to support children who are questioning or exploring their gender identity and sexuality on the NSPCC website.

Mental health

Adults in your organisation should know how to recognise and respond to concerns about children and young people's mental health.
> Find out more about how to recognise and respond to children's mental health issues
Think about how your organisation can support LGBTQ+ children and young people who are struggling with their mental health and promote good emotional wellbeing.
> Learn more about how to promote good mental health and wellbeing
LGBTQ+ children and young people may also experience loneliness. Our Building Connections online service provides support from a trained befriender for young people aged up to 19.

> Find out more about Building Connections

There's lots of advice, tips and information about mental health for children and young people on the Childline website.

The NSPCC website has information for parents and carers on how to recognise if a child is struggling with their mental health and how to support them.

Online safety

Your organisation should have an online safety policy that takes into account the additional risks LGBTQ+ children and young people might face online. Staff and volunteers should be able to recognise and respond to any child protection concerns about LGBTQ+ children and young people online.

> Find out more about online safety

> View our e-safety resources for schools

> Take our online safety training

> View our Sharing nudes and semi-nudes training

Parents and carers can find tips on what they can do to keep children safe online and how to talk to their children about online safety on the NSPCC website.

Young people under 18 who are worried that a sexual image or video of them may have been shared online can use Childline and IWF's Report Remove tool to see if it can be taken down.

The Childline website has lots of advice and information for children and young people about online safety.

Bullying

Creating an inclusive and safe environment in your organisation can help children and young people learn to respect everyone's identity and reduce bullying.

Using resources that show different types of families can help improve children and young people's behaviour and reduce homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying (Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

You should have an anti-bullying statement which sets out your commitment to preventing and tackling bullying and how you will respond to incidents.

Staff and volunteers should challenge gender stereotypes and any kind of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language. Your organisation's behaviour codes should outline your expectations that everyone is treated with respect, both on- and offline.

Make sure children and young people know who in the organisation they can talk to if they are experiencing bullying.
> View our range of anti-bullying resources
The NSPCC website has advice for parents and carers on how to keep children safe from bullying.

Children and young people can find help on the Childline website if they're being bullied.

> Find out more about looked after children

> Find out more about safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children and young people

Legislation and guidance

Legislation on safeguarding LGBTQ+ children and young people

Statutory guidance across the UK highlights the responsibility of those in education, community and care sectors to safeguard all children from all forms of abuse and neglect.

Find out more about the child protection system in:

LGBTQ+ children and young people in the UK are protected under equality legislation.

> Read more about children's rights

Guidance on supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people in schools

Across the UK there is guidance and best practice information on supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people in schools. Organisations in other sectors might also find this helpful.

The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on bullying in schools in the UK, which provides information and signposts guidance on how schools can tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying (House of Commons Library, 2020a).

The House of Commons Library has also published a briefing giving an overview of provisions to support transgender children and young people in schools across the UK. It covers the Equality Act 2010, toilet facilities and changing rooms, sports, school uniforms, the curriculum and bullying (House of Commons Library, 2020).

In England, the Department for Education (DfE) has published non-statutory guidance for schools on the Equality Act 2010. This provides guidance on how schools should ensure that children and young people aren't discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender reassignment (DfE, 2014).

Ofsted has published a research commentary on teaching about sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. This shares examples of good practice and covers school culture, the curriculum, teaching about sexuality and gender and engaging with parents. It also includes good practice examples from faith schools (Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

In Northern Ireland, the Education Authority (EA) has published guidance for schools and other education settings on supporting transgender children and young people. This includes information on creating an inclusive environment, the curriculum, bullying and practical considerations such as toilets, changing rooms and uniforms (EA, 2019).

In Scotland, the Scottish Government has published non-statutory guidance for schools on supporting transgender young people. This guidance includes information on:

child protection, confidentiality and information sharing

bullying and safety

language

mental health

the curriculum

a whole-school approach to supporting transgender young people

working with parents and carers

practical considerations such as toilets, physical activity and uniforms

(Scottish Government, 2021).

LGBT inclusive education has been a national requirement for schools in Scotland since 2021. The Scottish Government has created an online toolkit to help teachers embed LGBT learning themes throughout the Scottish curriculum (Scottish Government and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE), 2021).

In Wales, Estyn has published guidance on how schools can support LGBTQ+ children and young people and create an inclusive environment (PDF) (Estyn, 2020).

References

References

Albert Kennedy Trust (2015) LGBT youth homelessness: a UK national scoping of cause, prevalence, response, and outcome (PDF). [London]: Albert Kennedy Trust.

Barnardo's and Fox, C. (2016) 'It's not on the radar': the hidden diversity of children and young people at risk of sexual exploitation in England (PDF). Essex: Barnardo's.

Becerra-Culqui, T. et al (2018) Mental health of transgender and gender nonconforming youth compared with their peers. Pediatrics, 141(5).

Bradlow, J. et al (2017) School report: the experiences of lesbian, gay, bi and trans young people in Britain's schools in 2017 (PDF). London: Stonewall.

Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council (NPSCC) (2018) Supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people at risk of child sexual exploitation: guidance for professionals (PDF). [London]: The Children's Society.

Department for Education (DfE) (2014) Equality Act 2010: advice for schools. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

Education Authority (EA) (2019) Guidance for schools, EOSTAS centres and youth service on supporting transgender young people. [Accessed 18/10/2021].

Estyn (2020) Celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion: good practice in supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) learners in schools and colleges (PDF). [Cardiff]: Estyn.

Government Equalities Office (2018) National LGBT survey: research report (PDF). Manchester: Government Equalities Office.

House of Commons Library (2020a) Bullying in UK schools. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

House of Commons Library (2020b) Provisions to support transgender children in schools. [Accessed 18/10/2021].

Internet Matters (2021) LGBTQ+: advice for professionals working with LGBTQ+ young people aged 7-18. [Accessed 30/07/2021].

LGBT Health & Wellbeing, Scottish Trans, Equality Network, LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall Scotland (2018) LGBTI populations and mental health inequality (PDF). [Edinburgh]: LGBT Health & Wellbeing.

McDermott, E., Hughes, E. and Rawlings, V. (2018) The social determinants of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth suicidality in England: a mixed methods study. Journal of Public Health, 40(3): e244-e251.

McGeeney, E., Hanson, E., Brook and National Crime Agency (2017) Digital romance: a research project exploring young people's use of technology in their romantic relationships and love lives (PDF). London: National Crime Agency.

NHS (2021) Gender dysphoria. [Accessed 18/10/2021].

Ofsted (2021) Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

Ofsted and Brown, Chris (2021) Research commentary: teaching about sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

Olson, Kristina R. et al (2016) Mental health of transgender children who are supported in their identities. Pediatrics, 137(3): e20153223.

Russell, Stephen T. et al (2018) Chosen name use is linked to reduced depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behaviour among transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(4): 503-505.

Scottish Government (2021) Supporting transgender young people in schools: guidance for Scottish schools. [Accessed 16/08/2021].

Scottish Government and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) (2021) lgbteducation.scot [Accessed 13/10/2021].

Stonewall (2022) An introduction to supporting LGBT children and young people: a guide for schools, colleges and settings (PDF). London: Stonewall.

Stonewall and Childnet International (2022) Staying safe online: practical strategies to best support all children and young people online, including those who identify as LGBT (PDF). London: Stonewall.

Xu, Yin and Zheng, Yong (2014) Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse among lesbian, gay and bisexual people: a meta-analysis. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 24(3): 315-331.

Introduction

Best practice for protecting LGBTQ+ children and young people

All children and young people have the right to be protected and kept safe from abuse and neglect.

LGBTQ+ children and young people face the same risks as all children and young people, but they are at greater risk of some types of abuse. For example, they might experience homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying or hate crime. They might also be more vulnerable to or at greater risk of sexual abuse, online abuse or sexual exploitation (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016; McGeeney et al, 2017; Xu and Zheng, 2014).

What does LGBTQ+ stand for?

LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning and more. This term covers a broad range of people who have different lived experiences and may be at different stages in exploring their identity. It includes people who are asexual or have differences in sex development (sometimes known as being intersex).

There are a wide variety of terms people might use to describe their sexuality (who they feel attracted to) or their gender identity (their personal, internal perception of their own gender). For example, someone who has a different gender identity from the sex that was registered at their birth might identify as trans or transgender. Other people whose gender identity doesn't sit comfortably with 'boy' or 'girl' might identify as non-binary, agender, gender fluid or genderqueer (Government Equalities Office, 2018).

Children and young people might identify as LGBTQ+ in more than one way, for example they could be gay and transgender. Children who are LGBTQ+ might also have other characteristics that mean they face additional challenges or need extra support, for example being in care, being disabled or being from a Black, Asian or minoritised ethnic group.

Adults who work with LGBTQ+ children and young people need to understand the challenges they might experience and know what action to take to support and help keep them safe.

What does this page cover?

Adversities faced by LGBTQ+ children and young people.

Risk of harm for LGBTQ+ children and young people.

Understanding intersectionality.

Policies and procedures you should have in place.

Best practice for supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people.

Relevant legislation and guidance.

Adversities

Adversities faced by LGBTQ+ children and young people

People's perceptions of, or ideas about, LGBTQ+ young people's identity can make children more vulnerable to negative experiences or interactions. These might include:

experiencing homophobia, biphobia and transphobia (The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council, 2018; LGBT Health & Wellbeing et al, 2018; McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018; Scottish Government, 2021)

feeling the pressure of sexual and gender norms (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018; Scottish Government, 2021)

having to manage their sexual and gender identity across different life areas (for example, coming out at school but not at home) (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018)

feeling isolated or 'different' from their family and friends (The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council, 2018; LGBT Health & Wellbeing et al, 2018)

feeling like they can't express their identity because they're worried about people's responses (LGBT Health & Wellbeing et al, 2018)

having complicated or negative feelings about their gender identity or sexuality (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018)

experiencing gender dysphoria (NHS, 2021).

"I am transgender but it's so hard living like this when there are so many ignorant people out there. It's really stressing me out and sometimes I wish I wasn't here. I wish people would just accept me for who I am and that I could feel normal"
Childline counselling session with a child, age unknown.
These negative experiences and interactions can impact on all areas of a young person's life.

Family relationships

Some young people who talk to Childline about gender and sexuality also talk about their family relationships. Topics discussed include:

experiencing negative reactions from family members after coming out

being afraid of not being accepted by their family

worrying about not being able to be themselves at home.

"I came out to my parents recently and they were really shocked and shouted at me which really upset me. I feel uncomfortable and I don't like being at home as I am having to constantly hide how I am feeling. I have been going to the LGBT club at school and find it really helpful. It provides a safe space for me to be who I am. I feel I can talk to the teacher who runs the club about my feelings as they are so supportive and understanding"
Childline counselling session with a 13-year-old child.
Homelessness

LGBTQ+ young people are more likely to become homeless than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. This might be because of:

parental rejection

being subject to physical, emotional or sexual abuse from family members

family violence

(Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), 2015).

If they are homeless, LGBTQ+ young people are more likely to experience targeted violence and be exposed to sexual exploitation. For example, perpetrators might offer a child a safe space to stay in order to sexually exploit or abuse them (The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs' Council, 2018).

Mental health

Puberty can be a distressing and sometimes traumatic time for LGBTQ+ children and young people as their body and hormones start to change. They might start to have new or confusing feelings about their gender or sexuality. This can be particularly distressing if young people don't have anyone to talk about things with or don't feel supported.

Research suggests that LGBTQ+ children and young people might be at higher risk than their non-LGBTQ+ peers of:

self-harm

experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings

anxiety

depression

(McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2018; LGBT Health & Wellbeing, Scottish Trans, Equality Network, LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall Scotland, 2018; Becerra-Culqui, 2018).

Isolation or barriers to speaking out

There are some factors that might mean LGBTQ+ children and young people feel less able to speak out about any worries or negative experiences they're having.

Barriers include:

worrying that telling someone will 'out' them before they're ready

fearing that it will make the bullying or abuse worse

thinking no one will believe them

feeling they are to blame for what they're experiencing

worrying that adults will think their gender identity or sexuality is to blame for their experience of abuse

(Bradlow et al, 2017; The Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council, 2018; Stonewall and Childnet International, 2022).

Young people who are questioning or exploring their sexuality or gender identity might have confusing or difficult feelings. They might worry they will face discrimination if they come out or not feel able to talk to anyone about what they're going through. (Becerra-Culqui et al, 2018).

Risks of harm

Risks of harm

Evidence suggests that LGBTQ+ children and young people might be at increased risk of some forms of harm.

Child sexual exploitation

LGBTQ+ relationships are underrepresented in educational resources and the media (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016). This means there are fewer examples of relevant, healthy relationships available to LGBTQ+ young people. If LGBTQ+ young people are not taught about healthy and unhealthy relationships, it might be easier for an abuser to groom them into believing an abusive relationship is normal.

If LGBTQ+ young people are unable to get information about sex and relationships from school or family, they might seek advice and support from people in adult spaces, such as gay clubs. This is particularly true of young people who live in rural areas or in communities where their gender identity or sexuality is not accepted. Adult spaces don't have the same safeguarding and child protection measures in place as spaces specifically for children. Children might be pressured or coerced into doing something they don't want to do, particularly if they are already isolated and don't have anywhere else to turn for support (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016).

The adults around a child can sometimes assume that it's normal for LGBTQ+ young people to have sex at a younger age as part of exploring their identity. This means the adults might not consider being involved in underage sexual activity as a possible sign of abuse, and do not take appropriate action to protect the child. Similarly, professionals might not always consider the possibility that an adult woman is sexually exploiting a girl (Barnardo's and Fox, 2016).

Online abuse

The internet can be a great place of advice, support and community for young LGBTQ+ people. However, there are also risks associated with using the internet.

LGBTQ+ children might use adult dating apps to meet other LGBTQ+ people, especially if they can't find inclusive offline spaces or communities nearby. These apps are designed for adults and are not moderated in the same way as platforms designed specifically for children. This means the young people using them might encounter sexual content which could be harmful, and are likely to come into contact with adults who are looking for a sexual relationship (Internet Matters, 2021).

"I am really struggling with my emotions. I met someone online and we got on really well. We talked a lot and he knew I was desperate for money so offered to pay me for nudes. I trusted him and really needed the money, so I sent them. I immediately regretted it afterwards and got scared so I have blocked him and deleted everything to do with the account and images. I feel so disgusting and vile about it. I just want to be able to live with myself and not feel constantly guilty. I am ashamed and have learnt a lesson from it and will never let myself be manipulated like this again".
Childline counselling session with a 15-year-old boy
There is some evidence to suggest that LGBTQ+ children and young people are more likely to meet a partner or ask someone out online (McGeeney et al, 2017). The research suggests this could be because young people find it hard to meet other openly LGBTQ+ people in their community, or because they don't want to come out to people in their offline lives (McGeeney et al, 2017). This research also showed that gay and lesbian young people were significantly more likely to meet up with someone offline who they had first met online and who was not who they said they were (McGeeney et al, 2017).

Online grooming could happen to any child or young person. But if an LGBTQ+ child or young person hasn't come out, or feels that their gender identity or sexuality needs to be kept secret, perpetrators can take advantage of this to prevent the child from telling anyone about the relationship or to coerce them into meeting offline without telling anyone else.

Any young person might become involved in sending or receiving sexual photos or messages online. They might do this consensually, or they could feel pressured by their peers or adults. Once an image is shared online, young people have no control over how other people might use it. Some adults online might target LGBTQ+ young people to groom or blackmail them into sending explicit images or videos of themselves (Internet Matters, 2021).

> Find out more about sexting
> Take our Sharing nudes and semi-nudes training

Children and young people might also encounter non-sexual harmful content on the internet.

They might seek information about a range of LGBTQ+ issues online, particularly if they don't have any other sources of information. While doing so, they might come across inaccurate material, hate comments or content that isn't age appropriate. All of these can cause children distress (Government Equalities Office, 2018; Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

Children might see anti-LGBTQ+ posts or homophobic, biphobic and transphobic comments even if they aren't specifically looking for information about LGBTQ+ issues. These can be distressing whether or not the child or young person is directly being targeted (Internet Matters, 2021).

Bullying

Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying is based on prejudice or negative attitudes about gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people. This can include name calling, using offensive language and negative stereotyping. Bullying can happen anywhere, including at home, at school or online (cyberbullying).

HBT bullying can affect children who have come out as LGBTQ+, who are questioning their gender identity or sexuality or who don't conform to gender stereotypes and are seen as 'different' (Scottish Government, 2021). It might also affect children and young people who have LGBTQ+ family members.

"People in my school bully me. They push me around, hit me and spit at me and call me names. I go to the LGBTQ+ club at school to avoid them, but they follow me and keep shouting names at me. I feel stressed and annoyed and like I am not part of the school or welcomed anymore. I am too scared to tell on the bullies because last time I reported them it made the bullying worse."
Childline counselling session with a 13-year-old child
Some children have reported experiencing HBT bullying, verbal assault and physical assault in school because of their gender identity or sexuality. This can leave them feeling unsafe in school environments (Government Equalities Office, 2018; Ofsted, 2021; Scottish Government, 2021).

Children and young people who experience HBT bullying can be more likely to have suicidal thoughts and feelings, or self-harm (McDermott, Hughes and Rawlings, 2017).

Intersectionality

Taking an intersectional approach

LGBTQ+ children, like all children, have diverse identities. As well as experiencing prejudice or bias related to their gender identity or sexuality, they might experience challenges relating to other parts of their identity, such as:

ethnicity

disability

mental health

having been in care

where they live, how much money they have and how much access they have to education.

The way these challenges interact is known as intersectionality.

For example, a child may be growing up in a culture which does not accept their sexuality or gender identity. It can be difficult for children to cope with this and it can have a negative impact on their welfare.

"I'm upset because I came out to my family as transgender and they're refusing to support me. My family are from Pakistan and don't want me to dress in girl's clothes because they say it will bring shame to the family. I've been self-harming and recently the pressure from my family has been so much that I'm feeling suicidal again, I don't know what to do"
Childline counselling session with a transgender girl aged 16. > Listen to our podcast episode on intersectionality in social work practice
Learning for practitioners: understanding the child

When you're working with a child, consider all the factors that might influence their safety and wellbeing. Take the time to get to know them, understand their lived experience and how they might face risks due to how other might perceive their identity.

You could consider creating safe spaces for children who have similar identities and come from the same community. This might help them talk about their experiences and get peer support.
Find out more about: > Safeguarding children who come from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities > Safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children and young people > Safeguarding children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) > Looked after children > Child mental health

Policies and procedures

Creating policies and procedures

LGBTQ+ inclusive policies

Your organisation's policies and procedures should set out how you will create a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for all children and young people.

You should ensure that LGBTQ+ children and young people are fully represented in all your policies and procedures as part of your work to ensure your organisation is fully inclusive.

Think about how you can work collaboratively and make sure you include the views of people in the LGBTQ+ community. How can you engage with the LGBTQ+ adults and children in your organisation so that they feel comfortable?

For example, you should consider how you can support transgender and non-binary children and young people to wear the clothes (e.g uniform or sports kit) and use the toilets and changing rooms that they feel comfortable with. Your policies should reflect that decisions need to be made on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration all children's safety. You should discuss options with the young person and their parents or carers (as long as this does not put the young person at risk of harm) (Scottish Government, 2021).

It's important to use appropriate language when talking to and about children and young people. You should ask LGBTQ+ children and young people what language they use to describe themselves, and use these terms in your policies and procedures.

You could also create a dedicated policy outlining how you will support LGBTQ+ children and young people specifically.

> Learn more about peer-on-peer sexual abuse
> Read our blog about contextual safeguarding
Safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures

All organisations that work with children and young people need to have a safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures.

This should include your commitment to protect all children regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

You should make sure that your safeguarding and child protection policy recognises the additional risks and vulnerability factors for LGBTQ+ children and young people.

You should complete risk assessments for specific contexts, such as changing rooms, taking into account all safeguarding risks that might be present and taking appropriate action to keep all children safe (Scottish Government, 2021).
> Read more about safeguarding considerations for getting changed at school > Find out more about writing a safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures > Take our introductory safeguarding and child protection courses
Recognising and responding to child protection concerns

All your staff and volunteers should know how to recognise and respond to concerns about children and young people's safety and welfare.

Concerns about LGBTQ+ children and young people should be dealt with sensitively, taking into consideration any complicated feelings they might have about their sexuality or gender identity. For example, if a child has been using adult dating apps you need to take immediate steps to keep them safe. But you should also consider the reasons why they might be using those apps.

Make sure children know they can talk to you about anything that's worrying them. Make sure children also know about Childline and how they can contact them for confidential advice and support. Calls to 0800 1111 are free and children can also get support and advice via the Childline website.

Young people under 18 who are worried that a sexual image or video of them may have been shared online can use Childline and IWF's Report Remove tool to see if it can be taken down.
> Learn more about recognising and responding to abuse > Find out more about how to respond to a disclosure of abuse
Information sharing

If you are worried about a child or young person's safety and welfare you should share this information promptly, following your organisation's safeguarding and child protection procedures.

However, you should be mindful that LGBTQ+ children and young people might not want to come out to everyone in their life. Sharing a child or young person's gender identity or sexuality might put them at extra risk if the person you tell is not supportive.

You could also break a child or young person's trust if you share information about their gender identity or sexuality without their permission, or without letting them know first.

You should only share information about a child or young person's sexuality or gender identity if they give you permission, or if it's relevant to a child protection concern.

For example, you might have to tell someone about a young person's sexuality or gender identity if:

they are experiencing homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying

they are using adult dating apps

there is a concern they might have been groomed or coerced into a sexual relationship

there is a concern they might be experiencing sexual abuse or exploitation

they are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness because their family are unsupportive of their gender identity or sexuality

(Stonewall, 2022).
> Learn more about when to share information about a child

> Learn more about gaining a child's consent to share information

Supporting children and young people

Supporting children and young people

There are a range of ways you can help support and protect the LGBTQ+ children, young people and families you work with.

Understanding a child's lived experience

It's important to remember that any child or young person you're working with could be LGBTQ+, whether or not they have told you about their identity. You should aim to understand the lived experience of every child, the risks that might be present and how that interacts with their life and identity.

Make it clear to the children and young people you work with that you're someone they can talk to about their identity and feel safe with. Be open minded and don't make assumptions about a child's sexuality or gender identity. Always consider how gender identity or sexuality could impact on their life and any risks they might face.

You could ask children and young people their pronouns, chosen name and how they would like to be referred to.

Relationships and sex education

Some young people who are exploring or questioning their sexuality or identity might struggle to accept themselves if they have insufficient knowledge about being LGBTQ+. This can contribute to low wellbeing or mental health issues (Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

LGBTQ+ people and families should be reflected throughout the curriculum to help LGBTQ+ children feel safe and included (Scottish Government, 2021). It is important that children and young people are taught about all kinds of relationships, including LGBTQ+ relationships. When having discussions about relationships, make it clear to children and young people that same sex relationships and different gender identities are valid and should be respected. Talk to them about what a healthy relationship looks like, and make sure they know who to talk to if they are ever worried about anything.

Each nation in the UK has guidance on how schools should deliver relationships and sex education.

> Learn more about promoting healthy relationships in school

Children and young people can learn more about gender identity and sexuality on the Childline website.

Parents and carers can find out how to support children who are questioning or exploring their gender identity and sexuality on the NSPCC website.

Mental health

Adults in your organisation should know how to recognise and respond to concerns about children and young people's mental health.
> Find out more about how to recognise and respond to children's mental health issues
Think about how your organisation can support LGBTQ+ children and young people who are struggling with their mental health and promote good emotional wellbeing.
> Learn more about how to promote good mental health and wellbeing
LGBTQ+ children and young people may also experience loneliness. Our Building Connections online service provides support from a trained befriender for young people aged up to 19.

> Find out more about Building Connections

There's lots of advice, tips and information about mental health for children and young people on the Childline website.

The NSPCC website has information for parents and carers on how to recognise if a child is struggling with their mental health and how to support them.

Online safety

Your organisation should have an online safety policy that takes into account the additional risks LGBTQ+ children and young people might face online. Staff and volunteers should be able to recognise and respond to any child protection concerns about LGBTQ+ children and young people online.

> Find out more about online safety

> View our e-safety resources for schools

> Take our online safety training

> View our Sharing nudes and semi-nudes training

Parents and carers can find tips on what they can do to keep children safe online and how to talk to their children about online safety on the NSPCC website.

Young people under 18 who are worried that a sexual image or video of them may have been shared online can use Childline and IWF's Report Remove tool to see if it can be taken down.

The Childline website has lots of advice and information for children and young people about online safety.

Bullying

Creating an inclusive and safe environment in your organisation can help children and young people learn to respect everyone's identity and reduce bullying.

Using resources that show different types of families can help improve children and young people's behaviour and reduce homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying (Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

You should have an anti-bullying statement which sets out your commitment to preventing and tackling bullying and how you will respond to incidents.

Staff and volunteers should challenge gender stereotypes and any kind of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language. Your organisation's behaviour codes should outline your expectations that everyone is treated with respect, both on- and offline.

Make sure children and young people know who in the organisation they can talk to if they are experiencing bullying.
> View our range of anti-bullying resources
The NSPCC website has advice for parents and carers on how to keep children safe from bullying.

Children and young people can find help on the Childline website if they're being bullied.

> Find out more about looked after children

> Find out more about safeguarding d/Deaf and disabled children and young people

Legislation and guidance

Legislation on safeguarding LGBTQ+ children and young people

Statutory guidance across the UK highlights the responsibility of those in education, community and care sectors to safeguard all children from all forms of abuse and neglect.

Find out more about the child protection system in:

LGBTQ+ children and young people in the UK are protected under equality legislation.

> Read more about children's rights

Guidance on supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people in schools

Across the UK there is guidance and best practice information on supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people in schools. Organisations in other sectors might also find this helpful.

The House of Commons Library has published a briefing on bullying in schools in the UK, which provides information and signposts guidance on how schools can tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying (House of Commons Library, 2020a).

The House of Commons Library has also published a briefing giving an overview of provisions to support transgender children and young people in schools across the UK. It covers the Equality Act 2010, toilet facilities and changing rooms, sports, school uniforms, the curriculum and bullying (House of Commons Library, 2020).

In England, the Department for Education (DfE) has published non-statutory guidance for schools on the Equality Act 2010. This provides guidance on how schools should ensure that children and young people aren't discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender reassignment (DfE, 2014).

Ofsted has published a research commentary on teaching about sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. This shares examples of good practice and covers school culture, the curriculum, teaching about sexuality and gender and engaging with parents. It also includes good practice examples from faith schools (Ofsted and Brown, 2021).

In Northern Ireland, the Education Authority (EA) has published guidance for schools and other education settings on supporting transgender children and young people. This includes information on creating an inclusive environment, the curriculum, bullying and practical considerations such as toilets, changing rooms and uniforms (EA, 2019).

In Scotland, the Scottish Government has published non-statutory guidance for schools on supporting transgender young people. This guidance includes information on:

child protection, confidentiality and information sharing

bullying and safety

language

mental health

the curriculum

a whole-school approach to supporting transgender young people

working with parents and carers

practical considerations such as toilets, physical activity and uniforms

(Scottish Government, 2021).

LGBT inclusive education has been a national requirement for schools in Scotland since 2021. The Scottish Government has created an online toolkit to help teachers embed LGBT learning themes throughout the Scottish curriculum (Scottish Government and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE), 2021).

In Wales, Estyn has published guidance on how schools can support LGBTQ+ children and young people and create an inclusive environment (PDF) (Estyn, 2020).

References

References

Albert Kennedy Trust (2015) LGBT youth homelessness: a UK national scoping of cause, prevalence, response, and outcome (PDF). [London]: Albert Kennedy Trust.

Barnardo's and Fox, C. (2016) 'It's not on the radar': the hidden diversity of children and young people at risk of sexual exploitation in England (PDF). Essex: Barnardo's.

Becerra-Culqui, T. et al (2018) Mental health of transgender and gender nonconforming youth compared with their peers. Pediatrics, 141(5).

Bradlow, J. et al (2017) School report: the experiences of lesbian, gay, bi and trans young people in Britain's schools in 2017 (PDF). London: Stonewall.

Children's Society, Victim Support and National Police Chiefs Council (NPSCC) (2018) Supporting LGBTQ+ children and young people at risk of child sexual exploitation: guidance for professionals (PDF). [London]: The Children's Society.

Department for Education (DfE) (2014) Equality Act 2010: advice for schools. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

Education Authority (EA) (2019) Guidance for schools, EOSTAS centres and youth service on supporting transgender young people. [Accessed 18/10/2021].

Estyn (2020) Celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion: good practice in supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) learners in schools and colleges (PDF). [Cardiff]: Estyn.

Government Equalities Office (2018) National LGBT survey: research report (PDF). Manchester: Government Equalities Office.

House of Commons Library (2020a) Bullying in UK schools. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

House of Commons Library (2020b) Provisions to support transgender children in schools. [Accessed 18/10/2021].

Internet Matters (2021) LGBTQ+: advice for professionals working with LGBTQ+ young people aged 7-18. [Accessed 30/07/2021].

LGBT Health & Wellbeing, Scottish Trans, Equality Network, LGBT Youth Scotland and Stonewall Scotland (2018) LGBTI populations and mental health inequality (PDF). [Edinburgh]: LGBT Health & Wellbeing.

McDermott, E., Hughes, E. and Rawlings, V. (2018) The social determinants of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth suicidality in England: a mixed methods study. Journal of Public Health, 40(3): e244-e251.

McGeeney, E., Hanson, E., Brook and National Crime Agency (2017) Digital romance: a research project exploring young people's use of technology in their romantic relationships and love lives (PDF). London: National Crime Agency.

NHS (2021) Gender dysphoria. [Accessed 18/10/2021].

Ofsted (2021) Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

Ofsted and Brown, Chris (2021) Research commentary: teaching about sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. [Accessed 03/08/2021].

Olson, Kristina R. et al (2016) Mental health of transgender children who are supported in their identities. Pediatrics, 137(3): e20153223.

Russell, Stephen T. et al (2018) Chosen name use is linked to reduced depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behaviour among transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(4): 503-505.

Scottish Government (2021) Supporting transgender young people in schools: guidance for Scottish schools. [Accessed 16/08/2021].

Scottish Government and Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) (2021) lgbteducation.scot [Accessed 13/10/2021].

Stonewall (2022) An introduction to supporting LGBT children and young people: a guide for schools, colleges and settings (PDF). London: Stonewall.

Stonewall and Childnet International (2022) Staying safe online: practical strategies to best support all children and young people online, including those who identify as LGBT (PDF). London: Stonewall.

Xu, Yin and Zheng, Yong (2014) Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse among lesbian, gay and bisexual people: a meta-analysis. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 24(3): 315-331.

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Explains why LGBTQ+ children might be at greater risk of some types of abuse and shares best practice for professionals on supporting and protecting them.

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Overview

An employer may request a DBS check as part of their recruitment process (previously known as CRB checks). These checks are processed by the Disclosure and Barring Service ( DBS).

For certain roles, the check will also include information held on the Children's and Adults' Barred Lists, alongside any information held by local police forces, that is considered relevant to the applied-for post.

DBS checks assist employers in making safer recruitment and licensing decisions, however a check is just one part of recruitment practice. When a check has been processed by DBS, a DBS certificate is produced and issued to the applicant.

DBS is unable to access criminal records held overseas, so a DBS check may not provide a complete view of an applicant's criminal record, if they have lived outside of the UK.

Employers should ensure that they have access to all of the information available to them, to make safer recruitment decisions. More information about how to get a criminal record check for overseas applicants, or those that have previously lived outside of the UK, on the Home Office website.

Eligibility to ask 'an exempted question'

Access to the DBS checking service is only available to registered employers who are entitled by law to ask an individual to reveal their full criminal history, including spent convictions - this excludes protected cautions and convictions that will be filtered from a criminal record check - also known as asking 'an exempted question'.

An exempted question applies when the individual will be working in specific occupations, for certain licenses and specified positions. These are covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

The minimum age at which someone can be asked to apply for a DBS check is 16 years old.

More information about who is eligible for a DBS check, can be found within the DBS eligibility guidance.

The code of practice

The code of practice is issued under section 122(2) of the Police Act 1997. Organisations using the DBS checking service must comply with this code of practice. It is there to ensure that organisations are aware of their obligations, and that the information released will be used fairly.

The code also ensures that sensitive and personal information disclosed by DBS, is handled and stored appropriately and is only kept for as long as is necessary.

The code of practice for registered persons and other recipients of DBS check information can be found on GOV.UK.

Storing information for DBS certificate information

The correct storage of DBS certificate information is important. The code of practice requires that the information revealed is considered only for the purpose for which it was obtained, and should be destroyed after a suitable period has passed - usually no longer than six months.

Organisations must use any information revealed on DBS certificates fairly. More information on the handling and storage of DBS certificate information is available on GOV.UK.

Organisations must also satisfy DBS that they are complying with the code of practice. This means cooperating with requests from DBS to carry out assurance checks, and reporting suspected malpractice that relates to the code of practice or misuse of DBS certificates.

If we believe that the code of practice isn't being followed, we can refuse to issue a DBS certificate.

Applicants' rights

Usually, a job applicant has no legal obligation to reveal spent convictions. If an applicant has a conviction that has become spent, the employer must treat the applicant as if the conviction has not happened. Refusal to employ a rehabilitated person on the grounds of a spent conviction is unlawful under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974.

Certain areas of employment are exempt under the ROA 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, and employers may ask about spent convictions - this is known as asking an exempted question. When answering, the applicant would have a legal obligation to reveal spent convictions.

The code of practice states that information on a DBS certificate should only be used in the context of a policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders. This is designed to protect applicants from unfair discrimination, based on non-relevant past convictions. We have created a specimen policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders to help guide organisations.

The minimum age at which someone can be asked to apply for a DBS check is 16 years old.

Transgender process for DBS checks

DBS offers a confidential checking process for transgender applicants.

This process is for transgender applicants who do not wish to reveal details of their previous identity to the person who asked them to complete an application form for a DBS check.

For more information about the transgender process, email sensitive@dbs.gov.uk or see the DBS Transgender Applications guidance.

Self-employed workers

A self-employed person who is eligible for a standard or enhanced DBS check can ask the organisation that wishes to contract their services, to apply for their check.

A self-employed person who needs a basic check can apply through the DBS' online application route if they live or work in England or Wales. They can apply to Disclosure Scotland if they live or work in Scotland.

Registering as an organisation with DBS

Organisations can either register with DBS if they submit more than 100 check applications per year, or they can use an organisation offering umbrella body services to apply for DBS checks.

To satisfy the conditions of registration you must:

submit more than 100 eligible DBS check applications per year

be entitled to ask exempted questions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

comply with the DBS code of practice

pay the appropriate fees in relation to applications for DBS checks, as well as registration of the organisation and countersignatories

You must also provide specific and up-to-date information to the DBS for registration to be granted. This includes:

organisation status

proposed countersignatories and lead countersignatory

the nature of your business

the positions of employment you intend to submit the checks for

how you intend to meet the threshold of 100 applications per year

Details of the RBS Compliance Policy can be found on GOV.UK.

Cost of registration

Registration costs £300, with a £5 cost for each countersignatory to be registered.

Your registration fee will be charged after the DBS has assessed your registration documentation, carried out pre-registration checks and invited you to register.

Call our Customer Services team on 03000 200 190 to request a pre-registration questionnaire and information pack.

Using the e-bulk service

If you are registered directly with the DBS, and you submit at least 1,500 applications per year, you may be able to use the e-bulk electronic application system.

More about the e-bulk service can be found on GOV.UK.

Changing your registration details

All Registered Bodies must keep the DBS informed about any changes to their registration details including the following:

your organisation no longer wishes to be registered with the DBS

your organisation wishes to become, or cease to be, an umbrella body

your lead countersignatory is leaving (or has already left) and needs to be replaced by another person

a countersignatory(ies) is leaving or no longer performs this role

your organisation changes its name and/or address

a countersignatory changes their name, signature and/or address

the lead countersignatory changes their name, signature and/or address

Failure to keep your details up-to-date may result in delays to the service that we provide.

You should inform the DBS in writing, on company letter-headed paper, and provide the following information:

registered body number

your (lead) countersignatory number and signature

details of the change(s) - such as the previous and new name/address of the registered body, the effective date of the change, and the name and registration number(s) of the countersignatories affected

If the lead signatory or a countersignatory is not available, a letter from a director or equivalent can be accepted.

Send your letter to:

Countersignatories

Countersignatories have an important role in the DBS checking process.

A countersignatory is a person within a Registered Body who is registered with the DBS to countersign applications, making a declaration that the position is eligible for the DBS check requested.

Guidance is available to help you complete the countersignatory application form.

A lead countersignatory is a senior figure within a Registered Body who will oversee the DBS process within their organisation.

Guidance is available to help you complete the lead countersignatory application form.

The minimum age at which someone can apply to become a countersignatory is 18 years old.

Using umbrella body services to submit DBS checks

An umbrella body is a Registered Body that gives other non-registered organisations access to DBS checks.

If your organisation has a requirement to carry out fewer than 100 checks per year, you should use the services of an umbrella body. Your organisation must also be eligible to ask the exempted question.

If you are already a Registered Body and would like to offer an additional umbrella service, you should email customerservices@dbs.gov.uk.

ID validation for DBS checks

When an individual applies for a DBS check their identity must be verified by the Registered Body.

Registered Bodies must follow the DBS 3-route identity checking process to validate the name, date of birth and address provided by the applicant in sections 'a' and 'b' of the application form.

More information can be found in the DBS identity checking guidelines.

If the applicant's identity has not been validated by the 3-route process, the countersignatory should mark the 'no' box at question 'w59' on the application form and return the form to the DBS. You may be asked to review this decision by the DBS before the application can proceed, which may delay the overall process.

Applicants who cannot provide the necessary documents will be asked to go for fingerprinting at their local police station. This is likely to cause delay to the overall application process.

Dealing with discrepancies on the application form

If there are any discrepancies between the information on the form and the identity documents supplied, and fraud is not suspected, you should seek clarification from the applicant.

Do not attempt to amend the application form without the applicant's knowledge and agreement, as it will invalidate the declaration by the applicant in section 'e' of the form and may breach data protection legislation.

If you suspect that you have been presented with a false identity or documents, do not proceed with the application process. You should report suspected identity fraud on the Action Fraud website.

Types of DBS checks and how to apply

Types of DBS checks

Basic check - £18

The basic check can be used for any position or purpose. A basic certificate will contain details of convictions and cautions from the Police National Computer (PNC) that are considered to be unspent under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974.

Standard check - £18

The standard check is available for duties, positions and licences included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, for example, court officers, employment within a prison, and Security Industry Authority (SIA) licences.

A standard level certificate contains details of all spent and unspent convictions and adult cautions from the Police National Computer (PNC) which have not been filtered in line with legislation.

Enhanced check - £38

The enhanced check is available for specific duties, positions and licences included in both the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975) and the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) regulations, for example, regularly caring for, training, supervising or being solely in charge of children, specified activities with adults in receipt of health care or social care services and applicants for gaming and lottery licences.

An enhanced level certificate contains the same PNC information as the standard level certificate but also includes a check of information held by police forces.

Enhanced with a barred list check - £38

The enhanced check with barred list check(s) is only available for those individuals who are carrying out regulated activity and a small number of positions listed in Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) regulations, for example, prospective adoptive parents and taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) licences.

An enhanced level certificate with barred list check(s) contains the same PNC information and check of information held by police forces as an enhanced level check but in addition will check against the children's and/or adult's barred lists.

If your application includes a request to check the barred list(s) the DBS has a statutory duty to consider any information that suggests you may pose a risk of harm. We will write to you if you are affected.

DBS adult first check - £6

DBS adult first is a service available to organisations who can request a check of the DBS adults' barred list. Depending on the result, a person can be permitted to start work, under supervision, with vulnerable adults before a DBS certificate has been obtained.

More guidance regarding adult first checks can be found on the Disclosure and Barring Service website.

The requests carry strict criteria:

the position must require a criminal record check by law

the position must be eligible for access to the DBS adults' barred list

the organisation must have requested a check of the DBS adults' barred list on the DBS application form

The DBS ' reply to an adult first check request will contain one of the following responses and will clearly state that it only forms the first part of the criminal record check application process and that further information will follow:

option 1: 'Registered Body must wait for the DBS certificate'

option 2: 'no match exists for this person on the current adults' barred list'

If the adult first check indicates that the Registered Body must wait for the DBS certificate, the details provided may have indicated a match on the DBS adults' barred list. However, further investigation is required to confirm this and you should await the certificate. Alternatively, the check will state that no match exists for the individual on the adults' barred list.

How to apply for a DBS check

Standard or enhanced checks

As an employer or Registered Body, you provide the candidate with a DBS application form to complete and return to you.

Registered Bodies can order new forms through our online tracking service or by calling us on 03000 200 190.

You must make sure the application form is fully completed and the information is accurate. You also need to confirm the applicant's identity and verify evidence of their name, date of birth and current address.

Guidance is available on completing the form below.

Basic checks

If a basic check is required, the employer can ask the individual to apply directly to DBS (if they work in England or Wales) or Disclosure Scotland (if they work in Scotland). Alternatively, the employer can carry out the check through a Responsible Organisation, if they have the applicant's consent.

Continuation sheets

Where possible, countersignatories should only record the information required in the relevant boxes provided on the application form. Where this is not possible, countersignatories should submit a DBS continuation sheet together with the application form.

Where to send the completed form

Once you have signed and dated the application form, you should send the application to:

Avoiding common mistakes on the DBS application form

A list of the most recent common errors made on the DBS application form, and guidance for both applicants and countersignatories, can be found here.

Volunteer applications

The DBS definition of a volunteer is defined in the Police Act 1997 (criminal records) Regulations 2002 as:

"Any person engaged in an activity which involves spending time, unpaid (except for travel and other approved out-of-pocket expenses), doing something which aims to benefit some third party and not a close relative."

To qualify for a free-of-charge criminal record check, the applicant must not:

benefit directly from the position for which the DBS application is being submitted

receive any payment (except for travel and other approved out-of-pocket expenses)

be on a work placement

be on a course that requires them to do this job role

be in a trainee position that will lead to a full-time role/qualification

It states on the DBS application form 'By placing a cross in the yes box (at section 68) you confirm that the post meets the DBS definition for a free-of-charge volunteer application. Please note that DBS may recover the application fee if box 68 is marked in error and this could result in the cancellation of your DBS registration'.

Only standard or enhanced volunteer applications are free-of-charge.

Please read through the examples in the table below showing common volunteer errors.

Examples of eligible and ineligible volunteer roles

If you need further guidance please email customerservices@dbs.gov.uk.

Stages of the DBS checking process

Stages of the DBS checking process

The process for a basic check varies to the stages detailed below, as stages 3 and 4 do not apply.

The application form is checked for errors or omissions. The form is either scanned onto the DBS system or returned for correction to the countersignatory within 24 hours of receipt.

Stage 2 - Police National Computer (PNC) searched

Key data from the application form is compared against details from the Police National Computer (PNC) to search for any matches.

Stage 3 - Children and adults' barred lists searched (where applicable)

Key data from the application form is compared against barred lists to search for any matches.

Stage 4 - Records held by the police searched

Enhanced checks are sent by secure, electronic means to the police for an additional check of records before the information is sent back to the DBS. Your details may be same as, or similar to details held at any police force across the country. To make sure potential matches are not missed, those police forces will check the details against their information.

We have also published a factsheet which looks at stage 4 in more detail, and explores the role that the police play in the DBS checking process.

Stage 5 - DBS certificate printed

All the information to be disclosed is printed under highly secure procedures and posted to the applicant. The applicant will then need to show their DBS certificate to the employer who requested the criminal record check.

How to track a DBS application

Tracking standard or enhanced applications

DBS provides a free, online tracking service that allows you to track the progress of either of these standard or enhanced types of application:

You will be able to see:

what stage the application has reached in the checking process

if an application had to be returned due to errors

if the results of the criminal record check have been dispatched

Tracking individual applications

You will need:

an application form submitted to DBS

an application form reference number

the date of birth of the applicant

Tracking multiple applications

You will need to provide the:

registered body number

countersignatory number

countersignatory's date of birth

Tracking basic applications

The person being given a DBS check (the applicant), employers and Responsible Organisations can track the progress of basic checks by using the DBS online account tracking service. They do not need to create an account however they will need the application reference number, applicant's surname and date of birth.

This guide provides more information regarding tracking a basic check application.

How to pay for a basic DBS check

DBS provides applicants with two ways to pay for their basic application.

If the applicant is paying, payment can be made at the end of the application process.

If someone else is paying, for example an employer, payment can be made later, but must be within 10 days.

The applicant will receive a payment link via email, which can then be forwarded to someone else to complete payment. This option can also be used if the applicant wishes to pay later.

The application will not be processed until payment is complete.

Ordering blank DBS application forms

Registered organisations and countersignatories who can access the multiple applications tracking service can order blank application forms online, using the same login details.

You can also call the DBS helpline to order blank application forms.

You must be registered with DBS to order blank application forms.

Processing times for DBS checks

Each application is different and the completion time can vary with some checks taking longer, especially if they are at an enhanced level and are referred to the police for checks against non-conviction data.

You can find out more about processing times on our performance pages.

Individuals can join the Update Service which allows them to reuse their DBS certificates when applying for similar jobs.

The Update Service is only available for standard and enhanced checks. You cannot join the Update Service with a basic check.

More information about the Update Service can be found on GOV.UK.

To enable individuals to reuse their DBS certificates in the Update Service, Registered Bodies must now include the relevant workforce in line 1 and the 'Position Applied For' in line 2 of field x61 on the application form.

Filtering information and guidance

Certain specified old and minor offences are removed from criminal record certificates issued from 29 May 2013 - this is known as filtering.

More information about the filtering process can be found in the DBS filtering guidance.

Overseas applicants

Checking via DBS

DBS cannot access criminal records held overseas, but it is possible to submit an application while the applicant is overseas.

In a small number of cases, overseas criminal records are held on the Police National Computer (PNC) and these would be revealed as part of a criminal record check. You must still verify the identity of an overseas applicant.

As the DBS cannot access criminal records held overseas, a criminal record check may not provide a complete picture of an individual's criminal record.

For more information please see the following Home Office guidance: Criminal records checks for overseas applicants

Checking via embassies

If you are recruiting people from overseas and wish to check their overseas criminal record, you should contact the embassy or High Commission of the country in question.

Contact details for embassies and High Commissions in the UK can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) website.

You can also contact the FCO Response Centre on 020 7008 1500.

If the foreign check needs translating, the embassy of the country concerned may be able to help.

The DBS is not involved in the processing of applications made by individuals to overseas authorities and will not be responsible for the contents or the length of time taken for information to be returned.

Certificates of good conduct

You should try to obtain a certificate of good conduct, and any other references, from potential overseas employees. The standard of foreign police checks varies. For more information about a specific standard, you should contact the authorities in a particular country, or their embassy.

The DBS does not offer a translation service, so either you (or the employee) should obtain a certified translation of the certificate of good conduct.

Checking an applicant's right to work in the UK

The employer is responsible for ensuring employees have the right to work within the UK. The DBS does not check this.

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) provides protective security advice. This is for companies and organisations that deliver the UK's essential services.

More information about overseas criminal records checks can be found on the CPNI website.

Disputes

An applicant can raise a dispute if they believe there's been a mistake in either:

the records provided, like wrong or irrelevant information on convictions

personal information, like a name or employer's details

An employer or licensing authority can also appeal a DBS check if they've spoken to the applicant first.

More information can be found on the DBS appeals and disputes page.

Duration of criminal record check validity

There is no official expiry date for a criminal record check issued by DBS.

Any information revealed on a DBS certificate will be accurate at the time the certificate was issued. You should check the 'date of issue' on a certificate to decide whether to request a newer one. In certain employment sectors, a new criminal record check may be required periodically.

You may also be required by law to carry out a fresh check of the DBS children's and/or adults' barring lists in accordance with sector-specific guidance.

Accepting a previously-issued DBS check

It's the employers' decision to decide whether to accept a previously-issued DBS check.

If the applicant hasn't joined the Update Service, you should consider the following before making a decision:

the applicant's criminal record or other relevant information may have changed since its issue

the level of that check may not be right for the position you're recruiting for

you'll need to check that the original application position and workforce are correct for the role you're recruiting for (any original certificate issued from June 2013 will show the workforce 'child' or 'adult', 'child and adult' or 'other')

the police disclose information on an enhanced DBS certificate based on child or adult workforce, for which the criminal record check was originally applied for

the police disclose information on an enhanced DBS certificate which was submitted for 'other' workforce, in relation to the position for which the criminal record check was originally applied for

the information revealed was based on the identity of the applicant, which was validated by another Registered Body

that the identity details on the certificate match those of the applicant

You can go to our guidance pages for information about eligibility for standard and enhanced checks.

CRB certificates

Following the merger of the Criminal Records Bureau ( CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority to create the DBS, CRB-branded certificates should be treated the same as DBS-branded certificates.

Security features of a DBS certificate

It is essential that employers have processes in place that enable them to make safe recruitment decisions. As part of the decision-making process, employers must ensure they see an original DBS certificate. Copies or digital photographs are not acceptable and must be rejected.

A DBS certificate contains the DBS logo on the front face and contains a number of security features which can be used to verify whether it has been counterfeited or altered.

The areas to be aware of and examined are as follows:

an original DBS certificate has printing on both sides; the paper size is 209mm width x 404mm length which is larger than A4

the personal information print colour on the certificate is purple

a 'crown seal' watermark repeated down the right-hand side of the certificate is visible both on the surface and when holding the certificate up to the light

a background design with the word 'Disclosure' appears in a wave-like pattern across both sides of the document - on the front of the certificate this pattern is green and on the rear of the document this is purple

If you are unsure whether a DBS certificate is genuine, or you think that it may have been altered, you should contact the DBS immediately at FDIT@dbs.gov.uk.

DBS notifications sent to Registered Bodies via the e-bulk service for standard or enhanced checks, or to a Responsible Organisation via the basic web service, which reveal no information, may be transcribed in a letter format and will not be printed on DBS secure certificate paper. The electronic content can be included in a letter or document under the provision that the DBS logo must not be used. The DBS logo is a registered trademark in the United Kingdom, and the DBS does not allow or permit Registered Bodies or Responsible Organisations to use this logo.

Any letter should have a statement at the beginning that says, 'This is not a certificate issued by the DBS'. Neither the document nor associated guidance on the back of the DBS certificate, should be reproduced in such a way that an individual or organisation could believe it to be a DBS certificate within the meaning of sections 113A, 113B, 114 and 116 of the Police Act 1997.

If you are presented with a clear certificate and after checking the Update Service it states "no further information on certificate," please contact the DBS at FDIT@dbs.gov.uk, as the certificate may have been tampered with.

Withdrawing applications

Withdrawing a DBS Application

An application for a DBS check can be withdrawn but the application fee is non-refundable. The DBS check can only be withdrawn before it reaches printing stage.

Any future need for a DBS check would have to be submitted as a new application, and a new fee payment would need to be made.

Registered Bodies should ask for a DBS application to be withdrawn when the applicant is no longer being considered for, or is no longer in, the position. This is because you no longer have a right to see the outcome of the DBS checking process.

You can read about the roles that are most often submitted to DBS in our eligibility guidance.

The roles in the eligibility guide reflect how they are written in legislation, not how they are written in job descriptions in contracts. You will need to understand if the duties of the person named in the application, meet the legislative criteria for the level of check you have submitted.

Requesting a Withdrawal - Applicant or Registered Body

An applicant or the Registered Body (RB) can request a withdrawal by using one of the following methods:

emailing DBS withdrawals team: CSWithdrawals@dbs.gov.uk

writing and sending the withdrawal directly to the DBS withdrawals team:

informing the relevant local police force (LPF)

1. The LPF convey the information to the DBS informing us of the withdrawal request

2. The withdrawals team then send a pro-forma letter/email (if on a secure email address) to either the RB or the applicant (whichever is relevant) to confirm withdrawal in writing

3. Once the reply has been received by the withdrawals team, the application is withdrawn, and a letter/email is sent to the applicant and/or the RB to confirm completion of withdrawal

4. Please note the application will be temporarily suspended, if DBS do not receive a response the application will be withdrawn

Registered Body Withdrawal Request

Please provide the:

applicant's full name

application reference number

date the letter was sent

countersignatory number

matching countersignatory's signature (an email does not require a signature)

It is also helpful if you provide the applicant's address and date of birth.

Applicant Withdrawal Request

Please provide:

your full name

your application reference number

your full address

the date the letter was sent

your signature (an email does not require a signature)

If a withdrawal request is received with insufficient information, a pro-forma letter requesting more information will be sent to you from the Withdrawals department.

Finance queries

If you are a Registered Body, or umbrella body, and have a finance query, complete the DBS finance form and email it to us at invoice@dbs.gov.uk.

DBS contact information is available on the homepage.

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An employer may request a DBS check as part of their recruitment process (previously known as CRB checks). These checks are processed by the Disclosure and Barring Service ( DBS). For certain roles, the check will also include information held on the Children's and Adults' Barred Lists, alongside any information held by local police forces, that is considered relevant to the applied-for post.

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Introduction to DBS

The Disclosure and Barring Service ( DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions each year by processing and issuing DBS checks for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. DBS also maintains the Adults' and Children's Barred Lists, and makes considered decisions as to whether an individual should be included on one or both of these lists and barred from engaging in regulated activity.

Our disclosure teams carry out DBS checks (previously known as CRB, or criminal record checks).

There are four types of DBS check, and each type results in a DBS certificate being issued to an individual. Employers can then ask to see the certificate to ensure that they are recruiting suitable people into their organisation.

The four levels of DBS check are:

The information contained on each type of check is different.

Basic DBS check

A Basic DBS check is for any purpose, including employment. The certificate will contain details of convictions and conditional cautions that are considered to be unspent under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974.

An individual can apply for a Basic check directly to DBS through our online application route, or an employer can apply for a basic check on an individual's behalf, through a Responsible Organisation, if they have consent.

Standard DBS check

A Standard DBS check is suitable for certain roles, such as a security guard. The certificate will contain details of both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings that are held on the Police National Computer, which are not subject to filtering.

An individual cannot apply for a standard check by themselves. There must be a recruiting organisation who needs the applicant to get the check. This is then sent to DBS through a Registered Body.

The service is free for volunteers.

Enhanced DBS check

An Enhanced DBS check is suitable for people working with children or adults in certain circumstances such as those in receipt of healthcare or personal care. An Enhanced DBS check is also suitable for a small number of other roles such as taxi licence applications or people working in the Gambling Commission.

The certificate will contain the same details as a standard certificate and, if the role is eligible, an employer can request that one or both of the DBS Barred Lists are checked.

The certificate may also contain non-conviction information supplied by relevant police forces, if it is deemed relevant and ought to be contained in the certificate.

An individual cannot apply for an Enhanced DBS check by themselves. There must be a recruiting organisation who needs the applicant to get the check. This is then sent to DBS through a Registered Body.

The service is free for volunteers.

Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS check

An Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS check is also suitable for people working with children or adults in certain circumstances such as those in receipt of healthcare or personal care.

An Enhanced with Barred Lists certificate will contain the same information as an Enhanced DBS certificate, but will also include a check of one or both Barred Lists.

Eligibility

Eligibility for Standard, Enhanced, and Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS checks is prescribed in legislation. Recruiters should only request a DBS check on an individual when they are legally allowed to do so - they must be entitled by law to ask an individual to reveal their full criminal history. This is known as asking 'an exempted question.'

An exempted question applies when the individual will be working in specific occupations, for certain licences and specified positions. These are covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

The minimum age at which someone can be asked to apply for a criminal record check is 16 years old.

The DBS eligibility tool can be used to determine what type of check a role could be eligible for, as can our eligibility guidance.

Barring

An Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS check will include a check of one or both of the Barred Lists that DBS manages and maintains. If an individual is listed, this will appear on their DBS certificate.

It is our responsibility at DBS to maintain these lists. This area of our work involves making fair, consistent, and thorough decisions that are appropriate to the behaviour that has occurred, and consider the risk of future harm.

People are brought to the attention of our barring team in one of three ways:

Automatic barring offence, also known as 'Autobar'

Disclosure

Referral

Automatic, also known as Autobar

This is when someone has been newly-convicted or cautioned for a serious offence and they are considered for immediate barring, either with or without the opportunity to make representations. This information comes from the Police National Computer.

Disclosure

This is when someone applies for an Enhanced DBS check to work with children or adults in certain circumstances, such as those in receipt of healthcare or personal care, and the check reveals relevant information that results in the individual being considered for inclusion on one or both of the Barred Lists.

Referral

This is when an employer, volunteer manager, or other organisation has concerns that someone has either caused harm or has the potential to cause harm to vulnerable groups and submits a barring referral to DBS.

Regulated activity providers (employers or volunteer managers of people working in regulated activity in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) and personnel suppliers have a legal duty to refer to DBS where certain conditions are met.

Referrals can be made online or via post. To submit an online referral, create a DBS online account and once logged in, select 'submit a referral'. Alternatively, you can complete the DBS paper referral form and send to:

It is important that anyone referring someone to us provides as much information as possible. More information regarding barring referrals can be found in our barring referrals guidance.

Barring representations

Where an individual is the subject of any of the above three barring referral types (excluding 'Autobar without representation'), the individual will be given the opportunity to provide 'representations' as to why they feel it would be inappropriate or disproportionate for DBS to include them on one or both of the Barred Lists.

DBS will consider the individual's representations before making a final barring decision. Further information about barring representations can be found in our barring referrals: making representations guidance.

Test for regulated activity

DBS can only bar a person from working within regulated activity with children or adults if we believe the person is, has been, or might in the future be, engaged in regulated activity.

The only exception to this is where a person is cautioned or convicted for a relevant (automatic barring) offence and is not eligible to submit representations against their inclusion on a Barred List.

Where a person is cautioned or convicted of a relevant (automatic barring) offence with the right to make representations, DBS will ask the person to submit their representations and consider these before making a final barring decision.

The Update Service is an online subscription, for Standard, Enhanced and Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS checks, that allows applicants to keep their DBS certificates up-to-date and allows employers to view an applicant's certificate.

The Update Service cannot currently be used for Basic DBS checks.

Who we work with

DBS works with a number of different organisations and departments, including but not limited to:

Police forces in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man - the police provide information that is held locally, or on the Police National Computer

ACRO Criminal Records Office (ACRO) - manages criminal record information and improves the exchange of criminal records and biometric information

Responsible Organisations - a Responsible Organisation is an organisation that is registered with DBS to submit Basic DBS checks

Registered Bodies - a Registered Body is an organisation that is registered with DBS to submit Standard, Enhanced, and Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS checks

Registered Bodies

A Registered Body is an organisation that is registered with DBS to submit Standard, Enhanced and Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS checks, and is entitled by law to ask an individual to reveal their full criminal history - also known as asking 'an exempted question'.

If you want to be notified when an update is made to the DBS GOV.UK website, or new content is added, you can subscribe with your email address, here.

Bills and legislation

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 sets out in legislation rehabilitation periods, and that individuals do not have to disclose spent convictions unless they are covered in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975 (Exceptions) Order 1975

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975 (Exceptions) Order 1975 sets out the exceptions for when an individual can be asked about spent convictions - known as asking 'an exempted question'

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 sets out the scope of regulated activity and operation of the barring element of DBS, which was previously undertaken by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA)

The Criminal Records Bureau, which is now part of DBS, was established under Part V of the Police Act 1997. This was updated as a result of Part 5 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

Part 5 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 covers the reduction in scope of the definition of regulated activity, new services provided by DBS, and disregarding convictions and cautions for consensual gay sex.

A list of DBS contact information can be found on the DBS GOV.UK homepage.

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The Disclosure and Barring Service helps employers make safer recruitment decisions.

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Where possible, you should make barring referrals using the online Barring Referral Service. If you need to make your referral by paper, guidance and forms are below.

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If anything on this page upsets or affects you please speak to a colleague or your DSL. Alternatively you can speak with our safeguarding team who are available to offer support.

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Race, racism and safeguarding children - “It’s silent” | NSPCC Learning

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A summary of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s thematic review examining the impact of race, ethnicity and culture on multi-agency practice.

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Domestic Violence & Abuse · Emergency Injunction Service

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A free, fast emergency injunction service to survivors of domestic violence regardless of their financial circumstances, race, gender or sexual orientation.

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Click here to download our resource: Self-harm
Audio Version - Please click on the section of the leaflet you would like to listen to.

What is self-harm?:

https://www.papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/What-is-selfharm.mp3

What causes someone to self-harm?:

https://www.papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/What-causes-someone-to-selfharm.mp3

I am concerned about someone self-harming - what can I do?:

https://www.papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/I-am-concerned-about-a-YP-how-do-I-support-them.mp3

I am someone who uses self-harm - what can I do?:

https://www.papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/I-selfharm-how-do-I-help-myself.mp3

Self-harm and suicide:

https://www.papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Selfharm-and-suicide.mp3

Myths and facts:

https://www.papyrus-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Myths-and-Facts.mp3

Text only copy (To translate document please select language options at the top of the webpage)
What is self-harm?
The term 'self-harm' usually refers to someone intentionally causing themselves harm. Self-harm is often a physical response to emotional pain and/or intolerable experiences. It can also include self-neglect and engaging in risk-taking behaviour. Self-harm has a function for every individual who self-harms and stopping is not always straightforward even when you want to. Whether you are someone who self-harms, or you care about someone who self-harms, the following information is intended to shed some light on, what can be, a highly stigmatised and complex subject.
What causes someone to self-harm?
For many young people self-harm is used as a coping mechanism. However, it's important to remember that everyone's reasons for self-harming are individual to them. Control, release, punishment, compulsion and expression are just a selection of reasons as to why someone may injure themselves. Sometimes, self-harm can also be a reaction to overwhelming life events that may feel unmanageable e.g. traumatic experiences in childhood such as abuse.
I am concerned about someone self-harming - what can I do?
In some situations there are clear signs that a young person is self-harming, at other times it can be harder to tell. If you think someone you care for is harming themselves, we encourage you to reach out to them. It's not always an easy conversation to have - but we recommend:

Asking sensitively and directly if they have been harming themselves

Managing your reactions and remaining calm

Exploring the reasons behind their self-harm

Listening to their explanation

Trying to understand what's happening from their point of view

Avoiding taking control of the situation

Encouraging them to seek support

I am someone who uses self-harm - what can I do?
The more you understand your own self harm, the more you can feel in control and hopefully less distressed. Understanding why you self-harm may help you talk about it with others too. There are steps you can take to ensure that you are safe and supported. Taking control of your self-harm can be really challenging - but we suggest:

Considering what self-harm does for you and the role of it in your life

Looking for patterns in your self-harm and keeping a diary

Exploring possible alternative coping mechanisms and distraction techniques

Caring for your injuries by accessing medical attention when needed and keeping a first-aid kit * Reaching out to someone you trust and talking things through

Getting some professional support in place by talking to your GP, a helpline or a young person's counselling service

Remembering that things can change for you - there is HOPE

Self-harm and suicide
Self-harm is a struggle often shared with our Suicide Prevention Advisers at HOPELINE247. More than half of people who die by suicide have a history of self-harm (NHS 2018).

Self-harm may, or may not, be a sign that someone is feeling suicidal - it is very important to ask and not make assumptions. If you are a young person having thoughts of suicide - or you are concerned about a young person who may be suicidal - you can call HOPELINE247 on 0800 068 41 41 for practical advice and support.
Myths and facts
Myth: Young people who self-harm are just looking for attention.

Fact: The phrase 'attention-seeking' dismisses the real reasons causing someone to injure themselves. Consider what's being communicated.

Myth: It's just a phase - they'll grow out of it.

Fact: Self-harm can affect any person at any age and is not something that only young people struggle with. There are many myths about self-injury. The best way to understand and support someone is to talk to them directly, being clear you are not judging them or trying to make decisions for them.
Further support Self Injury Support
Self Injury Support run a helpline (0808 800 8088) and text service (07537 432 444) 7pm - 10pm on Mondays and Thursdays.

There are also lots of resources and self-help links on the website: www.selfinjurysupport.org.uk
HOPELINE247
Call: 0800 068 4141

Text: 88247

Email: pat@papyrus-uk.org

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Self-harm | Papyrus UK | Suicide Prevention Charity | | Learn More

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Harmless- Suicide prevention and self harm

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Harmless- Suicide prevention and self harm

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By Lisa Williamson (Suicide Bereavement Service Lead) On Wednesday evening (1st November), I was invited to attend The Voluntary Sector Awards 2023 as I had

By Laura Hughes (Suicide Crisis Service Lead - Maternity Cover) The Tomorrow Project is currently inviting applications for an unpaid academic internship, which involves contributing

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Self Harm Doesn't DiscriminateNeither Do WeGet In TouchSelf Harm Doesn't DiscriminateNeither Do WeGet in TouchSelf Harm Doesn't DiscriminateNeither Do WeGet In TouchSelf Harm Doesn't DiscriminateNeither Do WeGet in Touch Previous Next Welcome to Harmless Harmless is a passionate organisation who works to address and overcome issues related to self-harm and suicide.

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Here are some key things to remember:

Misinformation is false or inaccurate information - getting the facts wrong. Disinformation is false information which is

deliberately intended to mislead - intentionally misstating the facts. Conspiracy Theory is a belief that some secret, but influential, organisation is responsible for an event or phenomenon.

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Podcasts for Safeguarding - ECP Safeguarding – Training and Services

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Podcasts - ECP Safeguarding provides a range of safeguarding, child protection and adult safeguarding training. Find our full list of training here.

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technology assisted harmful sexual behaviour

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Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) or peer-on-peer sexual abuse | NSPCC Learning

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Free resources, guidance and training to help you respond to and prevent incidents of problematic sexual behaviour and harmful sexual behaviour, including child-on-child and peer-on-peer sexual abuse.

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Definition of child sexual exploitation, potential vulnerabilities and indicators of abuse and appropriate action to take in response.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

This guidance is for:

local authority chief executives

directors of children's services

people leading local safeguarding arrangements

people who work with children, including in social care, health, early years, education and the police

It replaces the 2009 guidance 'Safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation'.

See also:

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SCIE At a glance 43

First published: May 2015
Last updated: November 2020; October 2022

This briefing summarises the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It also introduces Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS), the Law Commission's proposed replacement for DoLS.

DoLS ensures people who cannot consent to their care arrangements in a care home or hospital are protected if those arrangements deprive them of their liberty. Arrangements are assessed to check they are necessary and in the person's best interests. Representation and the right to challenge a deprivation are other safeguards that are part of DoLS.

Key messages

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They apply in England and Wales only.

The Mental Capacity Act allows some restraint and restrictions to be used - but only if they are in a person's best interests and necessary and proportionate.

Extra safeguards are needed if the restrictions and restraint used will deprive a person of their liberty. These are called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards can only be used if the person will be deprived of their liberty in a care home or hospital. In other settings the Court of Protection can authorise a deprivation of liberty.

Care homes or hospitals must ask a local authority if they can deprive a person of their liberty. This is called requesting a standard authorisation.

There are six assessments which have to take place before a standard authorisation can be given.

If a standard authorisation is given, one key safeguard is that the person has someone appointed with legal powers to represent them. This is called the relevant person's representative and will usually be a family member or friend.

Other safeguards include rights to challenge authorisations in the Court of Protection, and access to Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs).

Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS): In July 2018, the Government published a Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill which will see DoLS replaced by the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS). Under LPS, there will be a streamlined process for authorising deprivations of liberty. Until LPS is fully implemented the current process remains. Read more: Liberty Protection Safeguards.

What is a deprivation of liberty?

Article 5 of the Human Rights Act states that 'everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his or her liberty [unless] in accordance with a procedure prescribed in law'. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) is the procedure prescribed in law when it is necessary to deprive of their liberty a resident or patient who lacks capacity to consent to their care and treatment in order to keep them safe from harm.

A Supreme Court judgement in March 2014 made reference to the 'acid test' to see whether a person is being deprived of their liberty, which consisted of two questions:

Is the person subject to continuous supervision and control? and

Is the person free to leave? (permanently) - with the focus, the Law Society advises us, being not on whether a person seems to be wanting to leave, but on how those who support them would react if they did want to leave.

If someone is subject to a high level of supervision, and is not free to leave the premises permanently, then it is almost certain that they are being deprived of their liberty. Each case must be considered on its own merits, but in addition to the two 'acid test' questions, if the following features are present, you must request the completion of assessments for a deprivation of liberty authorisation:

frequent use of sedation/medication to control behaviour

regular use of physical restraint to control behaviour

the person concerned objects verbally or physically to the restriction and/or restraint

objections from family and/or friends to the restriction or restraint

the person is confined to a particular part of the establishment in which they are being cared for

the placement is potentially unstable

possible challenge to the restriction and restraint being proposed to the Court of Protection or the Ombudsman, or a letter of complaint or a solicitor's letter

the person is already subject to a deprivation of liberty authorisation which is about to expire.

Restraint and restrictions

The Mental Capacity Act allows restrictions and restraint in some cases to be used in a person's support, but only if they are in the best interests of a person who lacks capacity to make the decision themselves and only if it is necessary and proportionate to do so. The urgency of the situation would be part of the consideration of whether to apply a short term restraint or restriction, to provide care or treatment, for example.

Final decisions about what amounts to a deprivation of liberty are made by courts. The Code of Practice for the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) gives examples of where courts have found people being and not being deprived of their liberty. These examples, together with other cases which have gone to the courts, should be used as a guide.

When care providers are putting together the care plans for people who are unable to make decisions about their care or where they live, they should consider whether any restrictions or restraint being proposed, in the best interests of the person, amount to a deprivation of liberty.

Practice example

Ben has learning disabilities and Prader-Willi syndrome. There are concerns about his health because his weight has been increasing steadily and now stands at 120kg.

Staff in his residential home have tried to support Ben to limit what he eats and to make healthy choices but with little effect.

Ben has been assessed as lacking capacity to make decisions about the amount and type of food he eats (this is common among people with Prader-Willi syndrome). It has been proposed that it is in Ben's best interests to stop him going into the kitchen, and always supervising him when out, to prevent him spending all his money on, or stealing, food. An application is made by the home manager for standard authorisation because they believe that the restrictions would deprive Ben of his liberty.

How is deprivation of liberty authorised under DoLS?

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) can only apply to people who are in a care home or hospital. This includes where there are plans to move a person to a care home or hospital where they may be deprived of their liberty. The care home or hospital is called the managing authority in the DoLS. Where a managing authority thinks it needs to deprive someone of their liberty they have to ask for this to be authorised by a supervisory body. They can do this up to 28 days in advance of when they plan to deprive the person of their liberty.

For care homes and hospitals the supervisory body is the local authority where the person is ordinarily resident. Usually this will be the local authority where the care home is located unless the person is funded by a different local authority.

The managing authority must fill out a form requesting a standard authorisation. This is sent to the supervisory body which has to decide within 21 days whether the person can be deprived of their liberty.

The supervisory body appoints assessors to see if the conditions are met to allow the person to be deprived of their liberty under the safeguards. They include:

The person is 18 or over (different safeguards currently apply for children).

The person is suffering from a mental disorder (recognised by the Mental Health Act).

The person lacks capacity to decide for themselves about the restrictions which are proposed so they can receive the necessary care and treatment.

The restrictions would deprive the person of their liberty.

The proposed restrictions would be in the person's best interests.

Whether the person should instead be considered for detention under the Mental Health Act.

There is no valid advance decision to refuse treatment or support that would be overridden by any DoLS process.

Whether a person who holds Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for Health and Welfare agrees with a DoLS authorisation (no refusals).

If any of the conditions are not met, deprivation of liberty cannot be authorised. This may mean that the care home or hospital has to change its care plan so that the person can be supported in a less restrictive way. There may be also be a need to consider asking the Court of Protection to look at the Deprivation of Liberty, supervisory bodies must seek legal advice in these cases.

If all conditions are met, the supervisory body must authorise the deprivation of liberty and inform the person and managing authority in writing. It can be authorised for up to one year.

The person does not have to be deprived of their liberty for the duration of the authorisation. The restrictions should stop as soon as they are no longer required.

Conditions on the standard authorisation can be set by the supervisory body. These must be followed by the managing authority.

Standard authorisations cannot be extended. If it is felt that a person still needs to be deprived of their liberty at the end of an authorisation, the managing authority must request another standard authorisation (or renewal).

Practice example

Claire has an acquired brain injury. Her GP has referred her to the local hospital for a minor operation on her foot. The doctor assessed Claire as lacking capacity to make the treatment decision herself and so after consulting Claire's mother is proposing that it is in her best interests to have the surgery. From past experience it is known that Claire will need to be sedated throughout her stay in hospital.

This is to stop her removing the dressing and picking at the wound. On the advice of the GP, the hospital makes an application for a standard authorisation for the use of sedation which is granted before she is admitted.

Urgent authorisations

A person may need to be deprived of their liberty before the supervisory body can respond to a request for a standard authorisation. In these situations the managing authority can use an urgent authorisation. Urgent authorisations are granted by the managing authority itself. There is a form that they have to complete and send to the supervisory body.

The managing authority can deprive a person of their liberty for up to seven days using an urgent authorisation. It can only be extended (for up to a further seven days) if the supervisory body agrees to a request made by the managing authority to do this.

When using an urgent authorisation the managing authority must also make a request for a standard authorisation. The managing authority must have a reasonable belief that a standard authorisation would be granted if using an urgent authorisation.

Before granting an urgent authorisation, the managing authority should try to speak to the family, friends and carers of the person. Their knowledge of the person could mean that deprivation of liberty can be avoided. The managing authority should make a record of their efforts to consult others.

Practice example

Brian has been living in a nursing home for the past three years. Recently he has become very agitated and distressed which is thought to be linked to his dementia. He tells people he wants to go home not remembering that he had to give his flat up when he moved into the home. He also spends a lot of time trying to open the front door which has a key pad lock on. An incident has occurred where he climbed out of his ground floor bedroom window and was only found a couple of hours later on a main road. The nursing home asks the local authority for a standard authorisation. They want to continue to use the key code so that Brian does not go out unaccompanied, and to put safety locks on some of the windows. Because of the seriousness of the recent incident, the home manager completes the form for the urgent authorisation and arranges the window locks to be fitted the same day.

Safeguards for people who may be deprived of their liberty

The first safeguard is the assessment process for a standard authorisation which involves at least two independent assessors who must have received training for their role. There will always be one mental health assessor and one best interests assessor who will stop deprivation of liberty being authorised if they do not think all the conditions are met.

Family, friends and paid carers who know the person well should be consulted as part of the assessment process. They may have suggestions about how the person can be supported without having to deprive them of their liberty. Those people who don't have family or friends who can represent them have a right to the support of an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) during the assessment process. And at all times, the fifth principle of the Mental Capacity Act, that any decision made in a person's best interests must be the least restrictive of their rights and freedoms, should be borne in mind.

If the person has an unpaid relevant person's representative following an authorisation, both they and their representative are entitled to the support of an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate.

If standard authorisation is granted the following safeguards are available:

The person must be appointed a relevant person's representative as soon as possible. Usually this will be a family member or friend who agrees to take this role. If there is no one willing or able to take this role on an unpaid basis, the supervisory body must pay someone, such as an advocate, to do this.

The person and their representative can require the authorisation to be reviewed at any time, to see whether the criteria to deprive the person of their liberty are still met, and if so whether any conditions need to change.

The person and their relevant person's representative have a right to challenge the deprivation of liberty in the Court of Protection at any time.

If the person has an unpaid relevant person's representative, both they and their representative are entitled to the support of an IMCA. It is good practice for supervisory bodies to arrange for an IMCA to explain their role directly to both when a new authorisation has been granted.

The home or hospital should do all it reasonably can to explain to a detained person and their family what their rights of appeal are and give support.

When DoLS cannot be used

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) can only be used if a person is in hospital or a care home. If a person is living in another setting, including in supported living or their own home, it is still possible to deprive the person of their liberty in their best interests, via an application to the Court of Protection.

If a person is in hospital they should not be subject to the DoLS if they meet the criteria for detention under the Mental Health Act.

The DoLS should not be used if the main reason is to restrict contact with individuals who may cause the person harm. If it is believed to be in a person's best interests to limit contact an application should be made to the Court of Protection.

DoLS should also not be used if the sole purpose of the restrictions are to protect other people, the safeguards are for the individual.

If there is a dispute about where a person should stay, an authorisation does not resolve the dispute. The Code of Practice of the Mental Capacity Act says that unresolved disputes about residence, including the person themselves disagreeing, should be referred to the Court of Protection.

Practice example

The local authority is following safeguarding proceedings for Mavis, a woman with dementia who is currently living at home with her husband. They are concerned her needs are not being met because her husband is refusing the support that is being offered. It is believed that he has untreated mental health needs. Mavis was assessed as lacking capacity to decide on her residence, though clearly communicates a wish to remain in her own home.

It has been proposed that a placement in a care home would be in Mavis's best interests. It is also believed that in the care home she will need a high level of restrictions to give her appropriate care and treatment.

Because the move is against Mavis's wishes and those of her husband, the local authority makes a fast-track application to the Court of Protection to make a decision in her best interests. If the court authorises a move to the care home, an application will be made by the home for a standard authorisation under the DoLS.

Deprivation of liberty without authorisation

If you are working in a care home or hospital where you think a person is being deprived of their liberty, you should see if care could be provided in a less restrictive way. If depriving the person of their liberty seems unavoidable, an application should be made for a standard authorisation at the same time as an urgent authorisation is given.

If you come across someone in another setting who may be deprived of their liberty you should bring this to the attention of the manager so they either change their care or seek authorisation. Other options are to inform the supervisory body, to make a safeguarding alert to the local authority, or to challenge what may be an unlawful deprivation of liberty in the Court of Protection.

Other information

If a care/nursing home or hospital makes an application to a local authority for a deprivation of liberty authorisation, it must inform the Care Quality Commission, once the outcome of the application is known. CQC provides a form for this purpose. Similarly, if a supported living, shared lives or other community provider requests an authorisation of a deprivation of liberty from the Court of Protection, the CQC must be informed once the outcome is known, using the same form. (Download CQC statutory notification: Application to deprive a person of their liberty and its outcome)

Liberty Protection Safeguards

In July 2018, the government published a Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill which will see DoLS replaced by the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS). This passed into law in May 2019. Under LPS, there will be a streamlined process to authorise deprivations of liberty. Read more here: Liberty Protection Safeguards.

Keep up to date

Court of Protection judgements can be found on the Bailii website. This includes cases to decide whether a person is being deprived of their liberty.

We hope this at a glance about DoLS has been helpful. Some aspects of DoLS are complex, and it is important that they are fully understood. SCIE offers e-learning, bespoke training, and consultancy support, to make sure that you and your organisation are aware of good practice and legal duties in this area. Or if you would like to talk to our team about how we can help, please complete our enquiry form.

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Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) at a glance - SCIE

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Skip to content SCIE At a glance 43 First published: May 2015Last updated: November 2020; October 2022 This briefing summarises the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It also introduces Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS), the Law Commission's proposed replacement for DoLS.

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Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised): The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the 'Changes to Legislation' area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

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An Act to make provision to reform the law relating to care and support for adults and the law relating to support for carers; to make provision about safeguarding adults from abuse or neglect; to make provision about care standards; to establish and make provision about Health Education England; to establish and make provision about the Health Research Authority; to make provision about integrating care and support with health services; and for connected purposes.

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The principles of Contextual Safeguarding

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A brief introduction to the principles of Contextual Safeguarding.

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Camden Safeguarding Children Partnership CSCP

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Here you can find contacts for different UK regions

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Local Contact Details and Region Map Apr26v5

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Fake news and misinformation | Childline

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Sometimes, people put views and engagement over the truth – especially on social media. So knowing what’s real, and what’s not, can get tricky. We want to help you spot the fakes, and give you advice on what to do if misinformation is affecting you.

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Support and advice for harmful or concerning sexual behaviour can be found via the links below

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Shorespace- A Safe space for teenagers concerned about sexual behaviour

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Shorespace- A Safe space for teenagers concerned about sexual behaviour

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A safe space for teenagers worried about sexual behaviour. Shore has anonymous advice and support to help you or someone you know manage worrying thoughts and learn more about living safely both online and offline. All our services are anonymous, which means you don't have to say who you are.

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`{`Text on screen`}` How to tackle misogyny : Quick tips for parents & carers

What is misogyny ?

Misogyny is the hate of girls and women.

It spreads online in different communities and on social media.

But there are things you can do to tackle this online hate...

Talk about it

Keep talking about misogyny and online hate even when the news isn't .

Tackle the tough topics before they find out somewhere else ,

Ask them to tell you what they know ,

Make these conversations a normal part of everyday life.

Understand the pressure

Pressures from social media, friends and society could impact their thoughts and actions.

Discuss how their friends might impact their actions ,

Work together to set boundaries ,

Show them how and when to seek support .

Challenge the narrative .

People who promote misogyny prepare their followers for rejection. Challenge this.

Instead of telling a child these ideas are wrong, ask them to talk about their beliefs.

Ask critical thinking questions in a calm and positive way.

Get more advice to tackle misogyny and other online issues at internetmatters.org.

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What is misogyny? Guidance for parents and carers | Internet Matters

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In this section you can find information on different threats to children's safety and how to take action to safeguard them.

Types of abuse that may impact children include but are not limited to:

Physical

Emotional

Sexual

Neglect

Domestic

There are other risks to children's safety from online harms, criminal and sexual exploitation, radicalisation, extremism and other risks that may be impacting on the family directly or the areas in which they live.

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In this section you can find information on different types of abuse affecting adults. There is further specific information across the Padlet page on abuse types.

The Care Act recognises 10 categories of abuse that may be experienced by adults, these include and may not be limited to:

Physical Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Financial Abuse

Domestic Abuse

Discrimination

Neglect and acts of omission

Self-neglect

Modern slavery

Psychological Abuse

Organisational or Institutional Abuse

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Here you can find links to support for a variety of situations including hate crime, stalking and more.

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Get help from your local team

Call us

If you've been affected by crime, call your local victim care team in Kent on 08 08 16 89 276. Lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

If you need telephone support outside of your local team's opening hours, you can call our Supportline, for free, on 08 08 16 89 111. Supportline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Go online

Our free live chat support service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can also request support via the website. A member of the team will get back to you within three working days.

My Support Space is a free online resource containing interactive guides aimed at helping you to manage the impact crime has had on you. It's easy to set up an account and it allows you to work through the guides at your own pace.

Specialist services

Across Kent and Medway, we have some dedicated specialist support services available which includes:
Children and Young People
A specialist support service for children and young people (CYP) offering direct support for those affected by crime, or trauma. Our trained CYP supporter helps young people directly between ages 4 and 17 enabling them to feel safe, build confidence, and access the help they need. Indirect support is provided to those aged 3 and under via parents or guardians.

For more information or to make a referral, call freephone 08 08 16 89 276 or you can email: cyp.kent@victimsupport.org.uk
Hate Crime Advocate service
Hate crime is any criminal act motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person's race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity whether this is actual or perceived. It can include, but not limited to: verbal abuse, harassment, threats, or physical violence, whether in person or online.

Our hate crime advocate is here to help if you or someone you know has been affected, you don't have to face it alone. For more information or to make a referral, call freephone 08 08 16 89 276 or email HateCrimeKent@victimsupport.org.uk
Stalking Advocate service
Stalking is defined as a pattern of repeated, persistent behaviour that causes fear, distress, or harm. This may include but not limited to: unwanted contact (direct or indirect), surveillance, threats, whether in person or online.

We have a team of qualified independent stalking advocacy caseworkers (ISACs), who can advocate on behalf of individuals who have open investigations with the police, offer practical guidance to support individuals in managing their safety, and much more.

For more information or to make a referral, call freephone 08 08 16 89 276 or email: KentStalking@victimsupport.org.uk
Fraud
Romance Fraud involves individuals being deceived by a fraudster, thinking they are in a genuine relationship, but can also be a friendship. The fraudster may convince them to send them money, or to keep hold of/ transfer money to another account for them. They often take place online, with the fraudster creating a fake identity and using stolen images to convince the victims they are real.

Romance fraud can be complex and fraudsters often spend a significant amount of time gaining the victims trust, which can make it all the more devastating when they realise the relationship and the person they are speaking with isn't genuine.

A specialist fraud peer support service is available in Kent and Medway, providing one-to-one casework, a group work programme and peer support sessions to victims of relationship fraud. Please call freephone 03 03 31 32 955 or email FraudPeerSupportPilot@victimsupport.org.uk for further information.

Volunteering

Are you interested in volunteering with us in Kent?

Do you have some spare time to give? We have various roles available to suit the needs of everyone.

The continued commitment and support our volunteers give ensures we are able to help as many victims of crime as we do. Whether it's supporting clients directly, focusing on a specific crime type or supporting in community engagement and fundraising there is loads to get involved with.

See our current volunteering opportunities.

If you want to have a chat about volunteering or ask a question you can email our volunteer and community engagement manager at kentvolunteering@victimsupport.org.uk.

You can learn more about volunteering, the roles Victim Support offers and some vital frequently asked question on the volunteering page.

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If you've been affected by crime or a traumatic event, you can call your local Victim Support team in Kent on 0808 168 9276.

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Everyone has the right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.

Abuse and neglect can occur anywhere: in your own home or a public place, while you're in hospital or attending a day centre, or in a college or care home.

You may be living alone or with others. The person causing the harm may be a stranger but, more often than not, you'll know and feel safe with them. They're usually in a position of trust and power, such as a health or care professional, relative or neighbour.

Different forms of abuse and neglect

There are many forms of abuse and neglect.

Sexual abuse

This includes:

indecent exposure

sexual harassment

inappropriate looking or touching

sexual teasing or innuendo

sexual photography

being forced to watch pornography or sexual acts

being forced or pressured to take part in sexual acts

rape

Physical abuse

This includes:

being hit, slapped, pushed or restrained

being denied food or water

not being helped to go to the bathroom when you need to

misuse of your medicines

Psychological abuse

This includes:

emotional abuse

threats to hurt or abandon you

stopping you from seeing people

humiliating, blaming, controlling, intimidating or harassing you

verbal abuse

cyberbullying and isolation

an unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal of services or support networks

Domestic abuse

This is typically an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse by someone who is, or has been, an intimate partner or family member.

Discriminatory abuse

This includes some forms of harassment, slurs or unfair treatment because of:

race

sex

gender and gender identity

age

disability

sexual orientation

religion

being married or in a civil partnership

being pregnant or on maternity leave

Financial abuse

This could be someone stealing money or other valuables from you. Or it might be that someone appointed to look after your money on your behalf is using it inappropriately or coercing you to spend it in a way you're not happy with.

Internet scams and doorstep crime are also common forms of financial abuse.

Neglect

Neglect includes not being provided with enough food or with the right kind of food, or not being taken proper care of.

Leaving you without help to wash or change dirty or wet clothes, not getting you to a doctor when you need one or not making sure you have the right medicines all count as neglect.

Abuse in your home

You're more at risk of abuse at home if:

you're isolated and do not have much contact with friends, family or neighbours

you have memory problems or difficulty communicating

you become dependent on your carer

you do not get on with your carer

your carer is addicted to drugs or alcohol

your carer relies on you for a home, or financial or emotional support

Find out more about domestic violence and abuse
I think I am being abused or neglected. What can I do?

There are many people you can talk to. If you feel you are being abused or neglected:

do not worry about making a fuss - tell someone you trust as soon as possible

speak to friends or care workers who may have an understanding of the situation and be able to take steps quickly to improve the situation

talk to professionals such as a GP or social worker about your concerns, or ask to speak to your local council's adult safeguarding team or co-ordinator

if you believe a crime is being, or has been, committed - whether it's physical abuse or financial - talk to the police or ask someone you trust to do so on your behalf

Older people can also call the free, confidential Hourglass helpline on 0808 808 8141 for advice.

Spotting signs of abuse in older people: advice for carers

It's not always easy to spot the signs of abuse. Someone being abused may make excuses for why they're bruised, may not want to go out or talk to people, or may be short of money.

It's important to know the signs of abuse and, where they're identified, gently share your concerns with the person you think may be being abused.

If you wait, hoping the person will tell you what's been happening to them, it could delay matters and allow the abuse to continue.

Behavioural signs of abuse in an older person include:

becoming quiet and withdrawn

being aggressive or angry for no obvious reason

looking unkempt, dirty or thinner than usual

sudden changes in their character, such as appearing helpless, depressed or tearful

physical signs - such as bruises, wounds, fractures or other untreated injuries

the same injuries happening more than once

not wanting to be left by themselves or alone with particular people

being unusually lighthearted and insisting there's nothing wrong

Also, their home may be cold or unusually dirty or untidy, or you might notice things missing.

Other signs include a sudden change in their finances, such as not having as much money as usual to pay for shopping or regular outings, or getting into debt.

Watch out for any official or financial documents that seem unusual, and for documents relating to their finances that suddenly go missing.

If you feel someone you know is showing signs of being abused, talk to them to see if there's anything you can do to help.

If they're being abused, they may not want to talk about it straight away, especially if they've become used to making excuses for their injuries or changes in personality.

Do not ignore your concerns, though. Doing so could allow any abuse to carry on or escalate.

I'm worried about someone who may be experiencing abuse or neglect. What should I do?

Start by talking to the person in private, if you feel able to do so. Mention some of the things that concern you - for instance, that they've become depressed and withdrawn, have been losing weight or seem to be short of money.

Let them talk as much as they want to. But be mindful that if they've been abused, they may be reluctant to talk about it because they are afraid of making the situation worse, do not want to cause trouble, or may be experiencing coercion or threats.

It's best not to promise the person that you will not tell anyone what's been said. If an adult is being abused or neglected, it's important to find help for them and stop the harm.

Stay calm while the person is talking, even if you're upset by what you hear, otherwise they may become more upset themselves and stop telling you what's been going on.

It can be very difficult for an abused or neglected person to talk about what's been happening to them. Unless you're concerned for their immediate health and safety and feel it's vital to act straight away, give them time to think about what they'd like to do.

If you're right and the person has been abused or neglected, ask them what they'd like you to do. Let them know who can help them, and tell them you can seek help on their behalf if they want or if it's difficult for them to do so themselves.

It's important to listen to what they say and not charge into action if this is not what they want.

Who to contact if an older person is being abused

If an adult has told you about their situation, you might want to talk to other people who know them to find out if they have similar concerns.

There are also professionals you can contact. You can pass on your concerns to the person's GP and social worker.

Local authorities have social workers who deal specifically with cases of abuse and neglect. Call the person's local council and ask for the adult safeguarding co-ordinator.

You can also speak to the police about the situation. Some forms of abuse are crimes, so the police will be interested.

If the person is in danger or needs medical attention, call their GP (if known) or emergency services if immediate assistance is required.

You can also call the free, confidential Hourglass helpline on 0808 808 8141.

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Abuse and neglect of adults at risk (safeguarding) - Social care and support guide

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Find out what to do if you or someone you know is being abused or neglected.

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Physical Abuse- Spotting the signs in children

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Physical Abuse- Spotting the signs in children

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If you're worried about physical abuse, we have information and advice to help you feel confident in taking the next steps to keep children and young people safe.

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Find out what female genital mutilation (FGM) is, why and where it’s carried out, what the health risks are, and where to get help and advice.

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Self-neglect is an extreme lack of self-care, it is sometimes associated with hoarding and may be a result of other issues such as addictions. A hoarding disorder is where someone acquires an excessive number of items and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter. The items can be of little or no monetary value.

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What is Neglect in relation to children?

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What is Neglect in relation to children?

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Neglect can be hard to spot. We've got advice on the types and signs of neglect and what you can do if you're worried about a child.

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Fabricated or induced illness (FII) is a rare form of child abuse. It happens when a parent or carer exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in the child.
The parent or carer tries to convince doctors that the child is ill, or that their condition is worse than it really is.

The parent or carer does not necessarily intend to deceive doctors, but their behaviour is likely to harm the child. For example the child may have unnecessary treatment or tests, be made to believe they're ill, or have their education disrupted.

FII used to be known as "Munchausen's syndrome by proxy" (not to be confused with Munchausen's syndrome, where a person pretends to be ill or causes illness or injury to themselves).

Signs of fabricated or induced illness

Fabricated or induced illness (FII) covers a wide range of symptoms and behaviours involving parents or carers seeking healthcare for a child. This ranges from exaggerating or inventing symptoms, to deliberately making the child ill.

Behaviours in FII can include a parent or carer who:

persuades healthcare professionals that their child is ill when they're healthy

exaggerates or lies about their child's symptoms

manipulates test results to suggest the child is ill, for example, by putting glucose in urine samples to suggest the child has diabetes

deliberately induces symptoms of illness, for example, by poisoning their child with unnecessary medicine or other substances

Cases where the parent or carer wrongly reports symptoms are much more common than cases where they induce illness in the child.

Learn more about the signs of fabricated or induced illness.

Why fabricated or induced illness happens

The reasons why FII happens are not fully understood.

The parent or carer will have a need for their child to be treated as if they're ill, or as being more unwell than they really are. Their behaviour is intended to convince doctors that the child is ill.

This may be because the parent or carer gains something, such as attention, support or closeness to the child. Or it may be because they have anxiety or incorrect beliefs about their child's health, and they need these beliefs to be confirmed and acted upon.

The parent or carer is not always fully aware of the reasons for their own behaviour.

A large number of parents or carers involved in FII have borderline personality disorders characterised by emotional instability, impulsiveness and disturbed thinking.

Some parents or carers involved in FII have so-called "somatoform disorders", where they experience multiple, recurrent physical symptoms. A proportion of these parents or carers also have Munchausen's syndrome.

Some parents or carers have unresolved psychological and behavioural problems, such as a history of self-harming, or drug or alcohol misuse. Some have experienced the death of another child.

There have also been several reported cases where illness was fabricated or induced for financial reasons. For example, to claim disability benefits.

Read more about the possible causes of fabricated or induced illness.

What to do if you suspect a child is at risk

FII is a child safeguarding issue and cannot be managed by the NHS alone.

Medical professionals who suspect FII is happening should liaise with social services and the police, and must follow local child safeguarding procedures.

If your job involves working with children, for example, if you're a nursery worker or teacher, tell the person in your organisation who's responsible for child safeguarding issues. If you do not know who this is, your immediate supervisor or manager should be able to tell you.

If you suspect someone you know may be fabricating or inducing illness in their child, do not confront them directly. It's unlikely to make the person admit to wrongdoing, and it may give them the opportunity to dispose of any evidence of abuse.

You can contact your local social services department, or telephone the NSPCC's child protection helpline on 0808 800 5000. It's open from 8am to 10pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Read more about what to do if you suspect fabricated or induced illness.

How a case is managed

The child

The first priority is to protect the child, find out their true state of health and restore them to good health. Health professionals will create a health and education rehabilitation plan for the child.

The local authority children's social care team may also be involved. They may remove the child from the care of the person responsible. If the child is in hospital, the parent or carer may need to be removed from the ward.

The child may need help returning to a normal lifestyle, including going back to school. Younger children and babies who do not understand what was happening often make a good recovery after the abuse stops.

Older children, particularly those who've been abused for many years, may have more problems. For example, many affected children believe they're really ill. They need help and support to develop a more realistic understanding of their health.

It's common for older children to feel loyal to their parent or carer, and a sense of guilt if that person is removed from the family.

The parent or carer

Once the child is safe, it may be possible to treat the parent or carer's underlying psychological problems. This may include a combination of:

intensive psychotherapy

family therapy

The aim of psychotherapy is to uncover and resolve the issues that caused the person to fabricate or induce illness in the child.

Family therapy aims to resolve any tensions within the family, improve parenting skills and attempt to repair the relationship between the parent or carer and the child.

In more severe cases, the parent or carer may be compulsorily detained in a psychiatric ward under the Mental Health Act so their relationship with the child can be closely monitored.

Parents or carers involved in FII are difficult to treat because most do not admit their deceptions and refuse to recognise their abusive behaviour. In some cases, the child is permanently removed from their care.

The best results are achieved in cases where the parent or carer:

understands and acknowledges the harm they've caused

is able to communicate the underlying motivations and needs that led them to fabricate or cause illness

is able to work together with healthcare and other professionals

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Overview - Fabricated or induced illness

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Fabricated or induced illness (FII) is a rare form of child abuse. It happens when a parent or carer exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in the child. The parent or carer tries to convince doctors that the child is ill, or that their condition is worse than it really is.

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Episode directory

Listen to the full series

Use the interactive player below to listen to our episodes or browse through the directory for a summary of what each episode is about.

Learn about what Together for Childhood is, why it was created and how the initiative works to prevent child abuse and neglect across four locations in the UK.

Hear our discussion of the issues around child sexual exploitation (CSE) and how to work with children or young people who have been or are at risk of exploitation.

Get advice from our specialist service team about what you should do if you suspect a child has been or is about to be trafficked into or out of the UK.

Find out what support The Lighthouse (a multi-agency service) offers to children and young people who have experienced any form of sexual abuse.

Discover ways to support parents who are experiencing perinatal mental health problems and programmes you can refer them to for help.

Do you work in a primary school? Listen to our episode on empowering young children to speak out if they are worried about anything inside or outside of school.

Explains how to implement effective anti-bullying procedures and ensure the safety of your students from all forms of bullying.

Uncovers the risks involved and common errors made when recruiting for new staff in an educational institution. Learn how to embed safer processes in your organisation.

Tune into our episode to explore the challenges military-connected families can face, the impact on children and findings from our evaluation report.

A conversation with Holly Bentley, the lead author of the seventh How safe? report, on the emerging issues around online safety and abuse in the UK.

Play our episode for advice and tips on safeguarding children and young people during activities and events.

Advice for anyone new to a child protection lead role or current leads looking to better understand the role at a strategic level.

Are you responsible for safeguarding adults and children within a mixed-age group organisation? Tune into our episode for advice, support and useful resources.

Gain an insight into the online world children and young people are a part of and learn how you can run online services safely and adopt professional and personal boundaries.

Explores good safeguarding practices, barriers to talking about concerns, promoting positive mental health across your organisation and more.

Discusses safeguarding responsibilities, challenges and culture, including the role faith and places of worship play in children and young people's lives.

Find out what key responsibilities a charity trustee has in safeguarding children and young people and delivering safe services.

Learn about how the programme is being delivered in Stoke and receive advice on how to launch a co-creative and collaborative initiative like Together for Childhood.

Explains what the Underwear Rule is and how you can use our teaching resources to help you keep children safe from sexual abuse.

Hear about our study into parents' and carers' views on keeping children and young people with disabilities safe from sexual abuse.

Discover why the early-intervention programme was developed, how it helped families living with domestic abuse and what we've learnt from delivering the service.

An insight into how you can use our Love Life resources to help young people with special educational needs and learning disabilities.

The first episode of a three-part series discussing the issues educational settings are facing around harmful sexual behaviour and how to manage this effectively.

In the second episode of our three-part series, we look at how schools can assess sexualised behaviour and how to address high or lower level concerns.

We invited two Designated Safeguarding Leads and a social worker to talk about how harmful sexual behaviour can be prevented and managed in educational settings.

We invited two NSPCC social workers and a safeguarding manager to come together to discuss the risks to infants under two and how these risks can be recognised and prevented.

The first episode in our coronavirus series explores the impact on pregnant women, postnatal services and parental mental health during the pandemic and lockdown.

An episode discussing enquiries we've received from the education sector about the coronavirus outbreak and how they can continue to support their pupils remotely.

How did schools respond to the challenges imposed by the pandemic? Listen to hear how schools adapted their services to continue safeguarding their pupils and support their wellbeing.

Explores how children's services are operating and keeping in touch with children and families whilst social distancing safely. Includes insights into what practitioners have experienced and heard during this time.

Come listen to two of our Childline workers delve into what children and young people have been telling them both online and in counselling sessions since the lockdown began.

What challenges do tutors face when it comes to safeguarding young people they work with? Listen to this episode for practical advice whether you're a new or existing tutor.

To mark the tenth anniversary of our domestic abuse service, we invited some of the team involved in delivering the service, including one of our scale-up partners to talk more about the impact of domestic abuse on children.

You may have already listened to our previous episode on what Speak out Stay safe is, but this time we explore why there have been major changes to how it's being delivered in schools and why we've made the decision to deliver the programme online.

Two episodes focusing on how the NSPCC and its partner sites are delivering perinatal education to parents virtually during the pandemic and what we've discovered from our research into the Baby Steps service.

In this episode, we reflect on the past nine months with our CEO, Peter Wanless, discussing the issues and challenges children and young people are facing; what child protection and safeguarding themes emerged; delivering services for children and families remotely.

We conducted a literature review into the role volunteers have in supporting vulnerable families and how this work is carried out. Find out what the evidence from the review told us.

We invited practitioners from our InCtrl service to understand more about how children and young people's lives can be affected by the online world and the types of risks they may come across.

This episode focuses on the complexity of domestic abuse and explores the effects it can have on children, including the main themes that emerged from our learning case reviews briefing on domestic and what we've seen in practice.

Hear Jahnine Davis and Nick Marsh, founders of Listen Up and Ineke Houtenbos, a senior consultant at the NSPCC, discuss intersectionality and its application within safeguarding practice.

We talk about the lack of representation of Black girls' experiences in child sexual abuse research and the impact this has on policy and practice.

We spoke to NSPCC practitioners about conducting therapeutic sessions with children and young people and understanding how to manage incidents of harmful sexual behaviour.

Continuing on from episode 43, Katy and Rowan discuss planning therapeutic sessions, including helpful ideas you can use in your work to talk about difficult topics and exploring harmful sexual behaviour.

In the final episode of our mini-HSB series, Pat Branigan, the NSPCC's Associate Head of Development, speaks to Emma Hodgson, an NSPCC development social worker and Carol Carson from the AIM Project about TA-HSB and what help is available to support professionals working with children.

Expert practitioners who have worked with children and young people experiencing neglect discuss what neglect is, why it can be challenging to conduct assessments around neglect, why neglect happens and what can be done to help families when neglect takes place.

Learn how the NSPCC Helpline's new Domestic Abuse Practice Advisors support children and families experiencing domestic abuse in this episode.

In this episode, we focus on exploring feelings of denial in children and young people who have displaying harmful sexual behaviour, and how you can use therapeutic sessions to build trust.

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Podcast on child protection | NSPCC Learning

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Use the interactive player below to listen to our episodes or browse through the directory for a summary of what each episode is about. Learn about what Together for Childhood is, why it was created and how the initiative works to prevent child abuse and neglect across four locations in the UK.

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Visit your own local multi-agency safeguarding partnership/ board website to check their recent policy and procedures. We have provided links to our home county local authority.

On this website you can find information about safeguarding reporting procedures as well as whistle blowing and allegations against staff.

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Protecting children from county lines | NSPCC Learning

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Provides information on how adults working or volunteering with children can recognise, respond to and protect children from county lines.

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Statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment.

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This guidance applies to all schools and colleges and is for:

headteachers, teachers and staff

governing bodies, proprietors and management committees

It sets out the legal duties you must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 in schools and colleges.

All school and college staff should read part 1 of this guidance. Part 1 of the guidance is also available as a standalone document.

Statutory guidance sets out what schools must do to comply with the law.

Where the guidance states schools and colleges should do something, you should follow this unless you have a good reason not to.

'Regulated activity in relation to children: scope' describes work that a barred person must not do. We have also published guidance on disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006.

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Statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment.

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Multi-agency guidelines on FGM for those with statutory duties to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

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This guidance on female genital mutilation ( FGM) is for all persons and bodies in England and Wales.

You must read and follow this guidance if you are under statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.

You should read this FGM guidance along-side other safeguarding guidance, including (but not limited to):

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Multi-agency statutory guidance on female genital mutilation

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Multi-agency guidelines on FGM for those with statutory duties to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

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Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education Guidance 

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Statutory guidance on relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education.

Applies to England

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This is statutory guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) issued under section 80A of the Education Act 2002 and section 403 of the Education Act 1996.

Schools must have regard to the guidance and, where they depart from those parts of the guidance which state that they should, or should not, do something, they will need to have good reasons for doing so.

This statutory guidance applies to all schools, and is for:

governing bodies of maintained schools (including schools with a sixth-form) and non-maintained special schools

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relevant local authority staff for reference

To help school leaders follow this statutory guidance, we have published:

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Statutory guidance on relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education.

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NHS Safeguarding link page to Safeguarding contacts according to your region

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Virtual College has produced a range of free online training courses in subjects such as Safeguarding Children, Health and Well-Being and Careers Advice. Here is a selection of some of the most popular free online elearning courses we offer. We're proud to offer free courses online with certificates which you can download and print for your records. Our free e-learning courses and free training courses are available to start straight away and you can learn anytime, anywhere.

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This link will keep you updated on the latest information in relation to the prevent duty

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Section 1: Status and scope of the Prevent duty

Summary

About this guidance

1. This guidance replaces the 'Revised Prevent duty guidance : for England and Wales', the 'Prevent duty guidance: for further education institutions in England and Wales', and the 'Prevent duty guidance: for higher education institutions in England and Wales' of 2015 (updated in April 2021).

2. This guidance is addressed to specified authorities in England and Wales. Those specified authorities are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 6 to the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA 2015), being those to whom the Prevent duty under section 26 of the Act applies. This guidance does not concern specified authorities in Scotland, which are listed at Part 2 of the Schedule and are also subject to the Prevent duty.

3. The Prevent duty does not confer new functions on any specified authority. The term 'due regard' as used in the CTSA 2015 means that the authorities should place an appropriate amount of weight on the need to prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism when they consider all the other factors relevant to how they carry out their usual functions. The purpose of this guidance is to set out the expectations for each of the main statutory sectors and describe the ways in which they should comply with the Prevent duty.

4. This guidance also includes sources of further advice to support best practice. There is separate guidance for specified authorities in Scotland.

5. We use the terms 'must' and 'should' throughout this guidance. We use the term 'must' when the specified authority is legally required to do something, and 'should' when the advice sets out expectations and good practice for complying with the Prevent duty.

Who is this guidance for?

6. This statutory guidance is intended for use by:

7. Specified authorities are the people, organisations and institutions listed in Schedule 6 of the CTSA 2015 to whom the Prevent duty applies. It is their responsibility to consider this guidance in carrying out the Prevent duty.

9. This guidance may also inform best practice for other sectors that are not specified authorities but may wish to consider how to prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or from supporting terrorism.

What is the status of this guidance?

10. This is statutory guidance from the Home Office, issued under Section 29 of the CTSA 2015. It comes into force on 31 December 2023.

11. The Prevent duty applies to specified authorities in England and Wales, and Scotland. While counter-terrorism is the responsibility of the UK government, many of the local delivery mechanisms in Wales and Scotland, such as health, education and local government, are in devolved areas.

Section 2: Introduction

The Prevent duty

13. The aim of Prevent is to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent also extends to supporting the rehabilitation and disengagement of those already involved in terrorism.

14. The Prevent duty requires specified authorities such as education, health, local authorities, police and criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation) to help prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of other harms, such as substance abuse, involvement in gangs, and physical and sexual exploitation. The duty helps to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes.

15. In fulfilling the Prevent duty in Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA 2015), we expect all specified authorities to participate fully in work to prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. We acknowledge that how they do this in practice will vary depending on factors such as the local context and risk, the most appropriate type of Prevent activity for them to be involved in, and the nature of their primary responsibilities and functions. As an example, for those who work directly with people who may be susceptible to radicalisation to terrorism, activity is most likely to be around identification and early intervention. Relevant factors may include relationships held with the person or the frequency of interaction.

16. When carrying out the Prevent duty, specified authorities should also ensure that they comply with other legal obligations, particularly those under data protection legislation and the Equality Act 2010 (for example, the Public Sector Equality Duty). Further education and higher education settings should be especially mindful of duties to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom.

Prevent's objectives

17. The objectives of Prevent are to:

Prevent delivery model

18. The Prevent delivery model (Tackling the ideological causes of terrorism, Early intervention, Rehabilitation) sets out how we tackle the ideological causes that lead to radicalisation, intervene early to support those who are susceptible to radicalisation, and rehabilitate those who have already engaged with terrorism.

19. To tackle the ideological causes of terrorism, Prevent focuses on reducing the influence of radicalisers on susceptible audiences, as well as reducing the availability of, and access to, terrorist content. Our work to counter radicalisation and reduce permissive environments extends across academia, civil society, communities, government and industry. Prevent takes a partnership approach to disrupting radicalisers, including those who sow division and hatred, by working with local, regional and national partners, law enforcement agencies, and other government partners.

20. Prevent intervenes early by identifying people who are susceptible to radicalisation and providing support to those suitable for intervention. Where the police assess a radicalisation risk following a Prevent referral, a Channel panel will meet to discuss the referral, assess the risk and decide whether the person should be accepted into Channel. Once accepted, the panel agree a tailored package of support to be offered to the person. The panel is chaired by the local authority and attended by multi-agency partners such as police, education professionals, health services, housing and social services. Channel is a voluntary process, and people must give their consent before they receive support. In cases where the person is under 18 years of age, consent is provided by a parent, guardian or the agency that has responsibility for their care. Where risks cannot be managed in Channel, they will be kept under review by the police.

21. Rehabilitation seeks to reduce the risk of people who have been involved in terrorist-related activity, including those who have been convicted of offences. The Desistance and Disengagement Programme provides specialist Home Office-approved intervention providers to give support in the form of theological, ideological and practical mentoring to reduce the offending risk.

Threat and risk

22. Prevent deals with all kinds of terrorist threats to the UK. Prevent's first objective is to tackle the ideological causes of terrorism. The ideological component of terrorism is what sets it apart from other acts of serious violence. Islamist ideology is resilient and enduring. Extreme Right-Wing ideology is resurgent. Other ideologies are less present, but still have the potential to motivate, inspire and be used to justify terrorism.

23. In the UK, the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism. Islamist terrorism is the threat or use of violence as a means to establish a strict interpretation of an Islamic society. For some this is a political ideology which envisions, for example, the creation of a global Islamic caliphate based on strict implementation of shari'ah law, drawing on political and religious ideas developed in the 20th century by Sayyid Qutb and Abdallah Azzam. Many adherents believe that violence (or 'jihad' as they conceive it) is not only a necessary strategic tool to achieve their aims, but an individual's religious duty.

24. Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism describes those involved in Extreme Right-Wing activity who use terrorist violence to further their ideology. These ideologies can be broadly characterised as Cultural Nationalism, White Nationalism and White Supremacism. Individuals and groups may subscribe to ideological trends and ideas from more than one category. Unlike Islamist terrorist groups, Extreme Right-Wing terrorists are not typically organised into formal groups with leadership hierarchies and territorial ambitions, but informal online communities which facilitate international links.

25. Prevent also tackles other ideologies and concerns that may pose a terrorist threat. Established terrorist narratives exhibit common themes such as antisemitism, misogyny, anti-establishment, anti-LGBT grievances and religious or ethnic superiority. Left-Wing, Anarchist and Single-Issue Terrorism currently represents a significantly smaller terrorist threat to the UK than Islamist terrorism or Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism and is not currently present in the UK at any significant scale (although there has been some activity that has met a terrorism threshold in recent years). The majority of related activity in the UK has consisted of lawful protest, and where these have involved violence, it has resulted in offences relating to public order.

26. Conspiracy theories can act as gateways to radicalised thinking and sometimes violence. In some cases, a blurring of ideologies with personal narratives makes it harder to assess the risk that people may pose. The need to understand motivation and intent is why in some cases it can take time for an incident to be declared terrorism or not, and why sometimes it remains unclear.

27. Counter-terrorism efforts encounter a range of personal and ideological motivations to violence, where a traditional terrorist narrative may only be part of a much more complex picture. Terrorists can hold a range of personal grievances alongside the primary ideology for committing an attack. Individuals are increasingly adopting a mix of ideas from different ideologies into their grievance narratives. This contributes to the increasing challenge of assessing the motivation behind an individual's violence, determining the most appropriate mitigations to put in place and judging whether or not that violence constitutes an act of terrorism. It is possible that violent adherents to movements and subcultures, such as Involuntary Celibacy (Incels), could meet the threshold of terrorist intent or action, should the threat or use of serious violence be used to influence the government or intimidate the public.

28. Prevent work should always be aware of the risk presented by the people or group in question and recognise the agency of people in aligning with extremist groups. Encouraging susceptible people to commit acts of terrorism on their own initiative is a deliberate strategy of terrorist groups in their propaganda and is exacerbated by communities who glorify acts of violence against society or specific groups within it.

29. There is rapid proliferation of terrorist content on multiple online services. Research has demonstrated that the internet has become the 'preferred' avenue for those searching for terrorist propaganda or contacts. The internet continues to make it simpler for individuals and groups to promote and to consume radicalising content. Government analysis of the Terrorism Act (TACT) offenders and TACT-related offenders' radicalisation pathways in England and Wales found that online radicalisation had become the predominant pathway for an increasing proportion of TACT offenders. Previously, it had been a hybrid pathway, involving both online and offline influences. This can involve people, including a concerning number of children under the age of 18, committing offences by downloading and disseminating terrorist materials.

30. Prevent continues to monitor emerging radicalisation trends and ideologies to establish whether they represent a terrorism risk or play a role in radicalising people. Annual statistics on the people referred to Prevent, which includes a breakdown of ideology and type of concern, can be found on GOV.UK. Information and analysis on extremist and terrorist ideologies is available from the Commission for Countering Extremism, the government's 'centre of excellence' on counter extremism.

Responding to the threat

Security Threat Checks

31. At strategic leadership level, to ensure that all Prevent delivery and activity is guided by the threat, decision making within the Home Office's Homeland Security Group and Counter Terrorism Policing is informed by the Security Threat Check (STC). This is a series of principles as set out below:

33. In fulfilling their responsibilities under the Prevent duty, specified authorities should ensure any decisions taken are proportionate to the risk of terrorism and radicalisation in their local area, sector or institution. Local delivery should be tailored to reflect and respond to local threats.

34. For practitioners, it is key that, when carrying out functions under the Prevent duty, they are mindful of the need for proportionality. A risk-based approach should always be followed, using professional judgement and curiosity. There should be one consistent and proportionate threshold applied to Prevent activity across all extremist ideologies and radicalisation concerns. Where frontline professionals have identified a concern that they consider requires a referral into Prevent, it is important that they can indicate why this risk is relevant to Prevent. As Prevent is a counter-terrorism capability, the presence, or possible presence, of any terrorist or terrorism-linked ideology will be an important consideration.

Susceptibility to radicalisation

35. Radicalisation is the process of a person legitimising support for, or use of, terrorist violence. Most people who commit terrorism offences do so of their own agency and dedication to an ideological cause.

36. There is no single profile of a radicalised person, nor is there a single pathway or 'conveyor belt' to being radicalised. There are many factors which can, either alone or combined, lead someone to subscribe to terrorist or terrorism-supporting ideology. These factors often include exposure to radicalising influences, real and perceived grievances - often created or exacerbated through grievance narratives espoused by extremists - and a person's own susceptibility.

38. In other cases, vulnerabilities may not be present or relevant to the early intervention approach required. Not all people susceptible to radicalisation will be vulnerable, and there are other circumstances, needs or other underlying factors that may make a person susceptible to radicalisation but do not constitute a vulnerability.

Early intervention: referral to Prevent

Referral

39. Prevent's second objective is to intervene early to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This means providing bespoke interventions for people who are susceptible to radicalisation.

40. Prevent referrals are likely to be made in the first instance by people who come into contact with those who appear to be at risk of being radicalised. There is no single model of a person's radicalisation journey or single profile of a radicalised person. Frontline professionals, when deciding whether to make a referral, should consider whether they believe the person they are concerned about may be on a pathway that could lead to terrorism.

41. Signs that extremist views are being adopted, including changes in behaviour that might signal a concern, can be used to consider whether a referral should be made to seek support under Prevent. In determining whether a concern meets the threshold for referral to Prevent, it is important to consider the harm posed to the person, as well as whether accessing support through Prevent might stop potential wider societal harm committed by the person.

42. The process will vary, but when a concern is identified, the notice, check, share procedure should be applied as outlined in the Prevent duty GOV.UK awareness course [footnote 10]. Specified authorities should use the Prevent national referral form[footnote 11].

43. Often, the concern will be escalated to the organisation or institution's Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or Prevent lead to check. If there is a concern about potential radicalisation or a reason to believe that someone is at risk of becoming involved in terrorism or supporting it, a referral should be made to police, who will assess whether the person is suitable to be considered by a Channel panel for support.

44. Anyone making a referral should ensure there is concern that someone may be susceptible to becoming involved in terrorism or supporting it. There may be times when the precise ideological driver is not clear. Yet, like any safeguarding mechanism, it is far better to receive referrals which turn out not to be of concern than for someone who genuinely needs support to be missed.

45. Providing feedback on referrals is not always possible to protect the confidentiality of the person referred once received by police.

46. If you are unsure whether a concern constitutes a Prevent referral, we encourage seeking advice from your DSL (or equivalent), local authority Prevent lead or police, in the first instance. Consideration should also be given to whether the person may be susceptible to radicalisation or may instead be more suitable for a different type of support or safeguarding referral.

Gateway assessment

49. Once a referral is submitted to Prevent, it is assessed by specialist police officers and staff. These officers determine whether there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a person is susceptible to becoming a terrorist or supporting terrorism and should therefore be considered by the Channel panel for support through Prevent. This is called a 'gateway assessment'. If other support mechanisms are simultaneously required or being considered, these should proceed unless there is a good reason not to do so.

50. The police officers and staff who are assessing whether a referral should progress through to Channel will draw on robust decision-making frameworks to determine whether a referral meets the threshold for Prevent, and to ensure that a consistent threshold is applied. This includes, but is not limited to:

51. Those making an assessment will use a combination of frameworks, guidance and professional judgement to ensure there is no disparity in the threshold for making a referral dependent on ideology. Ensuring that specialist police officers and staff assessing referrals have appropriate training, including on ideology, will help to ensure consistent decision making.

Channel

52. The gateway assessment should determine the most appropriate forum to discuss the referral. Those who are appropriate for consideration at Channel are subject to a further, more detailed Prevent assessment led by the Channel case officer. This assessment is informed by information sharing with wider Channel partners.

53. Once the gateway assessment and multi-agency information gathering is complete, where appropriate, and where the Channel panel agrees, the person may be adopted into Channel and receive tailored support to reduce their susceptibility to being radicalised into terrorism.

54.Channel panels are chaired by the local authority, and attended by multi-agency partners such as police, education professionals, health services, housing and social services. They will meet to discuss the referral, assess the risk, and, if appropriate, agree a tailored package of support to be offered to the person. Channel is a voluntary process, and the person must give their consent (or, where appropriate, their parent's or guardian's consent should be obtained) before they receive support.

55. Where Channel is not considered suitable, alternative options will be explored where appropriate. The person may be offered alternative support, such as by mental health services or children's social care services. Where consent for Channel has not been given or the level of risk posed makes it unsuitable, the person can be considered for Police-led Partnerships. Police-led Partnerships cover the management of people, groups or institutions that are not suitable for Channel, but which have identified Prevent-relevant issues requiring support or mitigation. Police-led Partnerships are led by police but work in partnership with other agencies and employ many of the same type of approaches used within the multi-agency processes of Channel.

Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty

57. Compliance with the Prevent duty will look different across each specified authority, due to their different functions, structures and remits.

58. The risk of radicalisation will vary greatly, but no area, institution or body is risk free. All statutory partners will therefore need to consider the risk within their area, institution or body, and consider the type and scale of activity that is appropriate to address it.

59. This guidance sets out the expectations, requirements and recommendations for activity within each statutory sector, grouped into the following themes:

60. By following this guidance, specified authorities will be well placed to comply with the Prevent duty.

61. The guidance also sets out monitoring and assurance arrangements for each sector.

Leadership and partnership

62. Specified authorities should develop and maintain appropriate leadership and partnership working to help them have due regard to the need to prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Leadership

63. Within each specified authority there should be a designated person in a leadership position who is responsible for overseeing Prevent delivery, including ensuring that relevant staff have appropriate training and induction. How Prevent is delivered within each service, institution or body will vary. For example, some specified authorities may use dedicated Prevent roles, whereas others may deliver Prevent through wider safeguarding duties.

64. For all specified authorities, leadership in delivering Prevent should be demonstrated by:

Partnership working

65. Effective partnership is a key component of delivering Prevent. To demonstrate compliance with the duty, specified authorities should work with local Prevent leads, the police and local authorities. This should be facilitated through multi-agency forums, such as local, regional or national strategic Prevent boards.

Capabilities

67. Specified authorities should develop and maintain appropriate capabilities to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being radicalised into terrorism. They will be well placed to do so by having capabilities for:

Understanding risk

Training and induction

68. It is important that specified authorities know why radicalisation is relevant to their setting and how it may present. As a starting point, all specified authorities should demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the risk of radicalisation by ensuring and recording that appropriate staff undertake training, particularly on radicalisation. By understanding the risk, as well as how to raise a concern, those under the Prevent duty play a role in ensuring that people who are at risk of being radicalised can have their views challenged where appropriate, receive suitable support and be diverted away from terrorism.

69. People with responsibility for Prevent within a specified authority should ensure that relevant staff have appropriate training on Prevent.

70. We anticipate that appropriate training may differ depending on a person's role. This guidance makes sector-specific recommendations, and specified authorities should ensure they undertake any training required for their sector at the earliest opportunity to ensure they are adequately equipped for their role. The frequency and type of training required may depend on factors such as the local context and risk, or the nature of their responsibilities and functions, and should be determined by an organisational assessment of training needs.

Radicalisation is a personal and individual process, which will look different from person to person. When talking about the 'risk of radicalisation', it is therefore challenging to describe exactly what it looks like. Various signs or indicators may signal a person is at risk of being radicalised into terrorism.

There are resources and guides that specified authorities can access to improve their understanding and awareness of radicalisation. The Home Office's Prevent page on GOV.UK sets out in further detail how to spot the signs of radicalisation and what to do if you are concerned about someone.[footnote 17] This is supported by the Prevent duty training, also on GOV.UK.[footnote 18] Each specified authority may also provide their own supplementary training and guidance.

71. Staff who engage with the public should understand what radicalisation means and why people may be susceptible to extremist ideologies used to encourage people into participating in or supporting terrorism. They should be aware of the terms 'radicalisation', 'terrorism' and 'extremism'.

72. Staff should know what measures are available to prevent radicalisation into terrorism and how to recognise the extremist ideologies that drive people to become terrorists or support terrorism. Staff should have awareness of the signs of radicalisation and should understand how to escalate and refer concerns to Prevent. In some cases, this may mean contacting their Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or equivalent, who would then be able to assist with referring onwards to Prevent, either by contacting the police or local authority.

73. Those with Prevent-specific responsibilities, such as DSLs, are likely to require additional, more regular training so they can support others on Prevent matters and update them on relevant issues.

Managing risk

Risk assessment

75. As well as ensuring that staff are appropriately trained, specified authorities should understand their risks regarding radicalisation. Conducting a risk assessment will help to build understanding of national, regional and local risks, and will help to tailor approaches and manage risk accordingly. Engaging with partners will help to build understanding of the threats and risks. It may be appropriate to include risks around radicalisation as part of broader organisation risk assessments.

Sharing information

77. Specified authorities may need to share information about people to ensure, for example, that a person at risk of radicalisation is given appropriate support, such as on the Channel programme. When sharing personal data, specified authorities must comply with the requirements of data protection legislation as it applies to them.

78. It is important to remember that data protection legislation is not intended to prevent the sharing of personal data, but to ensure that it is done lawfully and with appropriate safeguards in place. While information-sharing should be considered on a case-by-case basis, it may be good practice in some circumstances - for example, where there is routine sharing - to have an information-sharing agreement in place.

Reducing permissive environments

81. One way that Prevent seeks to tackle the ideological causes of terrorism is by limiting exposure to radicalising narratives, both online and offline, and to create an environment where radicalising ideologies are challenged and are not permitted to flourish.

83. Limiting the potential harm and influence of radicalisers, as well as extremist narratives and content reasonably linked to terrorism, can help to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This includes limiting the use of permissive online environments or other platforms, which can contribute to radicalisation by facilitating exposure to terrorist and extremist content, and enabling networking with like-minded people.

84. Encouragement of terrorism, including glorifying the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism, fundraising for the purposes of terrorism, and inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation, are all criminal offences. Specified authorities should not provide a platform for an offence to be committed, or facilitate this activity through provision of endorsement, funding or other forms of support.

85. It is important for specified authorities to identify and consider opportunities to disrupt those who seek to radicalise others into conducting terrorism-related activity or supporting terrorism, or who perpetuate extremist ideologies linked to terrorism. This may mean having policies in place that, where appropriate, limit radicalising influences (including online), or ensure that facilities are not used inappropriately. It could mean challenging extremist ideas often linked to terrorism or a terrorist ideology, some of which may encompass more broadly harmful ideas, such as misogyny and antisemitism, or the concept of blasphemy to justify or condone violence.

86. It is also important that Prevent funding does not go to organisations or people whose views create an environment in which terrorism is encouraged or supported. Specified authorities should consider whether there are risks involved in their work with particular groups or individuals, such as providing legitimacy to terrorist-linked organisations or potentially damaging their reputation for making Prevent referrals. Specified authorities should carefully consider who they award Prevent funding or contracts to and should ensure that appropriate due diligence is undertaken. Additionally, when seeking advice on the Prevent duty from external parties, specified authorities should be aware that some people or organisations might actively promote non-compliance with the Prevent duty and so specified authorities should take appropriate steps.

87. Any actions taken to reduce the permissive space for radicalisation should be proportionate, lawful and appropriate. Specified authorities should consider any relevant guidance issued to their sector, as well as their corresponding section of this guidance, to help understand sector-specific considerations.

Section 4: Monitoring and assurance

88. All specified authorities must comply with the duty under Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA 2015). To ensure consistency and proportionate delivery, each authority should maintain appropriate records to show compliance with the Prevent duty. This should include keeping track of any Prevent training being undertaken by staff. Specified authorities should consider their record-keeping arrangements for Prevent referrals to ensure they are proportionate and appropriate, while also being mindful of requirements under data protection legislation (for example, the principle of storage limitation).

89. Monitoring and assurance will be supported by existing assurance processes in specific sectors. These are detailed under each sector-specific section.

90. Implementation of the Prevent duty is subject to cross-government ministerial oversight. The Home Office works closely with other government departments, devolved governments and Counter Terrorism Policing to maintain oversight of Prevent delivery. Counter Terrorism Policing handle all Prevent referrals, assessing them for risk and appropriateness for Prevent support.

91. Where Prevent activity has fallen short of the standards set out in this guidance, practitioners and the public may raise concerns through an independent complaints function.[footnote 24] Ministers also have the power to instruct investigations through this function, including in the event of a reported failure of statutory partners to uphold the Prevent duty. This function is complementary to existing sector-specific assurance and complaints processes (as detailed in each sector-specific section). The findings will be anonymised and published on GOV.UK

92. Where a specified body is not complying with the duty, the Secretary of State may use the power of direction under Section 30 of the CTSA 2015 to give directions. These directions may be enforced by court order.

Central support and monitoring

93. The Home Office oversees Prevent activity in all local areas and may award funding to support delivery.

94. The Home Office will:

draw together data about implementation of Prevent from local and regional Prevent leads (including those in safeguarding roles with Prevent duties in health and education), the police, intelligence agencies, and other departments and inspection bodies where appropriate

monitor and assess Prevent delivery in all local areas

set the overall direction for Prevent policy and delivery across relevant government departments and specified partners

uphold governance mechanisms overseeing the implementation of Prevent

guide strategic decision making by conducting a Security Threat Check

Section 5: Sector-specific guidance

95. This section contains guidance specific to:

Local authorities

96. With their wide-ranging responsibilities and democratic accountability to their electorate, local authorities are vital to Prevent work. Effective local authorities should work with their local partners to protect the public, prevent crime and promote strong, integrated communities.

97. All local authorities have a legal duty to deliver Prevent in their area. Each year, to ensure Prevent activity and resource are focused on the areas of highest threat, the Home Office undertakes a prioritisation exercise to review the relative threat from terrorism across the country. This determines where in the country the threat from radicalisation is highest. In those areas, additional funding may be allocated to support the local authority in fulfilling the Prevent duty.

98. Areas receiving additional funding will have a Prevent team which includes a Prevent co-ordinator, supported by additional staff as required. Areas which do not receive dedicated Prevent funding should have a Prevent lead embedded in a relevant team within the local authority that carries out similar functions. A network of Home Office advisers is responsible for engaging with and supporting all local authorities to deliver against the Prevent duty.

Specified local authorities

a county council or district council in England

Single Tier Unitary Authority

the Greater London Authority

a London borough council

the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a local authority

the Council of the Isles of Scilly

a county council or county borough council in Wales

a person carrying out a function of an authority mentioned in Section 1 (2) of the Local Government Act 1999 by virtue of a direction made under Section 15 of that act

101. Where local authorities have sub-contracted a service, we expect robust procedures to be in place to ensure that, wherever appropriate, the sub-contractor is aware of the Prevent duty and the sub-contractor is not inadvertently funding extremist organisations. Services may include children and adult social care.

102. Other authorities, including stand-alone fire and rescue authorities, are not listed in the CTSA 2015 and are not subject to the Prevent duty. However, considering their wider prevention role, in many areas they are partners in local efforts to prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

103.In fulfilling the Prevent duty, local authorities, including elected members and senior officers, should be carrying out activity in the following areas.

Leadership and partnership

104. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Leadership and partnership.

105. Leaders in local authorities are vital to promoting the importance of Prevent and ensuring that the risks of radicalisation to terrorism are understood and managed. They should ensure that appropriate capabilities are in place throughout the local authority.

106. It is important that local Prevent leads have access to their senior local authority leadership to give advice and support.

Multi-agency partnerships

107. Local authorities are required to have multi-agency arrangements in place to effectively monitor and evaluate the impact of Prevent work and provide strategic governance.

108. Local authorities should make use of their local multi-agency group(s) to agree risk, co-ordinate Prevent activity, and offer support and advice. Links should be made to other statutory partnerships such as Safeguarding Partners Channel panels, Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASHs) and Youth Offending Teams.

109. Where a Prevent referral is adopted, local authorities must chair Channel panels and should seek co-operation as reasonably practicable from relevant specified authorities, in accordance with Section 38 of the CTSA 2015. Details of what co-operation includes is outlined in the Channel duty guidance. Multi-agency involvement in Channel is essential to ensure the full range of information is accessible to the panel, so that susceptibility, vulnerabilities, risk and support needs can be fully assessed.

Collaboration between areas

110. In two-tier areas in England, county and district councils should agree proportionate arrangements for sharing the assessment of risk and for agreeing local Prevent partnership plans. It is expected that neighbouring areas should also agree proportionate arrangements for sharing the assessment of risk and for agreeing local Prevent partnership plans as appropriate.

Community partnership

111. Prevent work conducted through local authorities will often directly involve and impact local communities. Effective dialogue and co-ordination with community-based organisations is essential for effective Prevent delivery. Engagement should also focus on raising awareness of the risks of radicalisation and providing credible challenge to the ideologies of extremist groups, including any disinformation about Prevent that they promote.

Other agencies and organisations supporting children

112. A range of private and voluntary agencies and organisations provide services or, in some cases, exercise functions in relation to children, including children's social care. The Prevent duty applies to those bodies, which include children's homes and independent fostering agencies and bodies exercising local authority functions, whether under voluntary delegation arrangements or via the use of statutory intervention powers. These bodies should ensure they are part of their local authorities' safeguarding arrangements and that staff are aware of the Prevent duty and know how to make a Prevent referral where appropriate.

Capabilities

113. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Capabilities.

Understanding risk

Training and induction

114. Local authorities are expected to ensure appropriate frontline staff, including those of its contractors, have a good understanding of Prevent, are trained to recognise where a person might be susceptible to becoming radicalised into terrorism, and are aware of available programmes to provide support. In local authorities, we anticipate that appropriate frontline staff should include child and adult social workers, family workers, early help workers, youth workers and support workers. This training should be delivered at the earliest opportunity to ensure staff are adequately equipped for their role.

116. Local authority staff in frontline roles are also expected to receive training on how to make a Prevent referral within their local authority or to police if they think someone is at risk of being radicalised, and to understand the Channel process.

Out-of-school settings supporting children

118. Many children attend tuition, training, instruction or activities without their parents' or carers' supervision. Organisations or individuals that offer this provision to children (but which are not schools, colleges, alternative provision (AP) providers, 16 to 19 academies, or registered childcare providers) are known as 'out-of-school settings'. Typical examples of out-of-school settings include youth organisations, extracurricular clubs, private tuition and supplementary schools. These settings usually operate outside of schools, but some run part-time during the day to support children in home education. They operate in a wide range of venues, from community centres to places of worship and private homes.

119. These settings are not regulated under education and childcare law. This means there is no single responsible body with complete oversight of the quality and safety of provision in these settings. However, local authorities have a duty to safeguard children in their area, regardless of the education or childcare setting they attend. Local authorities should take steps to understand the range of activity and settings in their areas and should take appropriate and proportionate action to ensure that children attending such settings are properly safeguarded (which should include considering whether children attending such settings are at risk of being radicalised).

120. In assessing the risks associated with such settings, local authorities should consider whether the settings are implementing the recommended safeguarding practices outlined in Department for Education's guidance on ' Keeping children safe in out-of-school settings', and any other evidence about the extent to which they are taking steps to safeguard the children in their care.[footnote 29] Where safeguarding concerns arise, local authorities should actively consider how to use the full range of powers available to them to reduce the risks to children, including those outlined in the guidance on unregistered independent schools and out-of-school settings.[footnote 30] There should also be clear systems in place for parents, safeguarding partners, providers and members of the public to report serious incidents - often through the Local Authority Designated Officer or children's social care, or through the police if a child is in immediate danger.

Managing risk

Risk assessment

122. The development of local situational risk assessments is typically overseen by the designated Prevent lead. However, it should also be informed by engagement with other local authority staff, schools, social workers, registered childcare providers, universities, colleges, local prisons, probation services, health, immigration enforcement, Youth Offending Teams and others, as well as by a local authority's own knowledge of its area.

123. Local authorities should ensure the Prevent duty is part of policies and procedures that deal with identifying and supporting people at risk of radicalisation, such as adult and children's social care. The Prevent duty is relevant to local authorities' functions in relation to public protection, crime and disorder, and safeguarding. Local authorities and safeguarding boards should ensure that there are clear and robust policies and processes to identify children and adults at risk. This guidance should be read alongside safeguarding guidance.

Prevent partnership plan

125. With the support of Prevent leads and others through the multi-agency group, all local authorities should lead in developing - alongside multi-agency partners - a Prevent partnership plan specific to the local authority to manage the risk of people becoming radicalised into terrorism in that area. This will help the local authority to comply with the Prevent duty, alongside partners, and address the risks identified within the local risk assessment and CTLPs.

126. Prevent partnership plans should be tailored to the local circumstances and developed using local risk assessments and the counter-terrorism local profiles. The Security Threat Check should be undertaken to ensure that activity aligns with the threat. Partnership plans can be devised by an individual local authority and its partners, across a number of local authorities. In a two-tier area, they can be developed by a lead authority inclusive of the needs of all authorities in the area.

128. Where appropriate, when new contracts for delivery of any services are being made, we also expect local authorities to ensure that the principles of the Prevent duty are written into those contracts in a suitable form.

Sharing information

129. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Sharing information.

130. Local authorities should ensure they comply with data protection legislation. For some information sharing, it may be good practice to have information sharing agreements in place.

Reducing permissive environments

131. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Reducing permissive environments.

133. Local authority settings should have measures in place to ensure their facilities are not exploited by radicalisers. This includes ensuring that any event spaces, publicly-owned venues and resources or IT equipment are not being used to facilitate the spread of extremist narratives which can reasonably be linked to terrorism, such as narratives used to encourage people into participating in or supporting terrorism. Such measures will help to limit access to platforms that can be used to radicalise others.

134. Local authorities should have a policy, based on local risk assessments, that clearly articulates the activities and behaviours of a group or person which may make them subject to restrictions on access to publicly-owned venues and resources. The policy should articulate relevant considerations for awarding contracts for the delivery of local authority services. It is important that the policy is embedded throughout the local authority.

135. It is also important that Prevent funding does not go to organisations or people whose views are used to legitimise, encourage or support terrorism-related activity. Counter-radicalisation work cannot be entrusted to those who are sympathetic to terrorists and their ideas. We expect local authorities to conduct their own due diligence checks to ensure that organisations who they work with on Prevent do not espouse or endorse extremist views linked to terrorism.

136. Local authorities must comply with the Prevent duty and should bear in mind that aligning with, or seeking advice from, people or organisations who encourage non-compliance could undermine public confidence in their compliance.

Monitoring and assurance

138. This section should be read alongside Section 4: Monitoring and assurance.Monitoring and Assurance The Home Office will continue to have oversight of all Prevent leads within local authorities, as well as evaluation and monitoring of any Prevent-funded projects. In fulfilling its central monitoring role, the Home Office will scrutinise local Prevent Partnership Plans, project impact and overall performance. Further details on the benchmarking used for Prevent partnership plans is found in the Prevent duty toolkit.[footnote 36]

139.If there are concerns about compliance, the Home Office may consider the appropriateness of using existing mechanisms such as appointing an inspector, requiring the local authority to undertake specific actions, requesting an inquiry, or issuing a direction. Powers under the Local Government Act 1999 or the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 may be used.

140. If the Secretary of State is satisfied that a local authority is failing to perform any function relating to education, childcare or children's social care to an adequate standard, they may use their powers under the Education Act 1996, the Children's Act, and children's social care under Section 50(1) of the Children Act 2004 to take whatever action is deemed appropriate to achieve necessary improvement. In Wales, Welsh ministers have the power to intervene under the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013. These intervention measures are considered in cases where Ofsted inspections (or Estyn in Wales) identify inadequate practice and serious concerns about practice in relation to safeguarding, adoption and looked-after children. The Care Inspectorate Wales has a role in terms of care settings and standards.

Education

141. Children and young people continue to make up a significant proportion of Channel cases, and in recent years there have been concerns regarding increased numbers of learners being arrested for terrorism-related offences. Educators are often in a unique position, through interacting with learners on a regular basis, to be able to identify concerning behaviour changes that may indicate they are susceptible to radicalisation. Settings should not only be alert to violent extremism but also non-violent extremism, including certain divisive or intolerant narratives which can reasonably be linked to terrorism. Educate Against Hate and GOV.UK Prevent duty training provide further information on extremist narratives.[footnote 37] [footnote 38]

142. Education settings that are subject to the Prevent duty (as outlined in the specified authorities section) should understand these requirements as part of their wider safeguarding and welfare responsibilities. For schools and colleges, this guidance should be read alongside relevant safeguarding guidance. In England, this includes 'Working together to safeguard children' and 'Keeping children safe in education'[footnote 39] [footnote 40]. In Wales, it should be read alongside 'Keeping learners safe'.[footnote 41]

144. Compliance with the Prevent duty will reflect existing good practice on safeguarding. For example, it will ensure susceptibility to radicalisation is incorporated into safeguarding training, policies and risk assessments. It is not anticipated that compliance will result in additional burdens on settings.

145. This guidance uses the term 'setting' to refer to all education providers who are specified authorities subject to the Prevent duty, and the term 'learner' to refer to pupils and students across all phases of education provision.

Specified authorities

the proprietors of maintained schools, non-maintained special schools, maintained nursery schools, independent schools (including academies and free schools) and alternative provision academies

16 to 19 academies

the management committees of Pupil Referral Units

registered early years childcare settings

registered later years childcare settings

providers of holiday schemes for disabled children

persons exercising local authority functions under a direction of the Secretary of State when the local authority is performing inadequately

persons authorised by virtue of an order made under Section 70 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 to exercise a function specified in Schedule 36A to the Education Act 1996

147. The further education institutions specified in Schedule 6 to the CTSA 2015 fall into the following categories:

commissioned contract holders funded by the Welsh Government to deliver apprenticeships and employability programmes

the governing body or proprietor of a further education provider at which more than 250 students, excluding students undertaking distance learning courses, are undertaking courses in preparation for examinations related to qualifications regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations (Ofqual) or are regulated by Qualifications Wales or the Welsh Government

148. The higher education institutions specified in Schedule 6 of the CTSA 2015 are as follows:

the governing body of qualifying institutions within the meaning given by Section 11 of the Higher Education Act 2004 ('Relevant Higher Education Bodies', or 'RHEBs'), and the Higher Education Act 2015 (Wales)

the governing body or proprietor of institutions (not otherwise listed) at which more than 250 students, excluding students undertaking distance learning courses, are undertaking higher education courses mentioned in Schedule 6 to the Education Reform Act 1988

149. These include in particular:

Leadership and partnership

150. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Leadership and partnership.

151. All education providers should have a designated lead in a senior management role who is responsible for the delivery of Prevent. They should ensure that there are appropriate capabilities (to understand and manage risk) and that the role and importance of Prevent is made clear to relevant staff.

152. Particularly for large and multi-site organisations and institutions, management and co-ordination should consider the size and organisational arrangements, so information is shared appropriately, with a clear point of contact for operational delivery of Prevent activity.

153. Where a Prevent referral is adopted, education providers must co-operate as reasonably practicable with local authority-led Channel panels, in accordance with Section 38 of the CTSA 2015, with details of what co-operation includes outlined in the Channel duty guidance. Multi-agency involvement in Channel is essential to ensure the full range of information is accessible to the panel, so that susceptibility, vulnerabilities, risk and support needs can be fully assessed.

154. Effective partnership can also be demonstrated by engaging appropriately where required with other partners, such as the police and Prevent leads in local authorities. This allows for an up-to-date awareness of risk and threat posed, and latest developments in best practice.

Training is also available for those who may be asked to contribute to, or sit on, a Channel panel.

Capabilities

155. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Capabilities.

Understanding risk

Training and induction

156. Education settings should make sure that relevant staff have training that could help them prevent learners from being radicalised into terrorism. This training should be delivered at the earliest opportunity to ensure staff are adequately equipped for their role.

157. We would expect appropriate members of staff to understand the factors that lead people to support terrorist ideologies or engage in terrorist-related activity. Such staff should have sufficient training to be able to recognise susceptibility to terrorism and be aware of what action to take in response, including the setting's internal Prevent referral arrangements.

158. It is for each setting to determine who the appropriate members of staff are and how frequently training should occur, being proportionate to the risk of terrorism and extremism in their local area and their phase of education or type of setting. Planning for staff training should include considering what level of knowledge is proportionate for different roles. This will include staff who interact most frequently with learners, but also those who are responsible for overseeing adherence with the Prevent duty or those with specific functions to undertake, such as those who manage external speakers and events, and external agencies and partners with relevant responsibilities.

159. The Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) or Prevent lead in the setting should receive more in-depth training, including on extremist and terrorist ideologies, how to make referrals and how to work with Channel panels. It is recommended that this training is updated at least every two years, enabling the lead to support other staff on Prevent matters and update them on relevant issues. This could include the trends in the annually published Prevent referral statistics, relevant local or regional incidents, or new resources and training materials.[footnote 46] For the settings where it applies, these requirements are consistent with those set out in ' Keeping children safe in education'.[footnote 47]

160. Consideration should be given to the appropriateness and reliability of training resources. Settings should consider carefully whether the material they use is suitable for their context and from an authoritative source and not - for example, material that includes advice which undermines or frustrates the purposes of Prevent, such as promoting non-compliance. It is recommended that providers undertake their own due diligence before taking advice or using training resources from external organisations. Further advice on training may be provided by your local authority safeguarding team and government quality assured resources are available on Educate Against Hate. Guidance on using appropriate external agencies for schools in England, particularly with regard to political impartiality requirements, is available on GOV.UK.[footnote 48]

Government training sources

Managing risk

Risk assessment

162. Policies should be proportionate and based on an understanding, shared with partners, of the threat and risk in the local area, the phase of education, and the size and type of setting. Each setting should perform a risk assessment which assesses how their learners or staff may be at risk of being radicalised into terrorism, including online. Where specific risks are identified, settings should develop an action plan to set out the steps they will take to mitigate the risk. This guidance does not prescribe what appropriate decisions would be as this will be up to settings to determine, having considered all the factors.

163. This does not mean that settings are required to have a separate policy on the Prevent duty. The Prevent duty should be seen as part of the setting's wider safeguarding approach, and therefore these considerations should be incorporated into existing policies and risk assessments, where appropriate to do so. As part of this, settings should include the process for how learners or staff should raise concerns regarding radicalisation internally, and how these are then assessed.

164. When devising policies and conducting risk assessments, settings should consider other relevant responsibilities and requirements. This includes the Equality Act 2010 and the requirements of data protection legislation. In schools, settings should also consider political impartiality requirements, and further education and higher education settings should be especially mindful of duties to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom (including under Section 31 of the CTSA 2015). Where a setting has sub-contracted the delivery of courses to other settings, we expect procedures to be in place to ensure that the sub-contractor is aware of the Prevent duty.

165. Where relevant, settings should consider other additional guidance, including:

Student unions and societies

166. Where relevant, policies should set out what is expected from students' unions and student societies in relation to Prevent. We would expect settings to engage and consult students on their plans for implementing the duty and for students' unions and student societies to work closely with their setting and co-operate with their policies.

168. Higher and further education providers should also consider whether student union staff and elected officers would benefit from online Prevent awareness training, including the Home Office e-learning offer, or other relevant training provided by the Charity Commission, regional Prevent co-ordinators or others.

Sharing information

170. When seeking to share personal data regarding people susceptible to radicalisation, practitioners should consider whether it is appropriate to rely on the person's consent and must comply with the requirements of data protection legislation. Where it is not possible to rely on consent, it is still possible to share information if there is a lawful basis for doing so.

171. In schools and colleges, it is important to refer to requirements set out in 'Keeping children safe in education' in England, or 'Keeping learners safe' in Wales.[footnote 66] [footnote 67] This includes ensuring that when a child leaves a school or college, relevant information about engagement with Channel and the outcome of this should be securely transferred within the appropriate child protection file. This enables the new setting to have support in place in advance of a child joining.

Reducing permissive environments

173. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Reducing permissive environments.

175. Settings should have measures in place to prevent their facilities being exploited by radicalisers. This includes seeking to ensure that any event spaces or IT equipment are not being used to facilitate the spread of extremist narratives which encourage people into participating in or supporting terrorism. Such measures will help to limit access to platforms that can be used to radicalise others.

176. This does not mean that the Prevent duty should limit discussion of these issues. Instead, education settings should be spaces in which people can understand and discuss sensitive topics, including, where appropriate, terrorism and the extremist ideas that are part of terrorist ideology, and learn how to challenge these ideas.

177. When doing so, settings should encourage learners to respect other people, with particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010.

178. Further and higher education institutions must have particular regard to a need or relevant duty to ensure freedom of speech, and to the importance of academic freedom.

179. Specified authorities should carefully consider who they award Prevent funding or contracts to and ensure that appropriate due diligence is undertaken. Additionally, when seeking advice on the Prevent duty, specified authorities should be aware that some people, groups or organisations purporting to give such advice might encourage them not to comply with the Prevent duty.

Building resilience through the curriculum (schools and further education)

180. Schools and further education settings support learners to have the knowledge, skills and values that will prepare them to be citizens in modern Britain. As part of this, in England, they are required to actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

181. In addition to preparing learners for life in modern Britain, by promoting these shared values, settings can help build resilience to radicalisation and extremism. For example, they can provide a safe environment for debating controversial issues and helping learners to understand how they can influence and participate in decision making.

182. For schools, there are opportunities in the curriculum to explore relevant topics, such as in Citizenship and Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). This includes learning around building positive relationships and the importance of respecting difference, and, for example, taking part in the United Nations Rights Respecting Schools Programme. Schools can also build resilience through their ethos and the ways in which they organise themselves, including by promoting democracy through school elections.

183. When considering how to build learners resilience to radicalisation, schools and further education settings should take a proportionate approach, accounting for the age of the learners and type of education being offered.

185. In Wales, independent schools set their own curriculum, but must comply with Independent Schools Standards made by the Welsh ministers. These standards also include a requirement to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of learners.

IT policies

186. Settings will likely already have policies relating to the appropriate use of their IT equipment and networks, which should contain specific reference to the Prevent duty. Many settings already use filtering as a means of restricting access to harmful content and should consider the use of filters as part of their overall strategy to prevent people from becoming involved in, or supporting, terrorism.

187. The content and proportionality of these policies are a matter for providers and will be informed, in part, by the Prevent risk assessment.

External speakers and events

189. Settings should consider the extent to which any external speakers and events held on their premises pose a risk of radicalising learners into terrorism.

190. Encouragement of terrorism, including glorifying the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism, fundraising for the purposes of terrorism, and inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation, are all criminal offences. Settings should not provide a platform for these offences to be committed.

191. When deciding whether to host a particular speaker, settings should consider carefully whether the views being expressed, or likely to be expressed, constitute views that are used to encourage people into participating in or supporting terrorism, or are shared by terrorist groups. It is recommended for settings to undertake their own due diligence to understand any risks around a particular speaker.

Schools

192. As part of managing the risk of radicalisation, schools' safeguarding policies should set out clear protocols for ensuring that any visiting speakers, whether invited by staff or by children themselves, are suitable and appropriately supervised. In England, the Prevent duty complements schools' other responsibilities for ensuring that speakers do not undermine the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Further and higher education settings

194. In carrying out the Prevent duty, further and higher education settings must have particular regard to their duties relating to freedom of speech and academic freedom.

195. Freedom of speech is not an absolute right, and it does not include the right for individuals to harass others or incite them to violence or terrorism.

196. All settings should have policies and procedures in place for the risk assessment and management of funded, affiliated or branded events, whether they are held on or off premises, or hosted online. The policies should clearly set out what is required for any event to proceed.

197. Every setting needs to balance its legal duties in terms of both securing freedom of speech and protecting learner and staff welfare. There is no prescription from government (or the OfS) regarding what actions any setting should take once they have had due regard under the Prevent duty. In most cases, we expect that these risks can be mitigated without shutting down speech.

Freedom of speech duties under the Education (No. 2) Act 1986

Section 43 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 applies to registered higher education providers and further education institutions in England.

This places a duty on providers to "take such steps as are reasonably practicable to ensure that freedom of speech within the law is secured for members, students and employees of the establishment and for visiting speakers".

The duty includes ensuring, so far as reasonably practicable, that no person or group is denied use of any premises for reasons related to their beliefs or views, or those of any member of the group, or related to the group's policy or objectives.

Freedom of speech duties under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 applies to England only and is anticipated to come into force in the 2024/25 academic year. It amends the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 to impose new, strengthened duties on registered higher education providers, their constituent colleges and students' unions at approved (fee cap) providers.

In addition, it strengthens the duty previously imposed by Section 43 on the governing body of a registered higher education provider "to take the steps that, having particular regard to the importance of freedom of speech, are reasonably practicable for it to take in order to achieve the objective" of securing freedom of speech within the law for staff, members, students and visiting speakers.

Once in force, Section 43 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 will no longer apply to registered higher education providers.

198. As part of the response to the Independent Review of Prevent, the Department for Education has committed to ensuring effective support is in place for those assessing the risk from external speakers in higher education, including on conducting effective due diligence. This will be made available on GOV.UK.

Monitoring and assurance

199. This section should be read alongside Section 4: Monitoring and assurance.

Schools and registered childcare settings

200. Ofsted inspects the relevant specified authorities (as listed at the beginning of this section) in England. This includes ensuring that those with governance or oversight responsibilities for settings are fulfilling their statutory duties under the Prevent duty.

201. Privately funded independent schools in England are inspected either by Ofsted or the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). Ofsted and ISI inspect against the Independent Schools Standards, which include that arrangements have been made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils and that the setting has had regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

202. In Wales, all publicly-funded and independent schools are inspected by Estyn.

203. The Education Inspection Framework sets out how Ofsted inspects maintained schools, academies, non-association independent schools, further education and skills provision, and registered early years settings in England. Ofsted's current inspection framework for early years provision reflects the requirements in the early years foundation stage statutory framework. ISI's inspection framework sets out how it inspects independent schools in England, including residential (boarding) schools and registered early years settings.

204. Inspectors will evaluate the extent to which the setting has a culture of safeguarding that supports effective arrangements to identify learners who may need early help or who are at risk of harm or exploitation, including radicalisation. For Ofsted and ISI, this forms part of the leadership and management judgement. Governors in particular, must ensure that the school's arrangements for safeguarding meet statutory requirements.

Further education

205. Ofsted inspects publicly funded further education and skills providers and provision in England under the education inspection framework. This includes further education colleges, sixth form colleges and 16 to 19 academies, and providers of apprenticeships and other skills training. The inspection process and evaluation criteria are set out in the further education and skills inspection handbook. This inspection is risk-based and the frequency of inspections depends partly on this risk. Safeguarding is inspected as part of the leadership and management judgement.

206. In Wales, inspection is carried out by Estyn. This includes evaluating the extent to which the setting has a culture of safeguarding, including protecting learners from radicalisation and extremism.

207. It is a condition of funding from the Department for Education and the Welsh Government that all further education and independent training settings must actively promote British values and comply with the Prevent duty. Separate legislation, and funding conditions, require settings to comply with safeguarding duties and guidance.

Higher education

209. The Secretary of State has delegated to Higher Education Funding Council Wales (HEFCW) responsibility for monitoring compliance of the Prevent duty for Relevant Higher Education Bodies (RHEBs) in Wales.

Healthcare

211. Healthcare professionals have a key role in Prevent because they will meet and treat people who may be susceptible to radicalisation. This includes not just violent extremism but also non-violent extremism which can reasonably be linked to terrorism, such as narratives used to encourage people into participating in or supporting terrorism.

212. Most people who commit terrorism offences do so of their own agency and dedication to an ideological cause. A person's susceptibility to radicalisation may be linked to them having underlying vulnerabilities. A significant proportion of work under the Prevent duty in healthcare relates to safeguarding vulnerable people at risk of exploitation or abuse. Vulnerability is defined in different ways by different organisations and services. This may impose safeguarding duties, for example, relating to age or certain mental or physical health conditions. It can also include wider vulnerabilities related to personal, family or social circumstances.

213. Healthcare professionals should consider both the person's best interests and the public interest. For example, if they were concerned that a patient was being radicalised, a Prevent referral could allow the patient to get the help and support needed to prevent them being radicalised into terrorism.

Health specified authorities

Leadership and partnership

215. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Leadership and partnership.

216. In complying with the Prevent duty, those in senior management positions should actively engage with other partners including police and other local or regional Prevent leads. They should ensure that there are appropriate capabilities (to understand and manage risk) and that the role and importance of Prevent are made clear to relevant staff. There are also a range of other local Prevent partners who can offer advice and support. This provision varies depending on geographic location, but will usually be local structures such as Prevent steering groups or Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs.

217. Where a Prevent referral is adopted, healthcare providers must co-operate with local authority-led Channel panels so far as appropriate and reasonably practicable, in accordance with Section 38 of the CTSA 2015. Multi-agency involvement in Channel is essential to ensure the full range of information is accessible to the panel, so that susceptibility, vulnerabilities, risk and support needs can be fully assessed.

218. Effective partnership can also be demonstrated by engaging appropriately where required with other partners, such as the police and Prevent leads in local authorities. This allows for an up-to-date awareness of risk and threat posed, and latest developments in operational delivery and best practice.

220. All sub-regions in England within the NHS should, under the framework, have in place local safeguarding forums, including local commissioners and providers of NHS services. These forums have oversight of compliance with the Prevent duty and ensure effective delivery. Within each area, the Regional Safeguarding Leads (RSLs) are responsible for promoting Prevent to providers and commissioners of NHS services, supporting organisations with their Prevent policies, procedures and compliance, and delivering training.

221. The Prevent Partnership Group, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, is a forum to bring topical policy and operational issues to the group for discussion and consideration. It provides insight into the work of other government departments and Prevent partner organisations. It is attended by working level leads from government departments, RSLs and representatives from NHS arm's length bodies.

Capabilities

223. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty Capabilities.

Understanding risk

Training and induction

224. A key expectation for the healthcare sector is to ensure that healthcare professionals are trained to recognise where a person might be susceptible to becoming radicalised into terrorism, know how to refer someone into Prevent, and are aware of available programmes to provide support. To do this, there should be:

a programme to deliver Prevent training, in line with guidance from the Home Office and Health Education England

risk assessment which helps to inform decisions on the appropriate training requirements, as well as the broader management of risk both to and from people who may be susceptible to radicalisation into terrorism

225. Preventing someone from being radicalised into terrorism should be managed in the same way as other safeguarding responsibilities within healthcare - for example, child abuse or domestic violence.

226. Prevent is a key strand of NHS England's safeguarding arrangements, meaning that Prevent awareness and other relevant training is delivered to all professionals who provide services to NHS patients. These arrangements are effective and should continue.

227. The intercollegiate guidance documents, 'Safeguarding children and young people: roles and competencies for healthcare staff', and 'Adult safeguarding: roles and competencies for health care staff' include Prevent information and identify competencies for all healthcare professionals against six levels.[footnote 88] [footnote 89] Prevent training is mandatory for all NHS trusts and foundation trusts. Training is also mandatory for NHS provider organisations, NHS commissioners and organisations providing services on behalf of the NHS, to meet contractual obligations in relation to safeguarding training, as set out in the NHS Standard Contract[footnote 90]. All relevant healthcare professionals should receive annual updates and three-yearly refresher training.

Managing risk

Risk assessment

231. As the Prevent duty has been in place since 2015, we expect there to already be established arrangements in place. Each organisation should understand where and how the people they serve may be at risk of being radicalised into terrorism, tailored to their local circumstances. Prevent risk assessments should be reviewed and where appropriate, refreshed annually. It may often be appropriate to incorporate these risk assessments into broader safeguarding risk assessments.

232. In fulfilling the Prevent duty, health organisations should demonstrate effective action in the following areas:

Sharing information

235. Healthcare establishments should ensure they comply with the requirements of data protection legislation, and it is important that healthcare professionals understand how to balance patient confidentiality with the Prevent duty.

236. When making a referral, healthcare professionals should be aware of any information sharing agreements in place with other sectors. They should also understand how to get advice and support on confidentiality issues when responding to potential evidence that someone is being radicalised into terrorism or supporting terrorism, either during informal contact or consultation and treatment.

Reducing permissive environments

238. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Reducing permissive environments.

240. Health providers should consider whether IT equipment available to the public should use filtering solutions that stop access to material which supports terrorism or extremist ideas linked to terrorism.

241. Specified authorities should carefully consider who they award Prevent funding or contracts to and ensure that appropriate due diligence is undertaken. Additionally, when seeking advice on the Prevent duty, specified authorities should be aware that some people, groups or organisations claiming to give such advice might encourage them not to comply with the Prevent duty.

Monitoring and assurance

242. This section should be read alongside Section 4: Monitoring and assurance.

244. Externally, the Care Quality Commission has regulatory oversight of independent and NHS-controlled providers, ensuring that they provide quality patient care on a sustainable basis.

245. In Wales, the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales provide monitoring arrangements.

Police

246. The police are uniquely placed to tackle terrorism and therefore play an essential role in most aspects of Prevent work. They hold information which can help assess the risk of radicalisation and disrupt people engaged in radicalising others. The police also work alongside community organisations, as well as other specified authorities.

247. Recognising the parallels between radicalisation and other forms of harm, Prevent should be embedded into all aspects of policing including patrol, neighbourhood and safeguarding functions. In fulfilment of the Prevent duty, consideration should be given to the use of all suitable police resources, not just those specifically designed as Prevent.

Police specified authorities

police forces in England and Wales (through their Chief Officers of Police)

Police and Crime Commissioners

the British Transport Police

port police forces

the Civil Nuclear Police Authority

Leadership and partnership

249. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Leadership and partnership.

250. Much of the police contribution to counter terrorism takes place through the Counter Terrorism Policing network. Chief Constables should be assured that their force is working effectively with the Counter Terrorism Policing network and Counter Terrorism Units. They should maintain Prevent capabilities, including the ability to identify people who are susceptible to radicalisation and they should gather information accordingly.

251. In complying with the Prevent duty, those in leadership positions should actively engage with other internal and external partners, such as local authority strategic Prevent leads, Regional Prevent Co-ordinators and other local or regional Prevent leads. This provision varies depending on geographic location but will usually include local authority Prevent contacts and local structures such as Prevent steering groups or Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs.

252. Effective partnership working should be demonstrated by engaging with other partners such as the local authority and the Home Office. This allows for a shared understanding of risk and threat posed and the latest developments in operational delivery and best practice. It also means engaging with the local multi-agency groups that will assess the risk of people being susceptible to radicalisation and sharing the counter-terrorism local profile (CTLP) with appropriate partners.

253. Prevent requires a multi-agency approach to support people susceptible to becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. As key partners on local authority chaired Channel panels, police should work closely with Channel partners to help progress Channel actions.

254. Police should also:

Capabilities

255. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Capabilities.

Understanding risk

Training and induction

256. As with all specified authorities, it is important that appropriate officers and staff know why radicalisation to terrorism is relevant to their setting and how it may present. Officers and staff who engage with the public should understand what radicalisation means and why people may be susceptible to extremist ideologies and being radicalised into terrorism. They need to be aware of what the terms 'radicalisation' and 'terrorism' mean, and of how to escalate any concerns within their force.

Managing risk

Risk assessment

259. Police have a key role in managing risk of radicalisation to terrorism. This includes risks both to and from people.

261. Each police force should have an action plan, based on a risk assessment, to ensure that risks to their force are being managed appropriately. There should be policies in place to deal with radicalisation concerns, and processes to advise how concerns should be handled.

262. When someone at risk of radicalisation is identified, the police will undertake receipt and triaging of Prevent referrals and consider appropriate interventions.

263. Receipt and triaging of Prevent referrals determines whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person is susceptible to becoming a terrorist or supporting terrorism, and therefore may be appropriate for support through Channel. This 'gateway assessment' draws on police databases and other resources to determine the level of susceptibility, risk, and whether there are any other underlying vulnerabilities for the referred person, and whether the referral will move into (or out of) Prevent. The police will consider whether the person referred may be at risk of escalating towards participating in acts of terrorism or otherwise engaging in terrorism-related activity, if left unaddressed by authorities.

264. The police will consider appropriate interventions in partnership with other agencies, including the local authority. The primary route for people identified as being at risk of radicalisation is support through local authority-led, multi-agency Channel panels. People who the police reasonably suspect to pose a serious or imminent risk of terrorism offending are unlikely to be signposted for support through Channel, with their risk instead being managed through other police interventions. The police will consider the best way to manage someone's risk of becoming a terrorist or supporting terrorism.

Sharing information

265. Police should ensure they comply with the applicable requirements of data protection legislation.

Reducing permissive environments

266. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Reducing permissive environments.

268. Police should have measures in place to ensure their facilities are not exploited by radicalisers. This includes seeking to ensure that any event spaces or IT equipment are not being used to facilitate the spread of extremist narratives which encourage people into participating in or supporting terrorism.

269. Specified authorities are expected to comply with the Prevent duty. Aligning with, or seeking advice from, people or organisations who encourage non-compliance with the statutory duty could undermine this or contribute to an environment permissive of radicalisation to terrorism.

270. When seeking advice and participation from people or groups, it is recommended that police consider what level of due diligence is appropriate and whether engagement could confer legitimacy on narratives and ideologies which can reasonably be linked to terrorism, such as those used to encourage people into participating in or supporting terrorism. Police forces should understand the risks of engaging with people or groups who have been associated with terrorist organisations, or whose views have been linked to terrorism. We recommend forces do their own due diligence and consult with Counter Terrorism Policing to understand risks.

271. The police have a critical role in helping communities build their resilience to radicalising influences and extremist ideologies. They should do this by:

272. Officers should consider the full range of investigative and prosecution options when it comes to disrupting radicalisers and those who espouse extremist narratives which inspire people to support terrorism, including the use of public order powers where appropriate. This may include:

Monitoring and assurance

273. This section should be read alongside Section 4: Monitoring and assurance.

275. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) is the statutory body for inspecting the police. They can carry out thematic inspections and can be asked to inspect a particular force or theme by the Home Secretary.

Criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation)

276. As an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is responsible for protecting the public and reducing reoffending through delivery of prison and probation services. HMPPS is responsible for people serving a sentence in prison, remanded in custody or under probation supervision, subject either to community sentences or to licence conditions following release from custody.

277. The responsibility for public protection and reducing reoffending gives HMPPS a clear and important role, both in working with people convicted of terrorism or terrorism-connected offences, and in preventing other people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

278. HMPPS manages the risk of people being drawn into, or reverting to, any form of offending as part of its core business (identifying and managing the risks presented by them).

279. Youth Offending Teams are part of the local authority and are separate from the police and the courts. They work with young people who get into trouble with the law, looking into the background of a young person to try to help them stay away from criminal activity. They work in conjunction with the police, probation officers, health, housing and children's services, schools and education authorities, charities, and the local community.

Specified authorities

Leadership and partnership

281. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Leadership and partnership.

282. Leadership can be demonstrated by ensuring there are capabilities to deal with concerns linked to radicalisation, terrorist risk behaviours and managing those individuals convicted of terrorist offences, and that staff understand the role they play in countering terrorism.

283. The HMPPS Joint Extremism Unit provides operational leadership at a national and regional level to ensure processes are in place for identifying, assessing and managing people at risk of being radicalised into terrorism or those convicted of terrorism offences.

284. Senior leaders in the Probation Service regions, the National Security Division and prison governors will also provide leadership in this area. Every probation region should have a designated Probation Counter-Terrorism Lead to provide the leadership necessary at a regional level to ensure processes are in place and followed for identifying, assessing and managing people at risk of being radicalised into terrorism or convicted of terrorist offences.

285. Effective partnership can be demonstrated by engaging appropriately where required with other partners, such as the police and Prevent leads in local authorities. This allows for an up-to-date awareness of risk and threat posed, and latest developments in operational delivery and best practice.

286. In all partnership working, we expect that all providers of prison and probation services will comply with the Prevent duty. For example, HMPPS is a partner in local Prevent boards and appropriate Prevent working groups. Active participation in Prevent meetings will enable all prison and probation providers to work together with other partners to share information and develop relationships, strategy and local partnerships.

287. HMPPS will seek to manage risks posed by those convicted of terrorist offences and those individuals who are assessed as posing a terrorist risk through multi-agency meetings held within the prison and community, at which key partners will be present.

288. For people already convicted of terrorist offences, HMPPS will lead and contribute to appropriate processes such as Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) with input from other agencies as required. These processes ensure that the requirements of the Prevent duty are met in the management of terrorist offenders in the community with the Probation Service and police as the lead agencies in MAPPA for such cases.

289. Where a Prevent referral is adopted, criminal justice agencies must co-operate with local authority-led Channel panels, in accordance with Section 38 of the CTSA 2015. Multi-agency involvement in Channel is essential to make the full range of information accessible to the panel, so that susceptibility, vulnerabilities, risk and support needs can be fully assessed.

Capabilities

290. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Capabilities.

Understanding risk

Training and induction

291. In complying with the Prevent duty, training should be provided to staff at the earliest opportunity to ensure they are adequately equipped for their role.

292. All staff, including senior leaders, should have regular training on terrorist risk based on concrete examples. They should also complete any mandatory training as required by HMPPS. This can be supplemented by the recommended GOV.UK Prevent duty training.[footnote 107] Those with Prevent-specific responsibilities should support others on Prevent matters and update them on relevant issues. This could include the trends in the annually published Prevent referral statistics, emerging issues, relevant local or regional incidents and radicalising influences, or new resources and training materials.[footnote 108]

293. Specified authorities should conduct a risk assessment to understand the risks relating to radicalisation to terrorism in their circumstances. This should inform training requirements, including how often training is reviewed and refreshed.

Prisons

294. In complying with the Prevent duty, all new prison staff should receive Prevent awareness training (tailored specifically to the prison environment). For staff already in post, this should be provided through specialist training and briefing packages that cover working with extremist behaviour. All staff should understand the terrorist risk and threat, and how to recognise, report and respond to it. Training should cover intelligence systems used to report concerns to enable them to report on people susceptible to radicalisation and terrorist risk behaviours.

295. The regional Prison Counter Terrorism teams lead on the delivery of the counter-terrorism training package (face-to-face or remote delivery) and specific threat modules for regional variations.

Probation

296. For probation staff, mandatory Prevent training required by HMPPS can be accessed through the HMPPS myLearning platform and should be completed every three years for all members of staff.

297. In addition, regional Probation Counter Terrorism teams lead on the delivery of the HMPPS counter-terrorism training package (face-to-face or remote delivery) and specific threat modules for regional variations. Probation Counter Terrorism Leads work with Probation Delivery Units to facilitate professional development sessions to newly qualified officers and frontline staff as appropriate and dependant on need.

298. In complying with the Prevent duty, we expect this and other relevant Prevent training to continue.

Under-18 secure estate

299. HMPPS's Regional Counter-Terrorism teams provide specialist advice and support to all Youth Custody Service sites.

300. We expect staff at each secure estate and Youth Offending Teams overseeing the care of the child or young person to receive appropriate training in identifying and managing those at risk of becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

301. All newly recruited staff into young offender institutions attend the same prison officer apprenticeship as their adult estate counterparts. This includes counter-terrorism training (face-to-face or remote delivery) delivered by the regional Prison Counter-Terrorism teams. All staff working within Secure Training Centres and Secure Children Homes receive mandatory counter-terrorism training as part of their training and induction.

302. As part of the ongoing care and monitoring of each child or young person, any indication of terrorism-related risks, needs or susceptibilities should be identified. Contact should be made with HMPPS's Regional Counter Terrorism team to determine the appropriate course of action.

Managing risk

Risk assessment

303. Specified authorities must ensure there are processes in place to manage risks both to and from those susceptible to being radicalised into terrorism, as well as to and from those posing a terrorism risk or those who have been convicted of terrorist offences.

304. Assessing the risk posed by offenders is complex. Engagement in risk reduction programmes or interventions does not, in itself, indicate a reduction in risk. Where the outward behaviour of offenders indicates a reduction in risk, there must also be evidence that the change has been internalised for an assessment of sincere change to be made. Even when sincere change has been assessed, an individual's risk is dynamic. It is liable to change over time and due to changes in circumstance (including the move from custody to the community). Therefore, a strong precautionary principle should be applied. Risk assessments should be conducted regularly by specialist practitioners over an extended period.

Prisons

305. As well as having overall risk assessments for each institution, HMPPS should be assessing the risks to and from people. Prisons should perform initial risk assessments on reception, including cell-sharing risk assessments, and initial reception and induction interviews to establish concerns in relation to any form of radicalisation or terrorism.

306. Contact with prison chaplaincy takes place as an integral part of the induction process. Any concerns raised through chaplaincy contact with prisoners, including any concerns about radicalisation or vulnerability, should be reported then and throughout the sentence.

307. Where concerns around someone being radicalised into terrorism (which includes someone convicted of any offence, who is considered to present a risk of committing an act of terrorism or is otherwise potentially susceptible to terrorist offending) are identified, prison staff should report them accordingly through the intelligence reporting system. All such reporting should be regularly assessed by specialist counter-terrorism staff in conjunction with the police. Action should be taken to support and challenge the person as appropriate, using local tactical and specialist resources as required. Prison Counter-Terrorism teams should be consulted by staff if there are concerns that someone is being radicalised.

308. Appropriate information and intelligence sharing should take place, for example with law enforcement partners, to understand whether radicalisation is an issue and to identify and manage any behaviours of concern.

Assessing ongoing risk and interventions

309. For people convicted of terrorist or terrorist-connected offences, mainstream offender management processes should be used to determine whether interventions are necessary. These are intended to challenge the index offence and can include, where appropriate, providing interventions.

310. Where such concerns are identified, an establishment should look to support that person. There are many intervention or disruption techniques that can be applied, including moving them away from a negative influence, providing them with mentoring, or referring them to one of the services offered by HMPPS or the Home Office. This will use local tactical and specialist resources as required and may trigger referrals to counter-terrorism rehabilitation programmes.

311. Management actions could also include a reduction in privilege level, anti-bullying intervention, adjudication or segregation. Separation centres are available for the specialised management of the most subversive terrorist or terrorist risk prisoners, which are those who present a level of risk that makes placement within a separation centre desirable, to prevent them from spreading their malicious ideology to others. It may also be appropriate to provide theological, motivational and behavioural interventions.

312. Intelligence and briefing packages targeted at staff working with prisoners at risk of becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism, as well as those convicted for terrorist-connected offences, should be made available. These should be jointly delivered by appropriately trained prison staff and should be updated as required.

Probation

313. We expect probation staff to adopt an investigative stance in undertaking risk assessments, as they should in all cases, and be alert to instances of dishonesty. Where there are concerns about someone being radicalised, staff should consult and receive support from the specialist Probation Counter Terrorism team network to incorporate these concerns into HMPPS's core risk assessment tool called OASys. Further assessment will then be undertaken as to whether specialist assessments and interventions are required.

314. Most terrorist offenders and those otherwise assessed as presenting high levels of terrorist risk will be managed by the National Security Division, a unit of the Probation Service which provides enhanced monitoring and specialist case management. For others on probation assessed as posing a terrorist risk, their supervision period will be supervised by Probation Service regions with support from the Probation Counter Terrorism team.

316. For people already convicted of terrorist offences, HMPPS will contribute to appropriate pre-release processes such as Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) led by the police and National Security Division of the Probation Service, with input from other agencies as required. These processes ensure that the requirements of the Prevent duty are met in the management of terrorist offenders in the community, with HMPPS as the lead agency in MAPPA for such cases.

317. For people already convicted of terrorist offences, we expect the Probation Service to work in partnership with other agencies, including prisons and the police, to manage any risks identified via MAPPA and to provide bespoke interventions where relevant. For people who have not been convicted of a terrorist offence and may not be MAPPA-eligible, but who are assessed as at risk of being radicalised into terrorism, we expect HMPPS to have processes in place to escalate these cases to other agencies or otherwise refer the person for appropriate interventions. For example, they may be referred to the Channel programme. There may be other options for risk management which are more suitable, depending on local and regional provision.

Under-18 secure estate

318. Youth custodial establishments are under the Prevent duty and children in their custody should be safeguarded from the risk of participating in or supporting terrorism. Capability reviews, which assess all aspects of provision, are regularly conducted in the youth secure estate. The small number of risks are managed in a highly tailored manner with particular focus on rehabilitation.

Sharing information

319. Specified authorities must ensure that they act in accordance with the requirements of data protection legislation. It may be good practice to have information sharing agreements in place for some sharing of personal data.

Reducing permissive environments

320. This section should be read alongside Section 3: Compliance with the Prevent duty, Reducing permissive environments.

322. Disrupting radicalisers, who create a permissive environment for violence and spread poisonous ideologies that undermine our values and our society, can help to prevent people from being radicalised into terrorism. This may mean having policies in place that, where appropriate, limit radicalising influences, such as by using separation centres or identifying and removing materials, including books, magazines and audio CDs, that could be used to spread harmful, radicalising ideology. It could mean empowering staff to challenge extremist ideas that can be reasonably linked to a terrorist ideology, some of which encompass more broadly harmful ideas, such as misogyny and antisemitism. It is also important that Prevent funding does not go to organisations or people, including intervention providers, who are linked to terrorism or whose extremist ideas are used to legitimise terrorism. Due diligence should be carried out to assess such risk accordingly.

Monitoring and assurance

323. This section should be read alongside Section 4: Monitoring and assurance.

324. As with all specified authorities, where there is clear evidence of non-compliance with the duty, the Home Office may recommend that the Secretary of State use the power of direction under Section 30 of the CTSA 2015. This power would only be used when other options for engagement and improvement have been exhausted. It can also be exercised in respect of Welsh and Scottish specified authorities and requires the Secretary of State to consult the Welsh ministers or Scottish ministers respectively before giving such a direction.

Prisons

325. Within prisons, we expect compliance with the Prevent duty to be monitored and enforced internally by:

Probation

326. For probation providers, internally, compliance with the Prevent duty is enforced by the managing extremism policy framework. Compliance with Probation instructions is monitored and assured internally by contract management and audit functions within HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice.

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Prevent duty guidance: for England and Wales (accessible)

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About this guidance 1. This guidance replaces the 'Revised Prevent duty guidance : for England and Wales', the 'Prevent duty guidance: for further education institutions in England and Wales', and the 'Prevent duty guidance: for higher education institutions in England and Wales' of 2015 (updated in April 2021). 2.

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Plan International is a global children’s charity striving for an equal world. One where every child can reach their full potential and every girl can choose her own future.

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Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street

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Downing Street opens doors to Adolescence creators for vital discussion on protecting our children

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The Prime Minister met with Adolescence creators, charities and young people to discuss the issues raised in the series during a meeting focused on rethinking adolescent safety today.

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Dealing with disclosure using the TED method

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Dealing with disclosure using the TED method

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There are times when children and young people will want to tell us what is going on for them. We look at how to make sure we are listening to what they are saying.

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What the Online Safety Act does

The Online Safety Act 2023 (the Act) is a new set of laws that protects children and adults online. It puts a range of new duties on social media companies and search services, making them more responsible for their users' safety on their platforms. The Act will give providers new duties to implement systems and processes to reduce risks their services are used for illegal activity, and to take down illegal content when it does appear.

The strongest protections in the Act have been designed for children. Platforms will be required to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise.

The Act will also protect adult users, ensuring that major platforms will need to be more transparent about which kinds of potentially harmful content they allow, and give people more control over the types of content they want to see.

Ofcom  is the independent regulator of Online Safety. It will set out steps providers can take to fulfil their safety duties in codes of practice. It has a broad range of powers to assess and enforce providers' compliance with the framework.

Providers' safety duties are proportionate to factors including the risk of harm to individuals, and the size and capacity of each provider. This makes sure that while safety measures will need to be put in place across the board, we aren't requiring small services with limited functionality to take the same actions as the largest corporations.  Ofcom  is required to take users' rights into account when setting out steps to take. And providers have simultaneous duties to pay particular regard to users' rights when fulfilling their safety duties.

Who the Act applies to

The Act's duties apply to search services and services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other. This includes a range of websites, apps and other services, including social media services, consumer file cloud storage and sharing sites, video-sharing platforms, online forums, dating services, and online instant messaging services.

The Act applies to services even if the companies providing them are outside the UK should they have links to the UK. This includes if the service has a significant number of UK users, if the UK is a target market, or it is capable of being accessed by UK users and there is a material risk of significant harm to such users.

How the Online Safety Act is being implemented

The Act passed into law on 26 October 2023. Now work is being carried out to bring its protections into effect as quickly as possible.  Ofcom  published an updated roadmap setting out its implementation plans on 17 October 2024.

Ofcom  is leading work to implement the Act's provisions and are taking a phased approach to bringing duties into effect. The government also needs to make secondary legislation in some areas to enable elements of the framework.

The Act requires  Ofcom to develop guidance and codes of practice that will set out how online platforms can meet their duties.  Ofcom  must carry out public consultations on draft codes of practice before finalising them, and the codes must be laid before Parliament before they take effect. The main phases are set out below:

Duties about illegal content - on 16 December 2024 Ofcom published its policy statement about protecting people from illegal harms online, alongside draft codes of practice which were laid in Parliament on the same day. Ofcom also published its illegal content risk assessment guidance, meaning that in-scope service providers will have three months to assess the risks of illegal content appearing on their service. We expect the illegal content duties to be in effect from early 2025, and Ofcom can then start to enforce against the regime.

Duties about content harmful to children - Ofcom has published draft guidance about use of age assurance to prevent children accessing online pornography. The consultation on this closed on 5 March 2024 and we expect the final guidance to be published in January 2025. The corresponding duty in the Act (section 81) is scheduled to come into force on 17 January 2025.

Ofcom has also published draft codes of practice and guidance about protecting children from harmful content such as promotion of self-harm or suicide. The consultation on these closed on 17 July 2024. Platforms will have to risk assess for harms to children from Spring 2025 and the child safety regime will be fully in effect by Summer 2025.

Duties for categorised services - some platforms will have to comply with additional requirements to protect users. The Act created categories of service and thresholds for each category (Category 1, 2A and 2B) will be defined through secondary legislation.

Once the regulations to set the thresholds have been laid and approved by Parliament, Ofcom will publish a register setting out which services fall into which categories and will publish further codes of practice for consultation.

New offences introduced by the Act

The criminal offences introduced by the Act came into effect on 31 January 2024. These offences cover:

encouraging or assisting serious self-harm

cyberflashing

sending false information intended to cause non-trivial harm

threatening communications

intimate image abuse

epilepsy trolling

These new offences apply directly to the individuals sending them, and convictions have already been made under the cyberflashing and threatening communications offences.

Types of content that the Act tackles

Illegal content

The Act requires all companies to take robust action against illegal content and activity. Platforms will be required to implement measures to reduce the risks their services are used for illegal offending. They will also need to put in place systems for removing illegal content when it does appear. Search services will also have new duties to take steps to reduce the risks users encounter illegal content via their services.

The Act sets out a list of priority offences. These reflect the most serious and prevalent illegal content and activity, against which companies must take proactive measures.

Platforms must also remove any other illegal content where there is an individual victim (actual or intended), where it is flagged to them by users, or where they become aware of it through any other means.

The illegal content duties are not just about removing existing illegal content; they are also about stopping it from appearing at all. Platforms need to think about how they design their sites to reduce the likelihood of them being used for criminal activity in the first place.

The kinds of illegal content and activity that platforms need to protect users from are set out in the Act, and this includes content relating to:

child sexual abuse

controlling or coercive behaviour

extreme sexual violence

extreme pornography

fraud

racially or religiously aggravated public order offences

inciting violence

illegal immigration and people smuggling

promoting or facilitating suicide

intimate image abuse

selling illegal drugs or weapons

sexual exploitation

terrorism

Content that is harmful to children

Protecting children is at the heart of the Online Safety Act. Although some content is not illegal, it could be harmful or age-inappropriate for children and platforms need to protect children from it.

Companies with websites that are likely to be accessed by children need to take steps to protect children from harmful content and behaviour.

The categories of harmful content that platforms need to protect children from encountering are set out in the Act. Children must be prevented from accessing Primary Priority Content, and should be given age-appropriate access to Priority Content. The types of content which fall into these categories are set out below.

Primary Priority Content

pornography

content that encourages, promotes, or provides instructions for either:

self-harm

eating disorders or

suicide

Priority Content

bullying

abusive or hateful content

content which depicts or encourages serious violence or injury

content which encourages dangerous stunts and challenges; and

content which encourages the ingestion, inhalation or exposure to harmful substances.

Age-appropriate experiences for children online

The Act requires social media companies to enforce their age limits consistently and protect their child users.

Services must assess any risks to children from using their platforms and set appropriate age restrictions, ensuring that child users have age-appropriate experiences and are shielded from harmful content. Websites with age restrictions need to specify in their terms of service what measures they use to prevent underage access and apply these terms consistently.

Different technologies can be used to check people's ages online. These are called age assurance technologies.

The new laws mean social media companies will have to say what technology they are using, if any, and apply these measures consistently. Companies can no longer say their service is for users above a certain age in their terms of service and do nothing to prevent younger children accessing it.

Adults will have more control over the content they see

User to user online platforms over a designated threshold, known as Category 1 services, will be required to offer adult users tools to give them greater control over the kinds of content they see and who they engage with online.

Adult users of such services will be able to verify their identity and access tools which enable them to reduce the likelihood that they see content from non-verified users and prevent non-verified users from interacting with their content. This will help stop anonymous trolls from contacting them.

Following the publication of guidance by Ofcom, Category 1 services will also need to proactively offer adult users optional tools to help them reduce the likelihood that they will encounter certain types of legal content. These categories of content are set out in the Act and include content that does not meet a criminal threshold but encourages, promotes or provides instructions for suicide, self-harm or eating disorders. These tools also apply to abusive or hate content including where such content is racist, antisemitic, homophobic, or misogynist. The tools must be effective and easy to access.

The Act already protects children from seeing this content.

The Act will tackle suicide and self-harm content

Any site that allows users to share content or interact with each other is in scope of the Online Safety Act. These laws also require sites to rapidly remove illegal suicide and self-harm content and proactively protect users from content that is illegal under the Suicide Act 1961. The Act has also introduced a new criminal offence for encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.

Services that are likely to be accessed by children must prevent children of all ages from encountering legal content that encourages, promotes or provides instruction for suicide and self-harm.

The Act also requires major services (Category 1 services) to uphold their terms of service where they say they will remove or restrict content or suspend users. If a service says they prohibit certain kinds of suicide or self-harm content the Act requires them to enforce these terms consistently and transparently. These companies must also have effective reporting and redress mechanisms in place enabling users to raise concerns about companies' enforcement of their terms of service, if users feel that companies are not fulfilling their duties.

How the Act will be enforced

Ofcom is now the regulator of online safety and must make sure that platforms are protecting their users. Once the new duties are in effect, following Ofcom's publication of final codes and guidance, platforms will have to show they have processes in place to meet the requirements set out by the Act. Ofcom will monitor how effective those processes are at protecting internet users from harm. Ofcom will have powers to take action against companies which do not follow their new duties.

Companies can be fined up to £18 million or 10 percent of their qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. Criminal action can be taken against senior managers who fail to ensure companies follow information requests from Ofcom. Ofcom will also be able to hold companies and senior managers (where they are at fault) criminally liable if the provider fails to comply with Ofcom 's enforcement notices in relation to specific child safety duties or to child sexual abuse and exploitation on their service.

In the most extreme cases, with the agreement of the courts, Ofcom will be able to require payment providers, advertisers and internet service providers to stop working with a site, preventing it from generating money or being accessed from the UK.

How the Act affects companies that are not based in the UK

The Act gives Ofcom the powers they need to take appropriate action against all companies in scope, no matter where they are based, where services have relevant links with the UK. This means services with a significant number of UK users or where UK users are a target market, as well as other services which have in-scope content that presents a risk of significant harm to people in the UK.

How the Act tackles harmful algorithms

The Act requires providers to specifically consider how algorithms could impact users' exposure to illegal content - and children's exposure content that is harmful to children - as part of their risk assessments.

Providers will then need to take steps to mitigate and effectively manage any identified risks. This includes considering their platform's design, functionalities, algorithms, and any other features likely to meet the illegal content and child safety duties.

The law also makes it clear that harm can arise from the way content is disseminated, such as when an algorithm repeatedly pushes content to a child in large volumes over a short space of time.

Some platforms will be required to publish annual transparency reports containing online safety related information, such as information about the algorithms they use and their effect on users' experience, including children.

How the Act protects women and girls

The most harmful illegal online content disproportionately affects women and girls, and the Act requires platforms to proactively tackle this. Illegal content includes harassment, stalking, controlling or coercive behaviour, extreme pornography, and revenge pornography.

All user-to-user and search services have duties to put in place systems and processes to remove this content when it is flagged to them. The measures companies must take to remove illegal content will be set out in Ofcom 's codes of practice.

When developing these codes, Ofcom is required to consult with the Victim's Commissioner and Domestic Abuse Commissioner to guarantee that the voices and views of women, girls and victims are reflected.

The Act also requires Ofcom to produce guidance that summarises in one clear place the measures that can be taken to tackle the abuse that women and girls disproportionately face online. This guidance will ensure it is easy for platforms to implement holistic and effective protections for women and girls across their various duties. We expect Ofcom 's draft guidance to be published in February 2025.

How the Act tackles Misinformation and Disinformation

The Online Safety Act takes a proportionate approach to mis- and disinformation by focusing on addressing the greatest risks of harm to users, whilst protecting freedom of expression.

Mis- and disinformation will be captured by the Online Safety Act where it is illegal or harmful to children. Services will be required to take steps to remove illegal disinformation content if they become aware of it on their services. This includes the removal of illegal, state-sponsored disinformation through the Foreign Interference Offence, forcing companies to take action against a range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-linked interference online. Companies must also assess whether their service is likely to be accessed by children and, if so deliver additional protections for them. This includes protections against in-scope mis- and disinformation.

Category 1 services will also need to remove certain types of mis- and disinformation if they are prohibited in their terms of services.

Independent Review of Pornography Regulation, Legislation and Enforcement

The past two decades have seen a dramatic change in the way we consume media and interact with content online. We need to ensure pornography regulation and legislation reflects this change.

Separate to the Online Safety Act, the Independent Pornography Review was announced to assess the regulation, legislation and enforcement of online and offline pornographic content.

It investigates how exploitation and abuse is tackled in the industry and examines the potentially harmful impact of pornography. This review will help ensure the laws and regulations governing a dramatically changed pornography industry are once again fit for purpose.

The review has been led by the Independent Lead Reviewer, Baroness Gabby Bertin, since December 2023, and will conclude and present its recommendations to government by the end of 2024.

Background information: useful websites

Legislation

Notices

Guidance and letters (including Ofcom advice and DSIT Secretary of State letters)

Consultations and Calls for Evidence (including relevant Ofcom consultations)

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The Online Safety Act 2023 (the Act) is a new set of laws that protects children and adults online. It puts a range of new duties on social media companies and search services, making them more responsible for their users' safety on their platforms. The Act will give providers new duties to implement systems and processes to reduce risks their services are used for illegal activity, and to take down illegal content when it does appear.

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Free safeguarding apprentices webinar | NSPCC Learning

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Our free safeguarding apprentices webinar covers essential safeguarding practices for young people in the workplace. Book your place today for free.

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Safer Internet Day 2025 Top Tips - UK Safer Internet Centre

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Online Safety Tips, Advice and Resources

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Childrens Wellbeing and Schools Bill December 2024