The new legal duty (the Duty to Prevent) is contained in section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, which places a duty on "specified authorities" to "have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism". Some human rights organisations, including Liberty, have expressed concern over the Duty to Prevent - that it may function to increase discriminatory and offensive stereotyping - and have questioned whether a broad and vague statutory obligation on public bodies will achieve desired results.
How does the new duty apply to schools and childcare providers?
On 1 July, the Duty to Prevent came into force for schools, and also for registered early years and childcare providers and registered later years childcare providers. According to non-statutory guidance published last month, it is essential that staff are able to "identify children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, and know what to do when they are identified", and also that they are able to "build pupils' resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views".
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