Regional CONTEST co-ordinators – GOV.UK

The Department for Education (DfE) regional CONTEST co-ordinators support the delivery of the department’s contribution to the UK counter terrorism strategy.

The aim of CONTEST is to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens and interests overseas, so people can live freely and with confidence.  It focuses on 4 strands:

• prevent: to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism
• pursue: to stop terrorist attacks happening
• protect: to strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack
• prepare: to minimise the impact of a terrorist attack

Co-ordinators will also support work to tackle extremism including certain divisive or intolerant narratives which can reasonably be linked to terrorism.

We have 8 DfE regional CONTEST co-ordinators who cover England and support the entire education sector. As a result, they focus on key threats and risks and have developed strategic relationships with key regional partners to use multi-agency partnership working to deliver key responsibilities.

Their key responsibilities are:

• working on a risk based approach helping education providers improve their Prevent delivery, including where monitoring bodies have identified concerns
• co-ordinating activity across regional partners, including the police and local authorities, on the delivery of Prevent improvement programmes in education
• delivering virtual training and good practice webinars for education providers
• supporting education providers and multi-agency partnerships with complex radicalisation or terrorism cases involving children, staff, young people or learners
• engaging with education providers and police following extremism incidents or terrorism-related issues
• providing regional communications and updates via newsletters where they highlight training opportunities, regional media articles and key policy updates
• sign posting guidance, resources and local support where required on protective security and preparedness

Prevent regions

Regional CONTEST co-ordinators support and improve Prevent delivery in each region of England. These regions are:

• North-West (including Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside)
• North-East (including West Yorkshire, Cleveland, Durham, Humberside, Northumbria, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire)
• West Midlands (including West Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia)
• East Midlands (including Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire)
• South-East (including Thames Valley, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Sussex)
• South-West (including Avon and Somerset, Devon & Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire)
• East-of-England (including Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk)
• London

Virtual training sessions

Regional CONTEST co-ordinators offer large, virtual training sessions that are available to anyone working within an education setting in England. They focus on the implementation of Prevent and are designed primarily for those in dedicated safeguarding or Prevent roles.

Prevent in education: training for early years foundation stage staff

This training package has been designed by DfE for staff within the early years foundation stage to understand their responsibilities and the importance of the Prevent duty.

Prevent in education: training for independent schools

This training package has been designed by DfE for designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) at independent schools to understand their responsibilities and the importance of the Prevent duty.

Prevent in education: training for DSLs

This training package has been designed by DfE for designated safeguarding leads to understand their responsibilities and the importance of the Prevent duty.

Prevent in education: training for governors and trustees in schools

This training package has been designed by DfE for school governors to understand their responsibilities and the importance of the Prevent duty.

Prevent in education: for staff working in SEND

This training package has been designed by DfE for staff working with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) students to understand their responsibilities and the importance of the Prevent duty.

Prevent in education: planning

The webinar will cover both the strategic requirements of providers and emerging good practice in delivering the Prevent duty. It will also address the challenges faced by training providers of all types, sizes and locations.

Prevent in education: tailored training for staff working in the education sector

This online workshop will give staff a clear understanding of their responsibilities and the current terrorist and extremist threats. Participants can also discuss any questions about the Prevent duty or related issues with an experienced practitioner.

Regional newsletters and communications

RPECs regularly share regional updates through their newsletters. Newsletters include information on:

• regional trends and risk updates

• new training, guidance and resources

• updates or changes to the implementation of Prevent

• relevant news, blogs or other content

Further support with the implementation of Prevent in education

Additional support and advice to help implement your Prevent responsibilities includes:

Use the co-ordinator contact form to:

• learn more about training available in your region
• sign-up to regional newsletters
• ask for help with a complex radicalisation case
• get help with finding a Prevent advocate to speak in a higher education setting
• learn more about understanding the local risk in your area
• find out if a regional good practice forum is available in your area

Reporting concerns

Concerns about individuals

If you have concerns that an individual is susceptible to being drawn into terrorism and would like advice and support, follow the guidance on making a Prevent referral.

Tell the police immediately, by calling 999, if you think a child, young person or adult learner:

• is about to put themselves or others in immediate danger
• appears to be involved in planning to carry out a criminal offence

Concerns about educational providers

If you have a concern about extremism within an education provider, including allegations against staff or adverse external influences on a provider, use the reporting extremism form.

If you are a HE provider and have experienced a ‘Prevent-related’ incident, you may need to report it to the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS have published guidance on Prevent-related serious incidents.

If you are a new HE, FE or independent training provider, and would like access to regional good practice forums, please use the regional Prevent contact form.