Non Executive Directorships

Independent Prevent Commissioner

Location: Various

Date Posted: 12/02/2025

Closing Date: 17/03/2025

£1200/day – 2 days/week

About the appointment

Introduction

CONTEST is the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy established in 2003 to tackle all forms of terrorism (updated 2023).

The core CONTEST framework, which has long been recognised as world-leading, remains unchanged from earlier iterations of the strategy. Our work to Prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism; and Pursue terrorists to disrupt their plots is designed to reduce the threat. Our efforts to Protect against a terrorist attack reduce our vulnerability, and efforts to Prepare to mitigate the impact of any attack are designed to reduce the impact.

The aim of Prevent is to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Our Prevent work also extends to supporting the rehabilitation and disengagement of those already involved in terrorism.

The objectives of Prevent are:

• tackling the ideological causes of terrorism

• intervening early to support people susceptible to radicalisation

• enabling people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate

In the UK, delivery of early intervention support to people susceptible to radicalisation begins with referrals to Prevent. Anyone can make a Prevent referral and under the Prevent Duty, institutions including schools, colleges, universities, health authorities, local authorities, police, and prisons must consider the risk of radicalisation as part of their day-to-day safeguarding work. This includes referring individuals susceptible to radicalisation to Prevent for support.

Where the police assess a radicalisation risk following a Prevent referral, a Channel panel – chaired by the local authority, and attended by multi-agency partners such as police, education professionals, health services, housing and social services – will meet to assess the risk and agree a tailored package of support. Channel is a voluntary process, and individuals must give their consent before they receive support. Where risks cannot be managed in Channel, they will be kept under review by the police.

The Desistance and Disengagement Programme provides tailored interventions that support individuals to stop participating in terrorism-related activity (desist) and move away from terrorist ideology and ways of thinking (disengage). Specialist providers deliver interventions in prisons and in the community including theological, ideological and practical mentoring, to reduce the offending risk.

The Home Secretary has recently outlined reforms to strengthen Prevent. These will ensure that the programme keeps pace with the increasingly complex and evolving terrorist threat, stopping people from being drawn towards dangerous and extremist ideologies, carrying out acts of terrorism or supporting terrorism. The measures include:

• conducting an end-to-end review of Prevent thresholds, and updating policy and guidance, including on repeat referrals, to ensure they reflect the full range of threats we see today.

• broadening the interventions available to people supported by the Channel early intervention programme – in addition to ideological mentoring, we will seek to reflect the increasingly diverse drivers of radicalisation, by exploring options to support at-risk individuals with cyber skills, family interventions, or practical mentoring.

• undertaking a strategic policy review to identify and drive improvements in how individuals referred into Prevent who are neurodivergent or suffer from mental ill-health are supported and managed.

• strengthening our approach to the monitoring and oversight of referrals that do not meet Prevent thresholds, by launching a pilot in January to test new approaches to cases that are transferred to other services to ensure there is proper monitoring and requirements in place.

As part of these reforms, a new permanent Independent Prevent Commissioner will also be recruited with the specific remit of reviewing the programme’s effectiveness, identifying gaps and problems before they emerge.

Appointment description

Title: Independent Prevent Commissioner

Roles Available: One

Commitment: 1-2 days per week

Remuneration: £1200 per day (plus VAT), with reasonable expenses also paid.

Appointment: Three-year fixed term appointment as an office holder with the possibility of re-appointment.

Location: Flexible, with regular travel to Central London. The role covers Prevent in England, Wales and Scotland.

Reporting to: Home Secretary

Purpose:

The Independent Prevent Commissioner’s role is to provide an independent strategic oversight and review function for Prevent to ensure that it can meet its objectives as effectively as possible. The Commissioner will also provide an opportunity for the public and practitioners to raise concerns about the activity of Prevent by leading the Standards and Compliance Unit.

The Independent Prevent Commissioner will be a high profile, publicly important role. The Commissioner may need to engage with the public, invite challenge from Prevent’s critics, capture best practice, and understand the role of the Prevent programme in stopping people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

This Commissioner will operate independently of the Prevent Directorate, but will report into and be supported by the Home Office. The Commissioner will have secretariat support appropriate to fulfil their responsibilities. This will be a team of at least 3 people including research or analytical support.

It is likely that the Commissioner’s reports will inform public policy around how counter-terrorism interacts with integration, public health, faith and communities – and how these policy areas can support counter-terrorism efforts – in the coming years. Their recommendations must be meaningful, proportionate and actionable, with the implications of their implementation rigorously considered.

In addition, Prevent naturally attracts significant attention and it is likely that the Independent Prevent Commissioner may be called upon to take part in public debates, give evidence to Parliamentary Committees and international bodies, consult with communities and comment on Prevent-related issues. When doing so, the Commissioner should take into account the Seven Principles of Public Life (see Terms of Appointment).

The Commissioner will have the Responsibilities as set out below.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Commissioner’s primary responsibilities will be (1) reviewing; (2) oversight; and (3) investigating concerns about Prevent.

1. Reviewing

The Commissioner will review Prevent legislation, policy and implementation to ensure that Prevent can effectively meet its objectives to provide early intervention and stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

• The Commissioner will set their own review work programme, providing progress reports to the Home Secretary. The Terms of Reference for any reviews will be devised by the Commissioner, to be agreed with the Home Secretary.

• Parliament, the Home Secretary or other Ministers may, at any time, require the Commissioner to report on any matter relating to Prevent.

• Interim findings or similar may be provided to the public, the Home Secretary or other partners at the Commissioner’s discretion.

• Unless agreed otherwise, the Commissioner will provide any reviews/reports to the Home Secretary before publication or public release.

• The Commissioner may publish an executive summary (subject to security checks), with the publication or disclosure of full reports only as approved by the Home Secretary or agreed in advance.

• Save in relation to the functions of the Standards and Compliance Unit, the Commissioner will not review individual cases or decision making, though may need to gather operational details, case information or Prevent data to understand the impact of policy and legislation, and the processes in place to deliver Prevent. However, the Commissioner may, by exception, be asked to provide independent scrutiny for internal case reviews.

2. Oversight

The Commissioner will oversee the government’s implementation of accepted recommendations from reports and reviews.

• The Commissioner will provide independent scrutiny of the system’s oversight, currently provided by Homeland Security Group Prevent Directorate, wider CONTEST structures, and the Prevent Ministerial Oversight Board.

• The Commissioner will monitor current system oversight structures to ensure they are holding Prevent to account on fulfilling its agreed commitments.

• Findings and recommendations should be set out in regular reports, which may be laid by Ministers before Parliament (subject to departmental clearance).

3. Investigating concerns about Prevent

The Independent Prevent Commissioner will lead the Standards and Compliance Unit, currently based in the Commission for Counter Extremism.

• This Unit provides a clear and accessible route for the public and practitioners to raise concerns about the activity of Prevent.

• Under the direction of the Home Secretary or Home Office Ministers, the Unit can also conduct thorough investigations to assess complaints or concerns regarding Prevent delivery.

• The Unit fulfils a crucial oversight function of Prevent, analysing complaints data and then informing Ministers. It publishes annual reports sharing details on numbers and types of complaints received.

Person specification

Essential criteria

It is essential that you provide in your supporting statement evidence and proven examples against each of the selection criteria in Part One of the person specification, in so far as you are able. These responses will be further developed and explored with those candidates invited for interview, together with the other criteria listed in Part Two.

PART ONE: ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

• Proven track record in managing relationships with diverse stakeholders who have differing priorities.

• Knowledge and experience of building relationships with statutory bodies, and the capability to conduct challenging conversations.

• An understanding of how to improve strategic delivery and a successful track record in promoting the use of good practice.

• Evidence of strategic leadership at senior levels of government, law enforcement, civil society, the public sector or academia.

• Evidence of representing organisations in public, including in the media and with a range of stakeholders.

• Strong communication, negotiating and interpersonal skills to build effective working relationships with Ministers, policy owners, government departments, the media, and other key stakeholders, including the wider public sector, civil society, law enforcement and local communities.

PART TWO: KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

You should also be able to demonstrate:

• A clear understanding of the role of evidence-based analysis in informing policy in an area of political and public attention and sensitivity.

• Ability to be a highly regarded, credible and confident leader, with the ability to lead effective boards and organisations.

• Ability to provide robust, independent advice, under a high level of public interest and scrutiny, and use a public profile to build consensus.

• Credibility with governments, the sector, industry and the public.

• Experience in one or more sectors related to Prevent is desirable.

As a holder of a public office the Commissioner is expected to follow the Seven Principles of Public Life, as set out by the Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life.

Due Diligence: Please note that as part of the recruitment process, due diligence, including social media checks will be un£1dertaken on the appointable candidates.

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Other Positions Available:

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Location: Various

Date Posted: 20/02/2025

Closing Date: 20/03/2025