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Baroness Henig becomes patron of student safety scheme

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Baroness Ruth Henig has been announced as the new patron of ProtectED, the first ever national accreditation scheme for ensuring the safety, security and wellbeing of university students.

The scheme is the first in the UK’s higher education sector to comprehensively consider practices across the areas of student safety, security and wellbeing, and is founded on the belief that universities have a critical role to play that does not end at campus boundaries but encompasses the wider student experience.

Almost 50 universities across the country have so far expressed an interest in signing up and becoming early adopters of the scheme, which was set up following research by University of Salford academics along with professional services staff and security experts K7 Compliance

Lady Henig is a historian, political activist, and a Deputy Speaker in the House of Lords. During her 24 years as a Labour member of Lancashire County Council, she chaired the Lancashire Community Safety Partnership and served as Chair of the Lancashire Police Authority, later being appointed President of the Association of Police Authorities.

She has been awarded a CBE for services to policing and served as Chair of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) — the organisation responsible for regulating and licensing the private security industry in the UK.

Andrew Wootton, ProtectED Director said: “It’s a real pleasure be able to welcome Baroness Henig as our new ProtectED Patron. Her insight and considerable experience improving standards of practice in the UK will make a significant contribution to the success of ProtectED."

Baroness Henig said: “ProtectED brings together a number of issues that I have long been passionate about ensuring a safe experience for university students; high quality security services; and taking a partnership approach to safety in the higher education sector.

“The ProtectED Code of Practice offers, for the first time, a student safety, security and wellbeing standard for universities to aspire to, and a practical, robust method of assessing and raising standards across the sector.”

The ProtectED Code of Practice addresses student safety security and wellbeing across  domains including Core Institutional Safety & Security; Student Wellbeing & Mental Health; International Students; Student Harassment & Sexual Assault; and the Student Night Out.

Universities seeking ProtectED Accreditation benchmark themselves against the requirements outlined in the Code of Practice, before submitting their application.

Assessment is overseen by a Peer Review Panel, with follow-up verification visit by trained, independent ProtectED Assessors, and student assessors. Successful universities are awarded ProtectED Accredited Institution status — a clear indicator to prospective and current students, their parents and loved ones that the institution takes student welfare seriously.

Development of the ProtectED Code of Practice and accreditation scheme has been supported by organisations in the areas of security and student wellbeing in the higher education (HE) sector.

The ProtectED Advisory Board includes representatives from: the Association of University Chief Security Officers (AUCSO); the Security Industry Authority (SIA); the National Union of Students (NUS); British Council; the Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education (AMOSSHE); Universities UK; Police Association of Higher Education Liaison Officers (PAHELO); Endsleigh Insurance; the National Landlords Association (NLA); the College and University Business Officers (CUBO); the International Professional Security Association (IPSA); and the British Security Industry Association (BSIA).

ProtectED is now seeking to recruit 12 universities to become official ProtectED Founder Member institutions, leading action on student safety, security and wellbeing in the HE sector by example, and committing to support the principles and goals of ProtectED.

Further information on ProtectED can be found at www.protect-ed.org