Calls to settings claiming to be from DfE Prevent or Counter Extremism Team

We are reaching out to inform you that this is not a legitimate or official request from Department for Education.

As we understand it, the unknown caller claims to have received concerns through a whistleblower about the education setting and asks to be put into contact with the CEO or Chairperson of the setting(s). We understand that the caller provides a phone number and requests contact details.

The Kent and Medway prevent Team in conjunction with the Department for Education would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few things to share with you.

• The Department for Education will never arrange a meeting or request information from you only over the phone. We will always confirm any request with you by email, and all email communication from government officials and policing colleagues will come from official email addresses ending in (e.g @education.gov.uk, @police.uk, or @pnn.police.com).
• If you receive any contact from an individual claiming to be associated to the DfE’s Counter-Extremism or Prevent Team requesting information, please:
  • Ask for confirmation of the request to come in an official email. Please do check that the email is a education.gov.uk address.
  • If in any doubt, you can confirm it is legitimate by contacting the DfE’s Counter-Extremism Team by emailing counter.EXTREMISM@education.gov.uk
• If an individual arrives at your setting claiming to be from the DfE or from the Counter-Extremism or Prevent Team, when you have not had contact via an official email, you can call the DfE Helpline for confirmation (0370 000 2288).
• Suspicious encounters should also be reported to your local police force to make them aware of the incident.

The DfE are working with partners to investigate the recent reports.

There is guidance available on how to recognise and report emails, texts or phone call that you are suspicious of  on GOV.UK

If you have any queries or concerns about any of the above, please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of the Kent and Medway Prevent Education Officers (PEO) or the Prevent Coordinator.

Contact details

Jill Allen, PEO, South and East Kent
Email: Jill.Allen@kent.gov.uk

Sally Green, PEO, Medway, North and West Kent
Email: Sally.Green2@kent.gov.uk

Jess Harman, Prevent Coordinator, Kent and Medway
Email: Jess.Harman@kent.gov.uk