External Speaker Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to support staff in making decisions concerning internal applications for external speakers on CTS Premises or at associated events at third-party venues. CTS Training welcomes and values the input from external speakers and this policy exists to protect the rights and freedoms of our learners, staff, and visitors, and to ensure that CTS Training balances this with its legal requirement to secure freedom of speech.

Scope

This policy relates to all staff and/or learners that arrange for external speakers to attend CTS Training or those who receive applications from external organisations to attend CTS Training.

Objectives

• To provide an environment where freedom of expression and speech are protected, balanced with the need to ensure that our community is free from harm and incitement to hatred is never acceptable.

• To provide a supportive, inclusive, and safe space for learners and staff

• To communicate to learners, volunteers, staff, and visitors that it is our mutual responsibility to comply with equality safeguarding and that both CTS Training and the individual can be held liable if they contravene the law.

• To provide clear instructions for organising an event with external contributions.

External speaker's code of conduct

• An external speaker or visitor is used to describing any individual or organisation who is not a learner or staff member of CTS Training or one of its contracted partners and who has been invited to speak to learners and or staff. This includes any individual who is a learner or staff member from another provider.

• An event is any event, presentation, visit, or activity organised by a learner, individual, or staff member that is being held on CTS Training premises or where CTS Training is being represented by a stand on different premises e.g., at an exhibition, school event or fair.

• All speakers or visitors should be made aware by the person or group arranging the event that they have a responsibility to abide by the law and CTS Training’s policies including that they: -

Must not advocate or incite hatred, violence or call for the breaking of the law.

Are not permitted to encourage, glorify, or promote any acts of terrorism including individuals, groups, or organisations that support such acts.

Must not spread hatred and intolerance in the community and thus aid in disrupting social and community harmony.

Must be mindful of the risk of causing offence to or seeking to avoid insulting other faiths or groups, within a framework of positive debate and challenge.

Are not permitted to raise or gather funds for any external organisation or cause without express permission from CTS Training

Organising an Event

The person who organises an event that invites an external speaker/organisation to attend CTS Training to speak to a group of learners/staff must:

• Undertake an assessment of the proposed external speaker (as set out below) and, if there are any concerns, escalate the decision about whether to invite that speaker as set out in the booking process.

• Ensure that all speakers are made aware of and given a copy of this policy. Please note that failure by a member of staff or learner to comply with this policy will be treated very seriously and may be subject to further action in accordance with the CTS Training Disciplinary process.

External Speaker Booking Process

Anyone organising an event as described above must follow the External Speaker Booking Process. Most external speaker requests will be straightforward and can be handled entirely at a department level see below. However, some may be complex and may require referral for further consideration. The referral process will only apply in a minority of circumstances – to events or speakers deemed to be higher risk.

The event organiser will be responsible for assessing the suitability of the speaker against the following set of questions:

Question 1: Has the speaker previously been prevented from speaking at CTS Training or another similar establishment or previously been known to express views that may be in breach of the External Speaker Code of Conduct?

Question 2: Does the proposed title or theme of the event present a potential risk that views/opinions expressed by speakers may be in breach of the External Speaker Code of Conduct?

Question 3: Is the proposed speaker/theme likely to attract attendance from individuals/groups that have previously been known to express views that may be in breach of the External Speaker Code of Conduct?

If the answer to all three questions is NO, then the external speaker may be booked and use the required documentation to do so.

If the answer to any of the questions is unclear, the event organiser must seek guidance from their line manager, whose responsibility it will be to further review the speaker(s) against the questions above.

If the answer is yes to any of the above, then the line manager’s decision should always be to exercise caution and not allow the event to proceed.

Visitors / External Speakers IT Access

Visitors/external speakers who require access to the internet will be required to review the ICT Acceptable Use Policy. Once the Visitor has signed to accept the terms of the policy, they will be given a Wi-Fi password. Once access has been arranged, activities on the network will be subject to the Acceptable Use ICT policy and anyone found in breach of this will be asked to stop using the internet with immediate effect and could be asked to leave CTS premises.

Responsibility

The External Speaker Policy and approval process will be continually reviewed and updated in response to legislative changes and other factors. It is the responsibility of those organising events to ensure that they are acting in accordance with the most recent version of the Policy.