Please note that the following is a live document and may be subject to amendments. If you are in any doubt, please email Union@ or Iain Cupples (inc@)
Purpose
The following policy sets out the process by which student groups can organise events with external speakers and any risk mitigations which need to be considered by the Students’ Association in connection with external speakers.
For the purpose of this policy, an external speaker is someone who is not a current student at the University of St Andrews, nor a current member of staff at the University or the Students’ Association.
Background
Freedom of speech and expression are core rights with legal protection, enshrined in the Human Rights Act 1998. Academic debate is also important to developing students’ skills and worldview, and the Students’ Association seeks to provide experiences and opportunities which complement the skills obtained through academic courses.
Inviting external speakers to present on given topics is one way in which academic debate is fostered at St Andrews, enriching student experiences whilst at the University.
Whilst freedom of speech and expression are crucial in the UK, they are not absolute, and the rights to freedom of speech and expression need to be balanced with the safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and the wider community.
The Students’ Association has a responsibility to ensure the safety of students and visitors. In particular, the Association commits to (as far as possible):
- Protecting members from unlawful direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
- Preventing communications which are threatening, abusive, or otherwise intended to cause harm
- Not allow discussions which amount to hate speech or hate crimes[1], or otherwise target groups based on protected characteristics including race, gender, disability, religion, and sexual orientation
- Reaffirming that it is a criminal offence to incite others to commit crime
To that end, the Association needs to consider risks and how to mitigate them when it comes to external speakers. The Association and University reserve the right to prevent events with speakers whose topic or personal history would risk the safety of students, staff, and the wider community, or the Association’s integrity as a charity.
The Association recognises that many of the aims above can best be achieved by close co-operation with University policies and staff. Notwithstanding this, as an independent charity the Association retains the freedom to take decisions on external speakers that may deviate from those the University would make. This is addressed in ‘Assessment’, below.
Procedure
Student groups are required to complete the External Speakers Request Form at least 10 working days ahead of the event and submit it to union@.
It is required that the External Speaker Agreement be acknowledged and agreed to by the speaker. This Agreement is to be printed and displayed at the event on the door and in the room when the event is held in person.
The event must not be promoted until the head of the student group receives written approval from the Association.
Assessment
Once an External Speakers Request Form is received, the Association will undertake an assessment process to identify risks associated with the speaker and topic. This will involve researching the speaker and topic, including review of news articles, opinion pieces, and other publications (such as social media or personal website publications), and review of the topic area.
This will generally involve a Google search of the first 3 pages of results (around 30 links) on both the speaker and topic under discussion. Any relevant findings are to be recorded and securely stored for 6 years.
In situations where the speaker and/or topic is known or suspected to be controversial or present a risk to students, staff, or the wider community, it must escalated in line with the University’s Policy. The Association and the student group must then undertake any relevant steps as set out by the University’s Security Manager or University Compliance Group.
Where the University has approved a speaker at an Association event or by an affiliated student group, but the Association’s assessment is that the event should not go ahead, that event will not proceed. Note that this applies to events hosted or co-hosted by affiliated student groups only.
Where the University has decided that under its policy, an event should not proceed, the Association recognises that this means the event cannot take place on University premises. In this situation the Association will consider whether the event can be held safely on Association premises instead, pending the identification of a suitable venue, a full risk assessment and consideration of any costs. In making this assessment, the Association will give full and weighty consideration to the University’s reasons for their decision not to allow the event on University premises.
The ‘reasonable person test’ in this context is a way of asking ‘would a reasonable person be harmed or alarmed if this speaker presented at the event, or if this topic was discussed?’ This test is used legally and in the workplace as a method of assessing risk before or after the fact.
This test will be used as a decision-making tool to assess whether inviting a speaker and/or their topic to speak at an event is likely to engender fear or alarm in the student body.
Mitigating steps by risk level
Depending on the risk level there are several possible outcomes, namely:
- To not permit the event
- To permit the event with no restrictions
- To permit the event with steps required to limit risks
Potential risks include but are not limited to:
- The potential for any decision to limit freedom of speech as per the University’s code of practice in pursuance of the 1986 Education Act x4.
- The event would not fit within the Association’s charitable objectives.
- The event would be in breach of the Students’ Association’s policies.
- The event would lead to reputational and/or legal risk to the Association.
- The history of the speaker and/or any media attention they have received previously would create a risk to the Association.
- The speaker’s presence would cause fear or alarm.
- The speaker’s presence would lead to breach of the peace or health and safety concerns.
- The speaker would incite hatred, violence, or incite others to commit crime.
Appeals
- If the student group is dissatisfied with the outcome, they may appeal in writing to the Association President and General Manager (or delegate of the Board of Trustees) within 5 working days of the original decision.
- This subsequent decision at appeal is final.