Following today's preliminary hearing held by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, chaired by Justice Goddard, the Church of England has issued the following statement:

"We welcome todays update on the investigation into the Anglican Church in England and Wales and the acknowledgment from the Inquiry that the material already submitted is relevant and useful. We note that the Inquiry has received a substantial amount of material from us and other core participants and the analysis of this is now underway as is the process of identifying possible witnesses.

As we said after the initial hearing in March we are committed to engaging with the Inquiry in an open and transparent way and believe its work will play a vital part in our commitment to making the Church a safer place for all."

Graham Tilby, National Safeguarding Adviser