DARE Unit - Safeguarding Data Analysis, Research and Evaluation

The Data Analysis, Research and Evaluation (DARE) Unit helps the Church of England learn and make informed safeguarding decisions. As part of the National Safeguarding Team, we use data analysis, research, and evaluation to understand what is working well, identify areas for improvement, and support safer practices across the Church.

Evidence matters. By analysing information, evaluating programmes, and carrying out varied research studies, we help ensure that safeguarding policies and activities are shaped by people's experiences across the church, and what has the greatest impact. Our work supports learning, accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement across parishes, dioceses, cathedrals, and national safeguarding programmes.

We share our findings openly wherever possible to help inform conversations, strengthen practice, and support the Church's ongoing commitment to safeguarding.

What We Do

Analyse safeguarding data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
Conduct research into safeguarding issues and emerging challenges.
Evaluate national programmes, projects, and initiatives to understand their impact.
Support strategic planning through evidence-based insights and resource modelling.
Monitor progress against national safeguarding recommendations and promote learning across the Church.
Publish research and reports to support transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find all information about the DARE Unit and the types of work we complete here

National Safeguarding Recommendations

Find national safeguarding recommendations from 2020-2025 and track their progress here

2026 Workplan

Find out about upcoming projects being completed by the DARE Unit and how you can get involved

Recently Added Reports

Turning The Page Interim Report - read here

Parish Safeguarding Survey 2026 - read here

Documents and Reports

Turning The Page: A Programme for Continuous Safeguarding Improvement

The Data Analysis, Research & Evaluation (DARE) Unit is driving a strategic programme to ensure safeguarding recommendations lead to real, measurable change. Turning the Page brings together national and local learning into one framework, creating a culture of accountability and continuous improvement across the Church of England.

This initiative honours the experiences behind every lesson learned, documenting them, understanding them, and using them to build safer practice. By embedding transparency and action, we move beyond compliance to create a safeguarding system that learns rather than repeats mistakes.

Key Workstreams:

From Recommendation to Renewal – Tracks and evaluates national-level safeguarding recommendations from 2020–2025, assessing delivery and impact.
- From Recommendation to Renewal Baseline Report (November 2025)
From the Ground Up – Reviews local safeguarding practice to identify recurring themes and systemic issues, ensuring frontline insights inform strategy.
The Next Chapter – Embeds processes for rapid learning and action, supported by the Learning Outcomes Working Group.

Read the full Turning the Page Programme Overview

Turning The Page - Interim Report (530.44 KB)

Safeguarding Concerns Review

Five-Year Safeguarding Concern Review

The DARE Unit has published a landmark report, presenting a comprehensive analysis of safeguarding concerns recorded across the Church of England between 2019 and 2023. It will provide strategic insight into emerging patterns of harm, institutional responses, and the evolving landscape of safeguarding.

Future Work

The DARE Unit will also be looking to publish its review of 2025 safeguarding concern data in 2026, utilising data that is held within the National Safeguarding Case Management System for the first time.

Diocesan and Cathedral Resource Models

The DARE Unit benchmarks the safeguarding capacity across dioceses and cathedrals, hoping to inform strategic planning, funding, and workforce development.

These models estimate the minimum safeguarding resource needed to meet national standards, based on casework volume, size of diocese and cathedral, and other contextual factors.

Current Model

2025 Safeguarding Resource Model
An updated Safeguarding Resource Model reflects new data from 2025 and evolving safeguarding demands.

Previous Models

2024 Safeguarding Resource Model
The first Diocesan and Cathedral Model, published in 2024, provided a baseline for diocesan and cathedral safeguarding capacity.

IICSA Recommendations 1&8 Evaluation

As part of our commitment to transparency and learning, the DARE Unit is publishing all evaluation reports from the IICSA 1&8 Pilot Phase and the ongoing Implementation Phase.

These evaluations assess the rollout of safeguarding improvements following IICSA, focusing on supervision, regional consistency, and professional support.

Latest Release

Final Evaluation of the Regional Safeguarding Lead (RSL) Model Implementation

The Final Evaluation of the RSL Implementation confirms that the Regional Safeguarding Model is now embedded and effective, delivering clear improvements in supervision, consistency, and collaboration, alongside reduced professional isolation across dioceses and cathedrals. It also identifies key areas for strengthening, particularly cathedral engagement and consistency, while concluding that these reflect implementation challenges rather than issues with the model itself. This publication formally closes the IICSA Recommendations 1 & 8 project, with the focus now shifting to consolidation, quality assurance, and long-term system stability.

Previous Releases

Implementation Phase

Pilot Phase

The Impact and Innovation Fund 2025

Following a rigorous two-stage application process, the DARE Unit are pleased to announce that six bids have been approved through the National Safeguarding Team Innovation and Impact Fund 2025. This one-off fund was created to support pioneering safeguarding initiatives across dioceses and cathedrals, with a focus on innovation, collaboration, and alignment with the National Safeguarding Standards. It aims to strengthen practice through targeted investment in research, evaluation, resource development, and stakeholder engagement.

The selected projects represent a diverse range of approaches and will be introduced in 2026, marking a significant step forward in our commitment to learning, improvement, and impact in safeguarding practice.

INEQE Thematic Reviews

These thematic reviews present key findings from the 2024–2025 INEQE Independent Safeguarding Audit Programme across Church of England dioceses and cathedrals. Drawing together recurring recommendations, they highlight system-wide strengths, challenges, and priorities for improvement.

INEQE Thematic Review - Diocesan Infographic (145.31 KB)

INEQE Thematic Reviews - Cathedral Infographic (148.2 KB)

Thematic Review of Diocesan INEQE Recommendations 2024-2025 - Full Report (303.03 KB)

Thematic Review of Cathedral INEQE Recommendations 2024-2025 - Full Report (281.13 KB)

National Safeguarding Quality Assurance Reports

The findings in these reports have been made possible through the significant commitment of Regional Safeguarding Leads, who undertook quality assurance reviews across England, and the diocesan and cathedral safeguarding staff who engaged openly and thoughtfully throughout the process. Their collective contribution has enabled the creation of a robust national baseline from which future progress can be understood and measured.

These reports has been brought together by the Data Analysis, Research and Evaluation (DARE) Unit, who collated and analysed the quality assurance returns to identify the national themes and trends presented in this report. Together, these contributions have helped establish a valuable new source of evidence to inform safeguarding development at local, regional and national levels.

Standard 1: Culture, Leadership and Capacity

National Quality Assurance Report - Culture, Leadership & Capacity - 2026 (602.69 KB)

Standard 2: Recognising, Assessing and Managing Risk

National Quality Assurance Report - Risk - 2026 (751.76 KB)

Parish Safeguarding Survey 2026

The Parish Safeguarding Survey 2026 shares feedback from a wide range of people involved in safeguarding across Church of England parishes. It was commissioned to understand how safeguarding is experienced in everyday church life, beyond formal audits and compliance checks. The findings show strong awareness of safeguarding guidance, high levels of training and confidence, and that safeguarding is increasingly embedded in parish culture. The report also highlights areas for improvement, including making guidance easier to access, reducing the burden on volunteers, and strengthening support and trust for victims and survivors.

Parish Safeguarding Survey 2026 (269.26 KB)

Practitioner Wellbeing Survey 2026

The National Safeguarding Team is pleased to publish the findings of the Church of England Safeguarding Practitioner Wellbeing Survey 2026 – the first Church-wide study dedicated to understanding the wellbeing of safeguarding professionals. As another first for the NST, this work reflects our commitment not only to strengthening safeguarding practice, but also to listening to and supporting the people who deliver it every day.

The survey provides an unprecedented insight into the experiences of safeguarding practitioners across dioceses, cathedrals and the National Safeguarding Team. It highlights a workforce with a strong sense of purpose and commitment, while also identifying the pressures created by workload, organisational change and the emotional demands of safeguarding work.

The findings will help inform future conversations about how we support, develop and sustain our safeguarding workforce. By taking the wellbeing of safeguarding professionals seriously, we are helping to build a stronger, healthier and more effective safeguarding culture across the Church of England.

Safeguarding Practitioner Wellbeing Survey 2026 (356.82 KB)

Makin Task and Finish Group - Lessons Learned Review

This Lessons Learned Review explores key learning from the Makin Task and Finish Group, established to provide oversight and scrutiny of the Church’s response to the recommendations from the Makin Review. It identifies key strengths, challenges and practical lessons from the group's work, highlighting the value of survivor involvement, diverse perspectives, robust scrutiny and strong leadership in supporting safeguarding improvement. The findings are intended to inform future recommendation review processes and help ensure that they remain transparent, accountable, survivor-informed and effective.

Makin Task and Finish Group - Lessons Learned Review (265.8 KB)

One Page Lessons Learned Infographic (368.45 KB)

Get in touch

For any questions, or to have a conversation with a member of the team, please do get in touch.

[email protected]