Section 4A: Members of Clergy

This Pathway contains additional and specific requirements and guidance for dealing with allegations against members of the clergy.

Section 1: Triage and Referrals

Section 2: Initial Contact

Section 3: Safeguarding Case Management Group

Section 5: Risk Assessment

Section 6: Outcomes, Closure and Long-term risk management

Introduction and definitions

This section sets out the requirements and guidance to be followed in response to safeguarding concerns and allegations where:

• it covers recent or non-recent allegations of abuse;
• the respondent is alive; and
• the respondent is a member of clergy

As outlined in Section 4F of this Code, concerns of failure to meet safeguarding requirements may be managed under this pathway, but only in cases in which the circumstances set out in that section determine this is the most appropriate pathway. A separate pathway for the management of posthumous safeguarding allegations is included in Section 4D.

Who is a member of the clergy?

For the purposes of this section, a member of clergy is any person in Holy Orders (i.e. any person who has been ordained), whether or not they hold office, including those who hold Permission to Officiate (PTO) or Overseas Permission to Officiate (OPTO).

The National Register of Clergy

The National Register of Clergy is a publicly available list of all clergy in the Church of England who are authorised to minister. Further information on the register is contained in Appendix 2.

Standards of conduct for clergy

By virtue of their ordination and office clergy are held to a high standard of personal and professional conduct.  Further information and advice are contained in Appendix 3.

Ordinands

This pathway does not apply to ordinands.  However, as ordinands will often undertake placements in parishes and as they prepare for life in ministry, they are expected to meet high standards of conduct. Ordinands normally attend a Theological Education Institutions (TEIs), and this is generally on the recommendation of a sponsoring bishop and diocese, therefore both the TEI and the bishop need to have processes in place for:

• Risk assessments resulting from blemished DBS checks – this will normally be dealt with by the DSO from the sponsoring dioceses
• Responding to concerns or allegations arising during their period of ordination – this will normally be dealt with by the TEI, but the sponsoring diocese will need to be made aware in case the bishop has cause to withdraw their sponsorship. Depending on the nature of the incident, the DSO in the area where the incident took place must also be made aware, for example, if there are victims or survivors who need support.

For the avoidance of doubt, TEIs are independent bodies and do not meet the criteria of being relevant persons, church officers or church bodies. As TEIs are higher education institutions, they are required to have their own safeguarding policies and processes in place, and are subject to their own inspection regimes.

Structure

This section is structured into a series of steps that need to be followed when managing safeguarding allegations involving members of clergy. Some steps and requirements may need to be followed in a different order to that presented in this Section, to reflect the specific circumstances of each case.