4G.10 The aims of any safeguarding enquiries are to:
- gather relevant information and establish facts; and
- identify any ongoing safeguarding risks.
4G.11 If interviews are carried out, the Safeguarding Officer must make a written record of each interview, share it with the relevant interviewee to confirm its accuracy, and save it in the case files.
4G.12 Based on the information gathered, the Safeguarding Officer, in consultation with the SCMG, must determine if, on the balance of probabilities there is sufficient evidence to substantiate the existence of an ongoing safeguarding risk. Where the determination is that there is not sufficient evidence, the matter is unsubstantiated.
4G.13 If the outcome is ‘substantiated’ the SCMG must follow the requirements in section 5 (Risk Assessment).
4G.14 If the outcome is ‘unsubstantiated’, the case must be closed at this stage and the SCMG must follow the requirements for closure in section 6 (Outcomes, closure and the long-term management of risk).
Guidance
The safeguarding enquiries carried out by Safeguarding Officers are not the equivalent of a police investigation, a social care assessment or an investigation as part of a disciplinary procedure. The enquiries are not focused on establishing a respondent’s guilt. They are instead focused on the assessment and management of safeguarding risks linked to a member of clergy’s continued activity in the Church. However, information gathered through the processes outlined in this Code may be shared with statutory services and may be used to initiate disciplinary processes.
The scope of any safeguarding enquiries carried out by Safeguarding Officers should be clearly defined and linked closely to the allegation and the respondent’s role in the Church. Where factual information has been established through other processes, for instance in criminal or civil proceedings or in a disciplinary process, that information should be taken into account.
The SCMG will use the information gathered as a result of these enquiries to determine if, on the balance of probabilities there is evidence of a safeguarding risk. “On the balance of probabilities” means ‘more likely than not’.
As the SCMG considers the information gathered from the lens of identifying indicators of safeguarding risks, they may uncover other indicators of ongoing safeguarding risks, which would need to be assessed and managed.
For the purposes of this Code, the following definitions are used:
- Substantiated means that, on the balance of probabilities there is sufficient evidence to substantiate the existence of an ongoing safeguarding risk.
- Unsubstantiated means that, on the balance of probabilities there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the existence of an ongoing safeguarding risk.
Risk Assessment – please refer to Section 5.
Outcomes, closure and long-term risk – please refer to Section 6.