Preface and Introduction

Dear Colleagues,

I have great pleasure in introducing our new Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework, published in August 2024. Thank you for taking the time to read the document, and I hope that it can underline the importance of proper safeguarding learning.

Effective safeguarding learning is essential to creating a safe and healthy Church, and this Framework seeks to make this learning as impactful as possible.

We are very grateful to the many colleagues from across the Church who have contributed their time, ideas and passion to the development of this Framework. This Framework could not have been produced without the collaboration of a great many individuals providing their creative energies to the project of creating a safer Church.

Thank you very much for your help and feedback during the development phase, and for your support now in delivering the new Framework.  Please remember that the Safeguarding Learning and Development Managers in the NST are always available to assist you with the implementation of this Framework, as we continue our journey together to become a safer Church.

With my thanks for all you are doing and my prayers and best wishes,

+Joanne

The Rt Revd Joanne Grenfell

Lead Bishop for Safeguarding

Introduction

Safeguarding is the action the Church can take to promote a safer culture.

This means the church will promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults, work to prevent abuse from occurring, seek to protect those that are at risk and respond well to those who have been abused.

The Church of England, in the policy document 'Promoting a Safer Church' set out the following principles for its safeguarding work:

  1. Promoting a safer environment and culture. This means that we respect all children, young people, and adults, and are committed to their care and nurture, the provision of respectful pastoral ministry and establishing safer, caring communities which provide an environment of love where there is informed vigilance as to the risk of harm.
  2. We shall select and train carefully all those with any responsibility related to children or vulnerable adults within the Church, in line with safer recruitment principles.
  3. We shall respond promptly to every concern raised which suggests that a child, young person, or vulnerable adult may have been harmed or be at risk of harm. We will cooperate with the statutory authorities in their safeguarding work.
  4. We shall endeavour to work with anyone who is suffering or who has suffered abuse or harm, developing with them and others appropriate support and care.
  5. We shall challenge any abuse in our Church communities, and care pastorally for those who are the subject of concerns or allegations of abuse.
  6. We shall endeavour to offer pastoral care and support, including managed oversight and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community who may present a risk to a child, young person, or vulnerable adult.

Church officers[1] are asked to undertake safeguarding learning activities because they have a role in their church community that connects directly to at least one of the six overarching commitments. For example, they might be involved in work with children, young people, or vulnerable adults. In which case they will be concerned with their wellbeing and flourishing, both as individuals and as part of the community. It could be that they are a member of their PCC, and are concerned with the safer recruitment, selection, and supervision of volunteers in their context. Or it could be the case that they are involved in pastoral care of adults, and need to gain a better awareness of issues of power and abuse as they present themselves in everyday situations.

Whatever a Church Officer’s role, developing an understanding and awareness of safeguarding issues will enable them to be more informed and effective in their context.

This Framework sets out details of the Church’s safeguarding learning pathways, and expectations of Church officers in respect of those pathways. The safeguarding learning pathways support participants in developing and maintaining the necessary values, beliefs, knowledge, and skills to safeguard and protect children, young people, and vulnerable adults[2] as outlined in the ‘Promoting a Safer Church’ House of Bishops policy statement (2017).

It replaces and updates the National Learning and Development Framework (2021) and all previous editions of this document published in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. The revisions to this edition are driven by a programme of change designed to strengthen the opportunities for learning and development in safeguarding.

The Framework sets out:

  • The vision, model, standards and requirements for safeguarding learning and development in the Church context.
  • Details of the range of learning and development pathways available and the requirements for their delivery.
  • Details of additional learning and development opportunities.

This practice guidance is for use across all Church bodies[3].

Once published in 2024, Church bodies must plan for full implementation of this framework from January 2025. The framework will not be revised again until 2027, ready for the next three-yearly cycle of safeguarding learning to commence in 2028.

What is the status and structure of this document?

Ensuring that Safeguarding Learning is up to date helps embed a culture where people feel safe, and abuse can be spotted and dealt with in an appropriate and timely fashion. People should be encouraged to engage with the required safeguarding learning for their roles. However, where this encouragement fails it is important to remind people that all current safeguarding policy and practice guidance has been approved by General Synod as Safeguarding Code[1] and must be followed by all relevant persons. The Safeguarding Code replaces the former requirement to have ‘due regard’ to safeguarding guidance.

This document is a safeguarding Code of Practice issued under s. 5A of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016, as amended by the Safeguarding (Code of Practice) Measure 2021, which came into effect on 1 March 2022.

Section 5A replaces the former rules under which safeguarding guidance has been issued. Section 5A differs in two important respects from the former rules. First, it replaces the former ‘duty to have due regard’ with a ‘duty to comply’ with the requirements of the Code. Secondly, it extends the list of ‘relevant persons’ to whom this Code applies.

This Code applies to people who have safeguarding responsibilities within the Church, including all authorised clergy, bishops, archdeacons, licensed readers and lay workers, churchwardens, members of parochial church councils and cathedral chapters. The full list of relevant people is set out below. In practice, safeguarding policy uses the terms Church bodies and Church officers to cover relevant people.

This Code contains both requirements, which are mandatory, and good practice advice, which is advisory. The good practice advice explains, for example, how to deliver some of the requirements, sets out some good practice examples, and explains why some requirements are necessary. In other words, it explains “why and how” to deliver the requirements. Whilst the case examples and other associated advice should be considered as best practice which should be followed, the duty to comply does not apply to them.

Failure by a member of the clergy to comply with a requirement is an act or omission which may constitute misconduct under the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 (‘CDM’). Failure by a Reader or lay worker to comply with a requirement would be grounds for the revocation of that Reader’s or lay worker’s licence by the bishop, and failure by a churchwarden, members of parochial church council or cathedral chapter could result in an investigation being conducted by the Charity Commission and the person being disqualified as a charity trustee. If a volunteer is in a role that requires them to undertake safeguarding learning, they should not be allowed continue in that role if they refuse to complete the required learning. 

Who is a relevant person?

Each of the following is a relevant person:

  1. a clerk in Holy Orders who is authorised to officiate in accordance with the Canons.
  2. an archbishop.
  3. a diocesan, suffragan or assistant bishop.
  4. an archdeacon.
  5. a person who is licensed to exercise the office of reader or serve as a lay worker.
  6. a churchwarden.
  7. members of a parochial church council.
  8. members of the Chapter of a cathedral.
  9. the Diocesan Board of Education for a diocese.
  10. the Diocesan Board of Finance for a diocese.
  11. any other diocesan body as defined by section 19(1) of the Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure 2007.
  12. a body established to carry out a mission initiative as defined by section 80(1) of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011.
  13. a person who is an officer or member of staff of the Archbishops’ Council, or who provides services to the Archbishops’ Council, and whose work to any extent relates to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
  14. a person who works (on any basis) in a diocese or parish, or at a cathedral or for the purposes of a mission initiative, and whose work to any extent relates to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Some of the required attendees listed in this code are not themselves "relevant persons”, for example, PCC members, diocesan, cathedral and parish staff, ordinands, bellringers.  Where that is the case, the relevant 'requirement' under section 5A of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 is imposed on the person or body who authorises or permits the required attendee to undertake duties or activities, or the body to which the required attendee belongs.  For example, where the required attendee is a PCC member, the requirement is imposed on the PCC and is a requirement for the PCC to take all reasonable steps to ensure that its members undertake the relevant training. Where the required attendee is a volunteer (such as a bellringer) or a member of staff, the requirement is imposed on the body - e.g. the Diocesan Board of Finance, the cathedral Chapter or the PCC - which appoints or employs that person. Where the required attendee is an ordinand or reader in training, the requirement is imposed on the bishop who is sponsoring that person for training.

For ordinands, completion of safeguarding training is required at various stages throughout the discernment process[1]. For example, before a stage 1 selection panel a prospective ordinand must evidence completion of the Basic Awareness and Foundation pathways; they cannot proceed to panel without evidencing this. This training is then valid for the next three years, during which time they will complete the Leadership and the Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse pathways; these must be completed prior to an ordinand going out on placement. The Theological Educational Institution within which they complete their training must report on their progress to the sponsoring bishop, including in that final report confirmation that the ordinand has completed all required safeguarding training. The bishop’s responsibility is to receive the assurance of the TEI that adequate safeguarding training has been done before the candidate is recommended, at the end of their final year, for ordination.