05/07/2022
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 has been amended to include a new section 22A which expands “Position of Trust” offences to include anyone who is coaching, teaching, training, supervising or instructing in a sport or a religion. This is a move that the Church has been supporting and was one of the recommendations in the interim report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, IICSA, in 2019, in its Anglican Church investigation.
Welcoming the news, the Bishop of Bristol, Viv Faull deputy lead safeguarding bishop and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on safeguarding in faith settings said: “It was good to see such support for this across parliament and to have this additional legislative framework for the protection of young people in our faith communities.”
For more information, please see the Government factsheet:
Positions of trust: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 factsheet - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)