Safeguarding programme

Making the Church of England a safer place.

What is it?
Ongoing work to improve safeguarding identified several key workstreams. Some formed part of the National Safeguarding Team’s (NST) ‘business as usual’ work, such as policy, training and casework others were new projects.  The Programme will focus specifically on delivering these projects to support the wider work of continuous improvement and prevention following the Church’s Safeguarding Principles

A number of these individual projects were already in progress when the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its final report into the Anglican church in October 2020. The recommendations made by IICSA, with further focus from its final 2022 report into all workstreams,  reflected these identified priorities and presented an opportunity to draw together these projects under one cohesive programme.

The expected positive outcomes of the Programme will include, but are not limited to:

  • Reduced risk of recurring abuse within the church
  • Simplified access to support for victims and survivors of abuse
  • Reassurance to survivors and victims, that the Church takes its safeguarding responsibilities seriously and is committed to continuous improvement
  • Improved safeguarding culture and practice giving reassurance to all who come into contact with the Church
  • Consistent high standard of safeguarding practice
  • Decision making transparency
  • Information sharing transparency.

There current projects in this Programme are listed below.

IICSA 1&8 Regional Model
The project is implementing Recommendations 1 & 8 of the October 2020 IICSA report on the Anglican Church: the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor role becoming an Officer role; the supervision and quality assurance of the DSO’s work by the National Safeguarding Team; and the continuation of independent external audits.  Where appropriate, we are applying the same principles to Cathedral Safeguarding Advisor roles.  In addition, we are trialling regional and central group working models, and developing a Safeguarding Quality Assurance Framework for the Church.

Information Sharing
The Church has put in place information sharing protocols to provide proactive and transparent information sharing between itself and the Church in Wales. With the support of the National Police Chief’s Council it has developed a national data sharing agreement to provide effective information sharing channels across church bodies and police authorities.   In supporting high standards of safeguarding practice, and reducing the risk of recurring abuse with the church, it is currently working upon good information sharing practice and trusted relationships for its church bodies with local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, providing collaborative working and join-up with safeguarding statutory partners.   [email protected]

Redress Scheme
The Church is currently in the process of developing national proposals for redress which aim to include financial compensation, psychiatric, therapeutic, spiritual and emotional support, acknowledgment of wrongdoing on the part of the Church, apology and support for rebuilding lives.  All of these aspects are currently being considered by teams and survivors within the National Church Institutions’ (NST) Safeguarding Programme.

National Safeguarding Casework Management System (NSCMS)
The Archbishops’ Council has committed to creating a NSCMS, to be adopted by the National Safeguarding Team (NST), dioceses and cathedrals. The decision to introduce the NSCMS follows recommendations from a number of independent case reviews, findings identified in the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) independent safeguarding audits of dioceses and the Past Cases Review 2.

Past Cases Review 2 was run in all Church of England dioceses between 2019 - 2022.

Past Cases Review 1 (PCR1) was commissioned because of several Church of England clergy and church officers being charged with sexual offences against children. PCR1 was conducted between 2007 and 2009. In May 2016 concerns were raised regarding the judgements presented from PCR1. An Independent Scrutiny Team concluded that whilst the review was well motivated and thoughtfully planned, limitations existed in relation to its execution. As a result, Past Cases Review 2 (PCR2) was commissioned by the Archbishops’ Council in 2019 as part of the overall  commitment to improving the way in which the Church responds to allegations and concerns. The National Report was published in October 2022.

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, IICSA
The work of IICSA has concluded in October 2022, and final report has further recommendations that relate to the work of the Church of England. These include:

  • Mandatory reporting – a working group on the Seal of Confessional has been commissioned by the House of Bishops
  • The disclosure and barring regime, and how it applies to volunteers and to religious organisations
  • Child protection in religious institutions more generally.

The National Safeguarding Team are reviewing the recommendations and will be responding how these will be addressed in due course.

How is the Programme being run?
The Programme will be overseen by a Programme Board that will ensure that the Programme’s objectives are in line with those of the organisation as a whole. The group will gather support, communicate goals and work to overcome resistance where appropriate.

It is chaired by the Lead Safeguarding Bishop and made up of members of the Archbishops’ Council, Clergy, Diocesan and Cathedral representation, Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB), Project Review Board, Safeguarding Specialists and Survivor Representation (via the ISB).

The Board reports directly into Archbishops’ Council and National Safeguarding Steering Group.