Dear all
Last week’s General Synod meeting reflected on what might be the best way forward for safeguarding in the Church of England. The debate revealed that there is a common commitment across, all three houses of Bishops, Clergy and Laity to get safeguarding practice and culture to be the best we can and to put victims and survivors at the heart of our shared ministry.
There was significant pressure on General Synod to adopt a model of full independence that would have seen both the management and scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church of England outsourced to separate companies. This was known as Option 4. There was considerable support for this approach from Professor Alexis Jay who conducted the national review into safeguarding, The Archbishop of York and Rt Rev Joanne Grenfell, the lead Bishop on Safeguarding.
A series of recent media reports around serious harm caused within the Church has left some people believing this can only be addressed by devolving responsibility to deal with safeguarding and becoming subject to direction and guidance from beyond Church structures. Ultimately the Synod drew back from committing to an entirely independent model and decided to take two very significant steps towards an independent model.
- Firstly that there will be an independent company who will be responsible for scrutinizing the Church of England safeguarding processes and culture. This is likely to have a statutory basis and so will require legislation to establish, but it will have ‘teeth’.
- Secondly most of the National Safeguarding Team functions (except policy development) will be transferred to an external employer.
Further work will be done to see whether there is merit in making Diocesan and Cathedral safeguarding teams fully independent. Many people made the point that the Church of England has made massive progress on safeguarding in the last ten years and that, whilst there is a distance to travel still, the advances should not be underestimated and should not be undermined.
The significant structural and procedural changes that this decision will create has rather been lost in a media headline that suggests there has been no change. This is not true. We are unaware of any other institution that will have as much independent scrutiny and management of safeguarding as the Church of England. It is also important to note that whilst there have been some victims’ groups that have condemned the decision, many victims and survivors were concerned at the possible changes model 4 would have brought, especially where it impacted local provision.
You should be aware that the decision taken at General Synod was not taken lightly and is in line with advice from many professionals working with the Church, not least many DSO’s from around the country and the INEQE Safeguarding Group who conduct safeguarding audits for all Dioceses. INEQE’s lead auditor Jim Gamble wrote that his organization has seen ‘compelling evidence’ of improvements, and that the ‘systems in place are demonstrably better’ than they were in the past. He added, ‘The Church of yesterday is not the Church of today.’
At a local Diocesan level, it means that safeguarding provision will be unaffected by the changes, in the short term at least. In the Diocese of Norwich our professional team of Sue Brice, Peter Sayer, Helen Norris and Brenna Wells will continue to support the parishes. The Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel remains independently chaired and contains representatives from partner organisations, such as the Local Authority and Police. We are committed to transparency in process and to excellence in delivery.
At a parish level we are of course indebted to the dedicated group of Parish Safeguarding Officers, supported by clergy and laity who voluntarily give of themselves to make Church life as safe as it can possibly be. Because ultimately safeguarding is all our responsibility and if we are to regain credibility it will not in the end be delivered by changes in structure, but transformation in our culture. Church needs to be safe for all and it is to that goal we strive.
Thank you for all you do in making Church safe.
Ian
(Bishop with responsibility for safeguarding in the Diocese of Norwich)
If you have safeguarding concerns contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team here: Safeguarding – Diocese of Norwich
The full General Synod Debate can be viewed on You Tube: General Synod February 2025 | Tuesday 11 Morning – YouTube
Synod approves safeguarding codes of practice | The Church of England