Reports & recommendations
107 recommendations from 16 reports, each with the government response on the record. Filter by government response, report, nation or delivery status.
Reports (16)
Recommendations (5)
Church of England religious communities safeguarding
The Church of England should introduce appropriate guidance which deals with safeguarding within the context of a religious community affiliated to the Church. It must ensure that these organisations meet adequate requirements for safeguarding and child protection. The needs of victims should be prioritised when designing safeguarding policies and practices. The regulation and management of religious communities should include a mandatory requirement both to have and to follow safeguarding guidance. The requirement to comply with this safeguarding guidance should be the same as would be expected in any other Church institution. There needs to be clarity in respect of how safeguarding should be managed in these communities, along with appropriate auditing of compliance.
This recommendation asks the Church of England to introduce mandatory safeguarding guidance for affiliated religious communities. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a June 2019 response from the Church on a web page archived in August 2023, reported that the General Synod would consider Amending Canon No. 40 in July 2020 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023). It noted that this amendment would add canon provisions for religious communities and that the National Safeguarding Team planned to revise practice guidance alongside new regulations (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023). The summary highlighted plans to strengthen the safeguarding responsibilities of episcopal visitors, but did not mention auditing compliance or prioritising the needs of victims (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023).
Amend Canon C30 on safeguarding due regard
The Church of England should amend the current canon requiring clerics to comply with the Bishop's Guidance on Safeguarding. The use of the words 'due regard' in Canon C30 is an acceptable term of art, but lacks sufficient clarity. Very few individuals who gave evidence to the Inquiry said they understood what this meant, including the Archbishop of Canterbury himself.
The Inquiry asked the Church of England to amend its canon on safeguarding due regard. In legislation enacted in October 2021, the Church of England repealed provisions imposing a "duty to have due regard to House of Bishops’ guidance" under several church measures (Church of England response, Oct 2021). It substituted a requirement to comply with a safeguarding code of practice, though Canon C30 itself is not mentioned in the text (Church of England response, Oct 2021). The enactment provided that these repeals would come into force on days jointly appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York (Church of England response, Oct 2021). The record holds nothing dated later than the response of October 2021 (Church of England response, Oct 2021).
DBS and training compliance for Church officers
Individuals engaged in regulated activity who have failed to undergo a DBS check or complete compulsory training should not be permitted to hold voluntary offices within the Church. Failure by ordained clergy to comply with either requirement should result in disciplinary proceedings.
The recommendation calls for barring untrained or unvetted volunteers and disciplining noncompliant clergy. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a June 2019 response from the Church of England on a web page archived in August 2023, reported that its National Safeguarding Team would review guidance by December 2019 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023). In that August 2023 account, it noted that the review of the Parish Safeguarding Handbook was intended to ensure that the position was reflected (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023).
Send internal safeguarding reviews to national body
If religious organisations have undertaken internal reviews or enquiries into individual safeguarding incidents, their findings should be sent to the national review body (set up under the Children and Social Work Act 2017).
Religious organisations should send internal safeguarding review findings to the national review body. In an update archived in August 2023, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported that the Church of England stated in July 2022 that all independent learning lessons case reviews commissioned by the Archbishops' Council had been shared with the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023). It also recorded in August 2023 that the church's National Director of Safeguarding would meet with the panel every six months, while updated review arrangements were due to be detailed in a forthcoming House of Bishops policy scheduled for consultation in September 2022 and approval in December 2022 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023).
Include clergy in position of trust definition
The government should amend Section 21 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 so as to include clergy within the definition of a position of trust. This would criminalise under s16-s20 sexual activity between clergy and a person aged 16-18, over whom they exercise pastoral authority, involving the abuse of a position of trust.
The Inquiry recommended amending sexual offences legislation to include clergy within positions of trust. In a letter of October 2019, published by the Ministry of Justice in November 2019, Chris Philp MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, stated that existing criminal law provided protections against sexual abuse and that a cross-government review of offences had been conducted (Chris Philp MP response, Oct 2019). The Minister explained that the government was considering the review's findings and would announce next steps in due course (Chris Philp MP, Nov 2019). Amending Section 21 to include clergy was not mentioned in the letter (Chris Philp MP response, Oct 2019; Chris Philp MP, Nov 2019).