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 (7)
Redraft canonical crimes as crimes against the child
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales should request that the Holy See redraft the canonical crimes relating to child sexual abuse as crimes against the child.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported in October 2022 that the Catholic Council for the Inquiry confirmed in September 2021 that revised canonical penal legislation would come into force on 8 December 2021 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The inquiry recorded in October 2022 that the council accepted the recommendation and asked the Holy See to redraft canonical crimes, framing child sexual abuse as an offence against human dignity rather than clerical obligations (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Catholic complaints policy with escalation process
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Conference of Religious should publish a national policy for complaints about the way in which a safeguarding case is handled. The policy should deal with communication with complainants during the complaints process and set out an escalation process for all complainants to have their complaint assessed by an independent adjudicator, if they are unhappy with how their complaint has been handled.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported in October 2022 that the Catholic Council for the Inquiry stated in April 2021 that a framework and template for complaints, including clear communication and an escalation process, was ratified by the Bishops in November 2020 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It also reported in October 2022 that by November 2021, the CSSA website had launched containing the National Safeguarding Standards, the National Safeguarding policy, and practice guidance documents (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Catholic lead clergy for safeguarding
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Conference of Religious in England and Wales should each nominate a lead member of the clergy for safeguarding to provide leadership and oversight on safeguarding matters to their respective Conferences and the wider Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The Inquiry recommended that Catholic bishops and religious conferences nominate lead clergy for safeguarding. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, in an account published in October 2022 summarising an April 2021 response from the Catholic Council for the Inquiry, reported that the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales approved a role description in March 2021 and appointed Bishop Paul Mason for a term of three years (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It also recorded that the Conference of Religious approved a safeguarding role description and appointed Father David Smolira as its first lead (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). Both positions were described as working collaboratively to model a "One Church" strategy for safeguarding in England and Wales (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Mandatory Catholic safeguarding training
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales should ensure that safeguarding training is mandatory for all staff and volunteers in roles where they work with children or victims and survivors of abuse. It should also be a requirement that regular refresher training is completed. The training should consider the impact of child sexual abuse, including the impact of trauma and the perspective of victims and survivors, and should be developed in conjunction with the Survivor Advisory Panel.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported in October 2022 that the Catholic Council for the Inquiry stated in April 2021 that baseline safeguarding training was already mandatory for clergy and parish safeguarding representatives, supplemented by biennial refresher training (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It also recorded in October 2022 that the reach of mandatory training was being extended to volunteers under a new standards-based approach, with the Survivors' Reference Panel acting as a key player in this work (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Catholic non-compliance framework
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Conference of Religious should publish a clear framework for dealing with cases of non-compliance with safeguarding policies and procedures. That framework should identify who is responsible for dealing with issues of non-compliance at all levels of the Church, and include the measures or sanctions for non-compliance.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recorded in October 2022 that the Catholic Council for the Inquiry stated in September 2021 that all Catholic dioceses and religious orders had been invited to enter contractual arrangements with the new Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency by the end of that year (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It reported in October 2022 that this agency would provide an audit function with powers of sanction to handle non-compliance, with recruitment for an audit team underway as of late 2021 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It added in October 2022 that work to redraft the General Decree for Safeguarding was continuing as of September 2021 following requests for clarification from the Holy See (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Independent validation of Catholic audit programme
The Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service should have the effectiveness of its audit programme regularly validated by an independent organisation which is external to the Church. These independent reports should be published.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported, in an update archived in October 2022, that the Catholic Council for the Inquiry stated in September 2021 that the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency Board remained committed to independent verification of its audit processes (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It recorded that the agency planned to undertake a formal process to appoint a suitable external body in spring 2022 and publish review outcomes on its website, following the November 2021 launch of national safeguarding standards (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).
Review Catholic safeguarding policies manual
The Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service should review its policies and procedures manual and the documents within it to ensure that they are consistent, easier to follow and more accessible.
The record holds no direct response from the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported that in November 2021 the CSSA website had launched containing the National Safeguarding Standards, the National Safeguarding policy, and practice guidance documents (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022). It recorded that the Catholic Council for the Inquiry had stated in September 2021 that national safeguarding policies and procedures were live documents that remained "subject to review and refinement", following revisions published in early 2020 to reduce complexity (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Oct 2022).