29 Response Accepted

Church of England religious communities safeguarding

Recommendation

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.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
The Church of England's National Safeguarding Steering Group stated on 27 June 2019 that the General Synod would be asked to give final approval to amending Canon 40 to include new provisions for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults within religious communities. The government's progress tracker, updated in May 2023, indicates this recommendation as completed. However, no specific legislation or guidance document confirming the amendment of Canon 40 has been identified in the provided official sources since the 2019 statement of intent.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 24 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
E
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
22 May 2023

On 27 June 2019, the National Safeguarding Steering Group stated that the General Synod would be asked to give final approval to amending Canon 40. The National Safeguarding Steering Group stated that the amendment inserts new provisions into the Canons of the Church of England relating to religious communities and will impose conditions regarding the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry IICSA
Report The Anglican Church Case Studies Investigation Report 21 May 2019
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Church of England Primary
Themes & Tags
Care safeguarding systems Anglican Church Religious Communities Safeguarding
Recommendation age 6.8 yrs
Last formal update 1038 days ago