46 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Church independent external safeguarding audits

Recommendation

The Church in Wales should introduce independent external auditing of its safeguarding policies and procedures, as well as the effectiveness of safeguarding practice in dioceses, cathedrals and other Church organisations. Audits should be conducted regularly and reports should be published. The Church of England should continue independent external auditing of its safeguarding policies and procedures, as well as the effectiveness of safeguarding practice in dioceses, cathedrals and other Church organisations. Audits should continue to be conducted regularly and reports should continue to be published.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
According to a joint response from Church of England bodies in March 2021, it reaffirmed commitment to five-yearly independent audits and stated that a new quality assurance framework and national safeguarding standards were under development, with draft standards undergoing consultation. According to the Church in Wales in April 2021, it would introduce independent external auditing of its safeguarding policies and practices, with reports to be published regularly. No further published evidence has been identified since May 2023.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 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 29 March 2021, a joint response from the National Safeguarding Steering Group, the House of Bishops and the Archbishops' Council stated that it remained committed to their programme of five-yearly independent audits. The joint response also stated that it would introduce a new quality assurance framework and develop national safeguarding standards against which the Church's safeguarding practice can be measured. The draft standards were developed and will undergo further consultation. On 7 April 2021, the Church in Wales stated that it plans to undertake an audit of a random sample of safeguarding casework and agreed to a programme of internal and external peer review. The Church in Wales intends to publish the findings from these external audits and that they become a regular part of quality assurance.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry IICSA
Report The Anglican Church Investigation Report 06 Oct 2020
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Church of England Primary
Themes & Tags
Care safeguarding systems Anglican Church Audit Safeguarding
Recommendation age 5.5 yrs
Last formal update 1037 days ago