55 Response Accepted

Religious organisation child protection policies

Recommendation

All religious organisations should have a child protection policy and supporting procedures, which should include advice and guidance on responding to disclosures of abuse and the needs of victims and survivors. The policy and procedures should be updated regularly, with professional child protection advice, and all organisations should have regular compulsory training for those in leadership positions and those who work with children and young people.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- Between January and March 2022, the Methodist Church, Triratna Buddhist Order and Community, and the United Reformed Church stated that they had updated their child protection policies and supporting procedures (Government Response, Various Religious Organisations, January-March 2022).
- In May 2023, the government confirmed that multiple religious organisations had updated their policies as recommended (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by claude-opus-4-6 on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
E
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
22 May 2023

Between January and March 2022, Methodist Church, Triratna Buddhist Order and Community and United Reformed Church stated that they had updated their safeguarding policies and practices, and The Baptist Union for Great Britain stated that it had approved its next three-year safeguarding plan. Jehovah's Witnesses informed the Inquiry that it had updated its child protection policy. Between September 2021 and June 2022, Inter Faith Network, Muslim Council of Britain and Quakers in Britain committed to taking steps to protect children in religious settings. United Synagogue informed the Inquiry that it was monitoring its policies.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry IICSA
Report Child Protection in Religious Organisations and Settings Investigation Report 02 Sep 2021
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Religious Organisations Primary
Themes & Tags
Mandatory safeguarding training Staff training and development Religious Organisations Child Protection Training
Recommendation age 4.6 yrs
Last formal update 1054 days ago