Church independent external safeguarding audits
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.
- No published independent external audit of the Church in Wales's safeguarding policies, procedures and practice has been identified to March 2026.
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedOn 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.