The Church of England is seeking feedback on the design of a proposed safeguarding charity, which will scrutinise the work of church bodies.
A consultation on the structure and independence of a new safeguarding “authority” was recently launched by the church’s safeguarding structures reform programme.
Its proposal follows a General Synod (the church’s national assembly) vote in February and forms part of plans to “rebuild trust and deliver professional, independent safeguarding across the church”.
The church said the authority will be a legal entity separate from the Archbishops’ Council and all other church bodies and governed by a majority-independent board.
It should act “as a centre of excellence for church safeguarding, providing high-quality safeguarding services to the church, and scrutinising the safeguarding work of church bodies to provide assurance of standards,” the church said in a document.
“We want the authority to be a registered charity – though this will require approval from the Charity Commission.”
Aim to address longstanding concerns
The document says the consultation, which closes on 17 May, follows a period of “intense reflection within the church” in the light of external reviews into safeguarding practice.
It says the reviews “have highlighted a critical need for a safeguarding system that’s coherent, credible, and operationally independent of church hierarchy”.
“The creation of a new national safeguarding organisation aims to address longstanding concerns regarding complexity, inconsistency, and real or perceived institutional pressure in professional safeguarding decisions.”
The work of the authority, subject to formal governance approval, will carry out safeguarding-related functions including casework, policy, advisory and scrutiny, underpinned by supporting functions.
“Together, these functions will promote high standards in safeguarding, and foster consistency in safeguarding services across the Church of England,” the document says.
At the moment, many of the authority’s functions are performed by the Archbishops’ Council’s national safeguarding team.
The Church of England is proposing to transfer relevant functions to the new authority, ensuring that areas of good practice are retained.
The authority’s work will initially be funded by the Archbishops’ Council or Church of England National Services and then the Church Commissioners.
Moving away from ‘anxiety and uncertainty’
The Church of England wants the authority to have the powers it needs to shape the wider safeguarding system across the church.
“Over time, we want to build a culture where everyone’s safeguarding responsibilities are clear and where leaders and organisations are truly accountable for their safeguarding performance,” the document says.
“We want good safeguarding practice to be embedded in the culture of the Church of England, and to move away from a climate of anxiety and uncertainty to one of confidence and clarity.”
The document adds that the work to standardise how complaints about safeguarding practice are handled across the church is “ongoing and progressing well”.
The safeguarding structure reform programme team plans to pilot a new complaints process with volunteer organisations later this year, in an attempt to ensure that it meets expectations for users.
On the consultation, the document says a report summarising its feedback and responses will be submitted to the General Synod in July.
A final model for the authority’s structure and independence will then be produced.
Following agreement by the safeguarding structures reform programme board, the Archbishops’ Council will receive the model for its consideration and approval.
