Two Church of England dioceses have been handed official warnings over their failures to handle safeguarding allegations in line with the Charity Commission’s guidance.
Concerns were raised about the charities overseeing the dioceses of Liverpool and Chelmsford in January last year after allegations were reported about the behaviour of John Perumbalath, the then bishop of Liverpool, who resigned that month.
Perumbalath, who was also previously the bishop of Bradwell in Chelmsford, denied the allegations made against him.
“Whilst I don’t believe I have done anything wrong, I have taken seriously the lessons learnt through this process addressing how my actions can be perceived by others,” he said in January last year.
The commission opened compliance cases into the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance and the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance and found that in both charities there was a failure to properly handle safeguarding allegations.
It also found that the charities failed to maintain appropriate oversight of safeguarding by the trustees, in breach of the commission’s safeguarding guidance.
At both charities, trustees who knew of the allegations failed to take action that would have allowed their boards to fully consider any risks and make a decision on the appropriate action to take, the commission found.
The regulator found insufficient processes and procedures in place at either charity to ensure adequate oversight of safeguarding and protection of those who come into contact with them.
This meant trustees were not able to consider whether the matters should be reported to the commission as serious incidents when the allegations were first made in 2023, the regulator said.
The commission has concluded that these failings amount to mismanagement in the administration of the two charities.
‘Trustees must be able to challenge powerful individuals’
The official warnings set out that both charities must ensure they have adequate understanding of the commission’s safeguarding guidance.
The trustees must ensure that robust policies and procedures for reporting appropriate safeguarding information to the wider trustee boards are in place and followed.
Further to this, the charities must ensure that serious incidents are reported promptly to the commission, with processes to support this put in place.
Both charities have been instructed to update the regulator on their progress with actions set out in the official warnings.
David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “In the two diocesan charities, lack of appropriate policies and procedures led to a failure to ensure that serious allegations against a senior figure were properly considered by the relevant trustee bodies.
“We will further engage with both charities as they continue to take steps to address our concerns.
“More widely, trustees must be able to effectively challenge the behaviour of powerful individuals, including where that power derives from spiritual leadership.
“This underlines the need for adequate reporting mechanisms back to all trustees when safeguarding responsibilities are delegated to smaller groups or individuals, so that trustee boards can fulfil their collective duty to help keep people safe.”
Chelmsford diocese ‘disappointed’ by official warning
The bishop of Chelmsford and the Chelmsford diocesan safeguarding officer said in a statement that they “respectfully disagree with some of the Charity Commission’s conclusions and are disappointed by the decision to issue an official warning, which we believe was disproportionate”.
“However, we are committed to working with the regulator to improve our procedures and the majority of the five actions identified in the official warning have already been taken, with the rest under way,” they said.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance said in a statement: “We accept the commission’s findings and apologise for the shortcomings identified.
“We have already made changes to strengthen reporting and governance processes, and we commit to ongoing learning, accountability and continuous improvement.
“The Diocese of Liverpool is dedicated to ensuring that the church is a safe and inclusive environment where concerns can be raised in a culture of accountability, transparency and compassion.”
