Church of England Future Safeguarding Programme seeks views

By David Greenwood

Published January 10, 2024In: Child Abuse - Church

The Future Church Safeguarding Programme, an independent body set up to recommend a model for fully independent safeguarding within the Church of England, will visit six different dioceses in the coming months to seek the views of people with recent experience of church safeguarding.

The Programme team, led by Chair Professor Alexis Jay OBE, has visited Exeter, Newcastle, Coventry, London, Portsmouth and Carlisle in order to better understand what needs to be improved or what is already working well in church safeguarding processes, and to hear people’s opinions about how to achieve a safeguarding body that is independent, fair and impartial. Professor Jay, whose appointment was announced in July 2023, previously chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Contributions are welcome from anyone with experience of church safeguarding processes within the last five years, including:

victims and survivors of abuse, or their parents/carers
members of the clergy
church staff and volunteers
members of congregations
members of the public

People who are interested in sharing their views in person during a visit can register their interest on the website. Views can also be shared on an online survey launched today on the Programme’s website, https://futureofchurchsafeguarding.org.uk/

The Future Church Safeguarding Programme was set up to recommend how to make safeguarding within the Church of England fully independent. Professor Jay was appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York with terms of reference to independently:

provide options and recommendations for how a new independent safeguarding and scrutiny body might be formed and how it should operate
make any recommendations for how further independence of safeguarding might be achieved
make any other recommendations that are necessary or appropriate

Professor Jay expected to complete her report for the Archbishops of Canterbury and of York by the end of December 2023 and will publish her report herself to ensure full transparency.

Professor Jay said:

“The need to introduce a genuinely independent safeguarding model for the Church of England as soon as possible cannot be overstated. The views of those with recent experience of abuse, people who work or volunteer within the church, and others who have had cause to engage with the existing processes must inform this process if it is to be truly independent, fair, impartial and effective.

"I hope that the diocesan visits and the online survey will help to build a full picture of people’s experiences of current safeguarding arrangements and of what will be needed in a future model. I look forward to hearing these views and using this process to help shape the recommendations I will make to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.”

About Professor Alexis Jay OBE

In 2015, Professor Jay joined the Panel of the IICSA, before being appointed as Chair of the Inquiry by the Home Secretary in August 2016. She worked for over 30 years in local government, working with vulnerable families in deprived communities. In 2014, Professor Jay led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, an investigation into child sexual abuse in Rotherham in South Yorkshire.

About John O’Brien CBE

John O’Brien was appointed Secretary to IICSA in April 2015, reporting to the Chair to assist the Inquiry to fulfil the terms of reference. John joined the civil service in 2002 as Director of the Criminal Records Bureau. In 2006 he moved to the Home Office, where as Director of Safeguarding he was responsible for policy on public order, public risk and safeguarding and public protection, including responsibility for sponsorship of the Disclosure and Barring Service and the Security Industry Authority. He received a CBE for services to safeguarding in 2023.