Professor Alexis Jay's Church of England Safeguarding Report

By David Greenwood

Published February 21, 2024In: Child Abuse - Church

We’ve known for a long time the Church of England has been using its power, privilege, and influence to avoid scrutiny on safeguarding issues.

The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (2015 to 2022), uncovered a litany of coverups and rings of offenders in various parishes around the country. Despite the huge embarrassment to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, and other bishops and clergy, the church still refuses to hand over conduct of safeguarding to an independent body.

Alexis Jay was commissioned in August 2023, to develop proposals for a fully independent structure to provide scrutiny of safeguarding in the Church of England.

On Tuesday 20 February Professor Alexis Jay published the Future of Church Safeguarding report, outlining next steps for how the church responds. Her report recommends two new charities be set up to deliver and review safeguarding operations and should be entirely separate from the church.

I know she and her team consulted widely around the country. I personally spoke with Alexis Jay in Newcastle to give her some of the examples of current poor practice I have discovered. (The report reveals that she and her team interviewed 163 people, including 41 victims and survivors of abuse or their advocates, and 33 members of the clergy. A total of 407 people filled out an online survey, including more than 130 church volunteers; 32 safeguarding professionals, including former and current staff at both the national and diocesan level, were also interviewed.)

The proposal she has made in her report are utterly sensible, and, if implemented, would be a huge step forward in the protection of children from paedophiles who seek them out undercover of the church.

I urge the House of Bishops to pass the necessary legislation without delay.

In almost every case I handle of abuse in the Church of England there have been safeguarding failings and attempts to cover up abuse. The people who pick up the phone to me are the strongest ones. Common sense tells me there are still thousands of silent victims out there. I hope Alexis Jay’s report will give them the impetus to talk to a lawyer about what happened. The conversation will be confidential and options can be talked through.