Church of England religious communities safeguarding
IICSA · The Anglican Church Case Studies Investigation Report · Issued 21 May 2019 · Addressed to: Church of England
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, E
The Church of England should introduce appropriate guidance which deals with safeguarding within the context of a religious community affiliated to the Church. It must ensure that these organisations meet adequate requirements for safeguarding and child protection. The needs of victims should be prioritised when designing safeguarding policies and practices. The regulation and management of religious communities should include a mandatory requirement both to have and to follow safeguarding guidance. The requirement to comply with this safeguarding guidance should be the same as would be expected in any other Church institution. There needs to be clarity in respect of how safeguarding should be managed in these communities, along with appropriate auditing of compliance.
IICSA, The Anglican Church Case Studies Investigation Report · 21 May 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- In May 2023, the government noted that the Church of England was progressing this recommendation through canonical changes (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
- No published confirmation that Canon 40 has been amended to bring all affiliated religious communities within the Church's safeguarding framework has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 27 June 2019, the National Safeguarding Steering Group stated that the General Synod would be asked to give final approval to amending Canon 40. The National Safeguarding Steering Group stated that the amendment inserts new provisions into the Canons of the Church of England relating to religious communities and will impose conditions regarding the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.
UK Government · 22 May 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.