Catholic non-compliance framework
IICSA · The Roman Catholic Church Investigation Report · Issued 10 November 2020 · Addressed to: Catholic Bishops Conference
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, E
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Conference of Religious should publish a clear framework for dealing with cases of non-compliance with safeguarding policies and procedures. That framework should identify who is responsible for dealing with issues of non-compliance at all levels of the Church, and include the measures or sanctions for non-compliance.
IICSA, The Roman Catholic Church Investigation Report · 10 Nov 2020 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- In May 2023, the government noted that this recommendation was being progressed (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
- No published assessment of whether a clear sanctions framework for non-compliance is in place across all Catholic dioceses and religious orders has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●UK Government
On 30 September 2021, the Catholic Council for the Inquiry stated that the trustee bodies of all Catholic dioceses and religious orders were invited to subscribe to the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency. The Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency was established as a professional standards agency for the Catholic Church, and includes a dedicated audit function with necessary powers of sanction, which would provide a framework for dealing with cases of non-compliance with the national safeguarding standards and the related national safeguarding policies and procedures.
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.