Church of England religious communities safeguarding
IICSA · The Anglican Church Case Studies Investigation Report · Issued 9 May 2019 · Addressed to: Church of England
Government responseNo response yet
DeliveryNo statement from Church of England found
Recommendation, 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 · 9 May 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
This recommendation asks the Church of England to introduce mandatory safeguarding guidance for affiliated religious communities. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, summarising a June 2019 response from the Church on a web page archived in August 2023, reported that the General Synod would consider Amending Canon No. 40 in July 2020 (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023). It noted that this amendment would add canon provisions for religious communities and that the National Safeguarding Team planned to revise practice guidance alongside new regulations (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023). The summary highlighted plans to strengthen the safeguarding responsibilities of episcopal visitors, but did not mention auditing compliance or prioritising the needs of victims (The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Aug 2023).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
Government response
●No formal government response recorded
The Index has not yet recorded a verbatim government response to this recommendation.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Church of England has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.
What other bodies have found
●Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse · 2 Aug 2023
On 27 June 2019, the Church of England stated that the July 2020 group sessions of the General Synod will be asked to give final approval to Amending Canon No.40. The amendment inserts new provisions into the Canons of the Church of England relating to religious communities and there will be a published list of communities. It is envisaged that the National Safeguarding Team will revise the current ‘Safeguarding in Religious Communities’ practice guidance alongside the drafting of Regulations arising from the approval of Amending Canon No. 40. The revision is likely to include strengthening the safeguarding responsibilities of the episcopal visitor. It is envisaged that the Regulations and guidance will be approved in July 2020.
From: Recommendations - Anglican Church Case Studies: Chichester/Peter Ball investigation report
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