Amend Canon C30 on safeguarding due regard
IICSA · The Anglican Church Case Studies Investigation Report · Issued 9 May 2019 · Addressed to: Church of England
Government responseChurch of England: Accepted (Oct 2021)
DeliveryNo statement from Church of England found
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, E
The Church of England should amend the current canon requiring clerics to comply with the Bishop's Guidance on Safeguarding. The use of the words 'due regard' in Canon C30 is an acceptable term of art, but lacks sufficient clarity. Very few individuals who gave evidence to the Inquiry said they understood what this meant, including the Archbishop of Canterbury himself.
IICSA, The Anglican Church Case Studies Investigation Report · 9 May 2019 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry asked the Church of England to amend its canon on safeguarding due regard. In legislation enacted in October 2021, the Church of England repealed provisions imposing a "duty to have due regard to House of Bishops’ guidance" under several church measures (Church of England response, Oct 2021). It substituted a requirement to comply with a safeguarding code of practice, though Canon C30 itself is not mentioned in the text (Church of England response, Oct 2021). The enactment provided that these repeals would come into force on days jointly appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York (Church of England response, Oct 2021). The record holds nothing dated later than the response of October 2021 (Church of England response, Oct 2021).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
Government response
●Church of England · Accepted · 20 Oct 2021
2 Amendments and repeals (1) Section 5(1) to (2A) of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops’ guidance) is repealed. (2) In section 6(3) of that Measure (power to amend definition of “vulnerable adult”), after ““vulnerable adult”” insert “and, in consequence of an amendment to that definition, amend any other provision of this Measure”. (3) In Section A of Part 9 of the Church Representation Rules (model rules: annual parochial church meeting), in Rule M5 (annual report), in paragraph (3), for the words from “the duty under section 5” to the end substitute “the requirements imposed by the code under section 5A of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016”. (4) In section 8(1) of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 (acts or omissions constituting misconduct), for paragraph (aa) substitute— “ (aa) failing to comply with a requirement imposed by the code under section 5A of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016; ” . (5) Section 35 of the Cathedrals Measure 2021 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops’ safeguarding guidance) is repealed. (6) Section 13 of the Diocesan Boards of Education Measure 2021 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops’ safeguarding guidance) is repealed. 3 Short title, commencement and extent (1) This Measure may be cited as the Safeguarding (Code of Practice) Measure 2021. (2) This section comes into force on the day on which this Measure is passed. (3) Sections 1 and 2 come into force on such day as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York may by order jointly appoint; and different days may be appointed for different purposes.
Response document: Safeguarding (Code of Practice) Measure 2021
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Church of England has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.
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