An independent body set up to recommend a model of safeguarding for the Church of England will visit Carlisle.
The body wants to hear the experiences people have had with the church and the Diocese of Carlisle is one of six being visited by chair Professor Alexis Jay OBE, who previously chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, and her team.
They want to better understand what needs to improve or what is already working well in church safeguarding processes, and people’s opinions about how to achieve a safeguarding body that is independent, fair and impartial.
Contributions are welcome from anyone with experience of church safeguarding processes within the last five years, including:
- Victims and survivors of abuse, or their parents/carers;
- Members of the clergy;
- Church staff and volunteers;
- Members of congregations;
- Members of the public.
The team’s visit to Carlisle will take place on November 6 and 7.
Anyone who is interested in sharing their views in person during the visit can register their interest on the website.
Views can also be shared on an online survey launched today on the programme’s website, www.futureofchurchsafeguarding.org.uk
The Future Church Safeguarding Programme was set up to recommend how to make safeguarding within the Church of England fully independent.
Professor Jay was appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York in July 2023 with terms of reference to independently:
- provide options and recommendations for how a new independent safeguarding and scrutiny body might be formed and how it should operate;
- make any recommendations for how further independence of safeguarding might be achieved; and,
- make any other recommendations that are necessary or appropriate.
Professor Jay’s team will also interview key staff from within the Church and key stakeholders from relevant organisations outside the Church.
They will analyse documents, data and other information provided at her request by the Church, and will draw on the findings of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and the Truth Project, which heard from 6,000 victims and survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Professor Jay expects to complete her report for the Archbishops of Canterbury and of York by the end of December 2023 and will publish her report herself to ensure full transparency.
Professor Jay said: “The need to introduce a genuinely independent safeguarding model for the Church of England as soon as possible cannot be overstated.
“The views of those with recent experience of abuse, people who work or volunteer within the church, and others who have had cause to engage with the existing processes must inform this process if it is to be truly independent, fair, impartial and effective.
I hope that the diocesan visits and the online survey will help to build a full picture of people’s experiences of current safeguarding arrangements and of what will be needed in a future model.
“I look forward to hearing these views and using this process to help shape the recommendations I will make to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.”
