Safeguarding concerns in the Church of England

The Charity Commission has issued a press release on its regulatory work with the Archbishops’ Council over safeguarding concerns in the Church of England. 

The Commission opened its regulatory case in 2024, following the publication of the Makin Review into the case of John Smyth. The Commission’s role has been to consider the action being taken in response to this and earlier reviews, to ensure that suitable safeguarding policies and procedures are in place. This involved The Church of England National Safeguarding Team, a department of the Archbishops’ Council, which is responsible for developing safeguarding policies and procedures for approval by the General Synod which are then adopted by all the Church charities.

The Commission reports that it found no evidence of misconduct or mismanagement by the trustees of the Archbishops’ Council, but it makes two key findings:

• The pace of implementing the necessary changes in response to the reviews is too slow; and
• Allegations of abuse made by non-vulnerable adults should be treated as safeguarding matters, in line with the Commission’s policy that charities must take reasonable steps to protect all people who come into contact with the charity. 

The Commission has issued the Archbishops’ Council with an Action Plan and will be monitoring its compliance. The Action Plan sets a deadline of 18 months to implement the proposed new structure for independent safeguarding, a year sooner than had been planned. In the meantime, robust interim measures must be put in place.