A GROUP is being convened in preparation for the publication of a report on the longer term of safeguarding within the C of E, it was announced on Tuesday.
The group is being arrange by the Archbishops’ Council to reply each to the Future of Church Safeguarding review by Professor Alexis Jay (News, 27 July) and to Sarah Wilkinson’s review of the demise of the Independent Safeguarding Board (News, 15 December).
A statement released by Church House says that the response group “will consider the necessary lessons to be learnt highlighted within the Wilkinson report and once published will have a look at the recommendations within the Jay report”.
On Tuesday, Professor Jay’s office announced that she had informed the Archbishops of Canterbury and York that she would publish her report next month.
“In her report, Professor Jay will make a series of recommendations on how Church safeguarding may be made independent, accountable, fair and trusted, so as to learn from the past and higher protect all those involved in Church life from harm,” an announcement said.
Her review was commissioned by the Archbishops’ Council, but has been conducted independently by Professor Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
The recent response group will, the Church House statement says, comprise “safeguarding professionals from inside and outdoors the Church, together with survivor and victim representation to be certain that survivors have input into the discussion and that their lived experience is heard”.
The statement says that the Archbishops’ Council will then choose a response to the 2 reviews, and put this forward for debate by the General Synod.
The outline of business for the subsequent Synod meeting on 23-27 February indicates that safeguarding will on the agenda through the morning and afternoon sessions on Saturday 24 February.
There is not any indication at this stage, nevertheless, how much time will probably be dedicated to the subject, or whether members may have the chance to hold a substantive motion — decisions that will probably be made by the Business Committee.
Some current and former Synod members have expressed misgivings concerning the Archbishops’ Council’s move to establish the group. In an “open memo” to all Synod members, dated Tuesday, Gavin Drake, a former member, criticises the formation of the brand new group.
“Until you, because the Synod, have had the prospect to read, study, consider and debate the reviews and their recommendations, what’s the point of a recent ‘Response Group’?” he asks.
Mr Drake resigned from the House of Laity last July, saying that “manipulation” of synodical process had prevented the hearing of a motion that called for an independent inquiry into church safeguarding (News, 14 July 2023).
In his message to Synod members, Mr Drake suggests that “slightly than you — the General Synod — being given the chance to debate the Wilkinson and Jay Reviews of their entirety, you might be as an alternative being promised the chance to debate the Archbishops’ Council’s response to them.”
An invitation to participate in the brand new group was sent to survivor groups, asking for expressions of interest in becoming one in all the 2 “survivor and victim representatives” within the group, or in collaborating in a “wider focus group . . . of more survivors and victims which the response group will connect with so as to ask questions on specific areas”.
On Monday, the National Safeguarding Team posted 4 videos on the C of E’s website as an instance the C of E’s guidance document Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse.
Made in collaboration with survivors of church-based abuse, the videos advise survivors on reporting abuse and looking for support, and offer guidance to church members or officials on handling a disclosure of abuse.
