DISCIPLINARY motion against individuals criticised within the Makin report is to be considered by a panel including a lawyer known for his work prosecuting Rochdale grooming gangs, it was announced on Thursday.
The lawyer Nazir Afzal will sit as one in all the three decision-makers on a panel also comprising the Church of England’s National Director of Safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, and a former Director of People at Croydon Council, Barbara Peacock.
Mr Afzal can also be chair of the C of E’s National Safeguarding Panel (NSP), which offers independent scrutiny and guidance to the Church’s National Safeguarding Team, led by Mr Kubeyinje (News, 13 September).
The announcement from Church House on Thursday says that Mr Afzal’s work on the brand new panel “is separate [from] and independent” of his position with the NSP.
Ms Peacock can also be a member of the Response Group convened to recommend next steps in light of reports on church safeguarding by Professor Alexis Jay and Dr Sarah Wilkinson.
The latest panel will determine whether to bring cases under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) against individuals criticised within the Makin report. While decisions shall be made by the three members, the panel will take advice from church lawyers and members of the NST.
The possibility of including survivors within the panel was “rigorously considered”, the Church House statement says, nevertheless it was decided that it ran the chance of prejudicing the CDM process, if someone making the choice to bring a case was subsequently called to act as a witness.
The statement explains that those criticised within the Makin report will receive a letter from Mr Kubeyinje informing them whether a case is to be brought against them.
The decision shall be made on the idea of the Makin report, “relevant safeguarding policies and guidance which were in force on the time”, and the “factual evidence” available. After the publication of the Makin report, quite a few people mentioned were asked to step back from their positions within the Church (News, 15 November; News, 28 November).
Also on Thursday, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Marsha de Cordova MP (News, 7 October), faced questions in Parliament in regards to the C of E’s response to the Makin report.
Ms de Cordova said that the report “made clear the devastating abuse suffered by children and young people by the hands of John Smyth”, and that it ought to be a “defining and watershed moment for the Church”.
She said that she was “awaiting a full and thorough update from the Church on the detailed progress being made on each suggestion” of the Makin review, but that some had already been implemented.
The MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, Chi Onwurah, asked what the Church Commissioners could do “to be certain that dioceses have the resources essential to implement a high standard of safeguarding and to be certain that the Church is targeted on the interests of the victims and the vulnerable, moderately than the profession interests of leading clergy”.
Ms de Cordova said that the Church had “an infinite amount of labor to do to create a cultural shift”, and that she could be present on the General Synod debate in February when the subsequent step for independent safeguarding shall be decided.
The MP for Stone, Great Wryley and Penkridge, Sir Gavin Williamson, asked that “more persons are properly held to account and that a few of the individuals who have been named are cleared out of those top jobs”.
He mentioned the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, and the “bishop accountable for the Episcopal Church”.
It seems likely that Sir Gavin was referring to the Anglican Communion’s Bishop for Episcopal Ministry, Dr Jo Bailey Wells, who was chaplain to Archbishop Welby in 2013 when Smyth’s abuse was reported to the diocese of Ely, of which Bishop Conway was then diocesan bishop, and Lambeth Palace was notified.
In early December, it was announced that Dr Bailey Wells had “stepped back from her ministry within the Diocese of London, pending a safeguarding risk assessment” (News, 5 December).
Bishop Conway and Dr Bailey Wells were criticised within the Makin report for his or her response to disclosures, specifically whether or not they were adequately reported to the police. Three retired police detectives, nonetheless, have disputed Keith Makin’s conclusion, arguing that proper motion was taken, and that church officers mustn’t be blamed for the choice by the police to not pursue the case against Smyth in 2013 (News, 27 November).
