Church in Wales proclaims steps to rebuild ‘public trust’ after resignation of Archbishop

A “CULTURAL AUDIT” of the Church in Wales has been announced by its Representative Body (RB), within the wake of the immediate retirement of the Archbishop of Wales and “deeply troubling” reports from the diocese of Bangor.

Archbishop John announced his retirement on Friday of last week, three days after the RB met in Cardiff to debate events in Bangor, within the wake of two reports that recorded concerns about “weak financial controls” and “inappropriate behaviours” (News, 27 June).

The full motion agreed by the RB was not published for per week, after the retirement was announced. It had called for “change in leadership, procedures and governance within the Diocese of Bangor”.

The Charity Commission confirmed in an announcement on Wednesday that it had opened a regulatory compliance case “to evaluate a variety of concerns which were raised related to Bangor Cathedral and Diocese, including matters reported on to us by the charities”. It continued: “We are actively examining these matters with the charities’ trustees to find out our next steps. As regulator, if we discover evidence of wrongdoing we take robust motion using the powers available to us.”

Since last yr, a complete of six serious-incident reports have been sent to the Commission regarding Bangor Cathedral.

The RB motion states: “The revelations of safeguarding failures, blurred boundaries, inappropriate conduct, weak control environment and lack of transparency in management at Bangor Cathedral are deeply troubling.

“Trustees are legally sure to make sure that the charities which they oversee uphold the best standards of governance, safeguarding and record keeping. It is significant that there may be public trust in any charity which is an element of the Church in Wales family. Stewardship of charitable assets demands that funding is used to further the Church’s mission and profit the general public in a way consistent with our values and legal obligations. It is incumbent on the RB Trustees to make sure that the financial support they supply is correctly and accountably used.”

The RB sets out “clear expectations and directives” for the diocese of Bangor, its board of finance, the Bangor Diocesan Trust, and the cathedral. A complete of 4 recent reviews have been announced, along with the 2 already commissioned by Archbishop John last yr. There should be co-operation with an RB-commissioned independent financial audit, it says, with particular attention given “to the appropriateness of governance, financial systems and oversight and the way effectively these separate legal entities function and relate to at least one one other”.

The Dean and Chapter have already agreed to pay back funds spent by the diocese which must have been borne by them (News, 16 May). This occurred when Canon Siôn Rhys Evans was each diocesan secretary and Sub-Dean of the cathedral, having been appointed to the latter post by Archbishop John in 2021. There has also been acknowledgment of “inadequate consultation and data” about expenditure of £418,000 on recent furniture for the cathedral.

The RB statement warns: “Future funding to support the Diocese of Bangor and its Cathedral are entirely depending on the RB satisfying itself that appropriate management structures and financial and administrative procedures are in place to reveal effective governance.” These include “transparent channels for reporting concerns, with assurances of protection for whistle-blowers”.

In January, a whistle-blowing group in Bangor sent a 4000-word list of concerns to the Charity Commission. A safeguarding audit last yr — commissioned by Archbishop John alongside a Visitation — heard concerns that there was “no protection for those raising concerns”.

The RB has stipulated that the senior leaders of the diocese, the DBF, and the cathedral Chapter must now take part in an “externally-led exercise whereby all parties agree to have interaction, critically discern and reflect upon the incidents which have led the Diocese to this case”. The Chapter must commission “an external investigation into the behaviour, culture and activities of the Cathedral Choir”, after concerns raised with the safeguarding audit about “rude jokes and innuendoes within the choir that left some feeling unsafe and marginalised”.

The RB will even establish a “leadership taskforce . . . to work with the officers of the Diocese of Bangor to supply more capability and drive structural change”. It will commission a provincial safeguarding audit of all of the cathedrals in Wales and a cultural audit of the Church in Wales.

The Revd Dr Mark Clavier, Canon Theologian for the diocese of Swansea & Brecon, has noted during a series of blogs in favour of reform that, since 2008, one quarter of its diocesan bishops have “either resigned under controversy or else later faced serious allegations” (News, 6 June).