THE next chair of the Church’s Redress Scheme Steering Board is to be Sir Stuart Carlton, an independent consultant on children services, it was announced on Friday.
The Church Times understands that survivors were informed of the appointment in a safeguarding newsletter the day prior to this.
The Steering Board oversees the event and delivery of the Church’s Redress Scheme, which is meant to supply “meaningful, survivor-focused redress” for individuals who have experienced abuse in a Church of England context.
The scheme is on account of launch later this 12 months, having received final approval from the General Synod last July (News, 18 July 2025). Planning for the scheme began as way back as 2021, but its creation proved complicated, and required several rounds of drafting and consultation.
Sir Stuart, who’s a former corporate director of Children and Young People Service’s at North Yorkshire County Council, succeeds the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, after the Archbishops’ Council agreed that the following chair needs to be an individual independent of the Church.
The appointment, a note on the Church’s safeguarding pages said, was made after “an open and rigorous process and the appointing panel included two survivors, ensuring that survivor perspectives were embedded within the decision-making process from the outset”.
Sir Stuart, who has several years’ experience in local government and kids’s services, was knighted in 2025 for services to children, young people, and families.
He said: “I’m honoured to tackle this role. The Redress Scheme is an ambitious and vital a part of the Church’s response to those that have been harmed. I’m committed to making sure that survivor voices remain central to the work of the Steering Board and that its objectives and outcomes are delivered.”
The announcement said: “Sir Stuart is understood for clear, values-driven leadership and a consistent ability to encourage change and deliver innovation at scale. . . He is widely regarded for his ability to instil a robust culture of accountability, quality and continuous improvement.”
