Safeguarding Update Diocese of Truro

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1 Safeguarding Update Diocese of Truro Report for Synod This report provides the Synod with an annual update from the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel (DSAP) on Safeguarding in the Diocese. Created on: 16 October 2018 Author: Nigel Druce on behalf of the DSAP Page 1

2 Context and overview Safeguarding nationally In 2013, General Synod voted to support the tightening of safeguarding procedures across the Church. This was following the Chichester Commissaries safeguarding report into historic sexual abuse of children committed and known about by various church officers, some of whom were very senior. The CofE has been, and continues to be independently scrutinised in order to gain a clear picture of how safeguarding is being managed in the Dioceses. The CofE is a key agency under scrutiny by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). As an outcome of the first set of IICSA hearings, the National Safeguarding Steering Group outlined at the General Synod in July three thematic priorities for action: Support for and engagement with victims and survivors of abuse; Clergy Selection; Suitability & Discipline; and Structure, independence, oversight and enforcement. Implementing the above priorities will require significant changes to structures, policies, guidance and training at both a national and local level. A further Past Case File review for every Diocese will be commissioned to take place in Safeguarding regionally The South West Independent Chairs (SWItCh) Network meets on a regular basis to share experiences and learn how each Diocese is implementing the national safeguarding agenda. The focus of the September meeting was sharing good practice which was an opportunity to recognise our achievements (Parish Audits, Bishop s Safeguarding Conferences and Support to Survivors) and also to learn what works well in other Dioceses. Examples include: Domestic abuse seminars; training videos and course workbooks and parish selfassessment / audit tools. Safeguarding within the Diocese of Truro The SCIE Audit in 2017 recognised our progress in improving safeguarding arrangements and identified 28 areas of consideration and 9 areas for further development. This audit, together with the audit of Parish Safeguarding during 2016 and 2017; the Living Water report in 2017 and our Annual Safeguarding Audit / Self-Assessments provided the BDC with a significant amount of data about what works well and what areas require further development. The DSAP with the agreement of the Bishop of St Germans, commissioned four Bishop s Safeguarding Conferences across the Diocese in July 2018, as outlined below. Page 2

3 Bishop s Safeguarding Conferences The aim of the conferences were to make sure that we fully understood the capacity within PCC s to manage the future changes which will arise from national policy and the outcomes of the IICSA. This included examining local understanding of the national and local context and discussing how safeguarding is working at a parish level: issues and experiences, sharing ideas and considering how we can do things differently and identifying areas for improvement. The Safeguarding Team have analysed the feedback from the conferences and have identified the following key areas for development and improvement: Making our churches the safest place raising awareness of the importance of safeguarding; Policy and guidance the need to support parishes with simplified guidance and standardised templates; Safer recruitment improving local procedures; moving the focus away from DBS checks and ensuring compliance with all safer recruitment practice (e.g. role profiles and references); Training continuing to make sure that our training is relevant to parishes; ensuring that everyone attends. Policy and guidance The National Safeguarding Team (NST) have developed a Parish Safeguarding Handbook, with complementary resources that summarises the safeguarding responsibilities for Parishes outlined in the House of Bishops Safeguarding Policies and Practice Guidance. In light of the feedback from the conferences (simplified guidance and standardised templates) the Diocesan Safeguarding Team have asked the BDC to consider launching the Handbook in May This will enable the team and Parish Safeguarding Co-ordinators to work together to review how the Handbook works at a Parish level, and make any necessary changes to local policy. PCCs will then prepared to sign up to and adopt the new policy in May 2019 (to coincide with the Annual Parochial Church Council Meetings (APCM)/ annual review of parish safeguarding policy) would seem ideal. Safer recruitment Whilst DBS checks are an important component of safer recruitment it should be fully recognised that they only assist where individuals have some form of record! Last year there were 570 DBS checks across the Diocese and for the first three quarters of 2018 there have been 347. The majority of checks have been for Children s workers and Trustees. All of our volunteers, no matter what role they undertake, are representing the church, and safer recruitment is about making our churches safer and seeks to protect our volunteers and employees as well as children and vulnerable adults. Page 3

4 There are volunteers and employees who have been with the Diocese for a number of years and it is important to develop a proportionate approach to ensuring that we embed safer recruitment as a standard working practice. For example celebrating and saying thank you to volunteers for their ministry and having tea and cake whilst at the same time discussing their roles and safer recruiting. The safeguarding team are identifying ways in which we can support parishes by providing examples of different approaches to safer recruitment and in how to engage in informal and formal conversations. Safeguarding Training The Diocese has worked hard at implementing the national safeguarding training framework; making it accessible, available and relevant. The training programme is published well in advance and we use various locations across the Diocese. It is anticipated that the 2019 programme will be available at the Synod meeting for you to take back to your parishes. A safeguarding training strategy has been drafted that will clarify how the national framework works; which level and frequency of training is required and will identify training targets for the Diocese. Attendance at training courses increased in 2017, with 938 people attending either Foundation, Leadership or Safer Recruitment courses (against 712 in 2016). During the first three months of this year 348 people have attended training, the majority of which were either Foundation or Leadership courses. Whilst attendance at training courses has increased, a number of courses (e.g. domestic abuse awareness) had to be cancelled due to lack of bookings. The DSAP has recommended that the BDC consider how to improve attendance moving forward. The Safeguarding Refresher (C5) Training, a newly released programme by the National Safeguarding Team for those who have already completed a safeguarding foundation, leadership or equivalent course in the past three years, was launched in the Diocese in September. Listening to the voice of survivors We have a responsibility to appropriately listen to the voice of victims and survivors. Providing the opportunity to share their experience will help us to better understand the long-term impact of abuse and how we can provide support. In the Diocese of Truro, we have teamed up with a charity called First Light who provide free and independent help for anyone who feels they may have been subject to any form of abuse from within a church context. This service will give us an assurance that there is an easy, accessible and independent means by which any concerns and complaints can be heard and acted upon. We are committed to being a place of safety for all. As Christians we strive to help every person and every community to flourish. For that to happen people need to be and to feel valued and safe, especially in and around the church. We are currently inviting survivors to comment on the SCIE audit through our website; and the Truth project is coming to Cornwall in November. Page 4

5 Summary We have achieved a significant amount in recent years and are in a good place to bring about a real change in the attitude to safeguarding - however there is a long way to go to change everybody's hearts and minds and work towards our aim of making our churches the safest places. However there is a significant amount of change required in order to respond to national and local issues and the DSAP have recommended to the BDC that a three-year plan be developed that will identify how we will work together to make our churches the safest place. In developing a three-year plan, we also need to look at the additional resources required to implement the plan. October, 2018 Page 5

Church of England Diocese of Hereford Safeguarding Strategy and Action Plan Safeguarding Action Plan

Church of England Diocese of Hereford Safeguarding Strategy and Action Plan 2016-2018 Safeguarding Action Plan 2016-2017 Introduction This document should be read in conjunction with the Church of England