The Common Synod has voted to switch a lot of the Church of England’s nationwide safeguarding employees to a brand new impartial physique whereas maintaining diocesan and cathedral safeguarding officers as church workers.
With the C of E engulfed in a listing of abuse scandals, members assembly on February 11 at Church Home, Westminster, debated two fashions as “the course of journey” for future safeguarding within the Church. These had been set out in a paper by its lead bishop on safeguarding, Joanne Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney.
Based on the choice referred to as mannequin three, all diocesan and cathedral safeguarding practitioners would stay of their present constructions with no change to their employment preparations. The general public within the Nationwide Safeguarding Group (NST) at present employed by the Archbishops’ Council would switch to an exterior nationwide physique.
However in accordance with mannequin 4, diocesan and cathedral safeguarding practitioners, together with a lot of the NST employees, would “switch to a brand new supply physique which is exterior to the Church whereas remaining embedded in dioceses – working from diocesan places of work, attending diocesan conferences, in a position to present recommendation domestically”.
In assist of mannequin 4, Bishop Grenfell stated: “The place mannequin 4 differs from mannequin three is in bringing collectively the employees from 85 charities – the cathedrals within the Cathedrals’ Measure, the dioceses within the Church of England and the Archbishops’ Council into one exterior employer. Why? The goals of this mannequin, which is the one I assist, are to carry adequate consistency, timeliness and evenness of resourcing to our operational safeguarding.”
The Second Church Estates Commissioner, Marsha De Cordova MP, who fields questions within the Home of Commons concerning the C of E, additionally supported mannequin 4.
She instructed Synod in her first handle to members after taking on her position: “After I was appointed Second Church Estates Commissioner final October, I couldn’t have foreseen the storm that was about to engulf the Church.
“Nobody can deny these previous few months have been difficult. It has been an unprecedented time. Because the publication of the Makin Overview that uncovered the devastating abuses inflicted by John Smyth, MPs, together with myself, have rightly expressed concern. We have now obtained correspondence from constituents, distressed clergy, victims and survivors.
“Due to this fact, Synod, I’m clear that this should be a watershed second for the Church to vary its tradition and strategy to safeguarding, as these failures can by no means occur once more. It’s important that this meeting exhibits each Parliament and the general public that the Church is totally dedicated to vary.”
She stated mannequin 4 would result in independence in safeguarding operations, complaints processes, scrutiny operate and audits.
“Bringing these accountable for safeguarding from throughout the Church below one physique will result in that much-needed consistency in its strategy but in addition a consistency in the way it responds and the way it offers with safeguarding issues,” she stated.
Forward of their assembly, members had obtained a letter signed by 106 safeguarding practitioners in C of E dioceses and cathedrals expressing “severe considerations” about mannequin 4.
“There isn’t a doubt that transferring employees from 85 present employers to at least one yet-to-be-created employer might be destabilising, costly, and prone to take far longer than anticipated,” the letter learn.
“The disruption to recruitment and retention of employees, to current relationships, and to morale could be appreciable.
“Furthermore, new constructions carry new issues: a big nationwide organisation is a minimum of as prone to multiply layers of administration as it’s to enhance frontline service supply.”
Shifting an modification to undertake mannequin three, the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, referred to as mannequin 4 “eye-wateringly advanced”. It might “take years to implement, assuming it’s implementable”.
“No organisation has carried out something on this scale earlier than and through these years not sufficient will change when the Church and the nation are demanding change now,” he stated.
Bishop North’s modification handed within the Home of Bishops with 23 votes for, 14 in opposition to and one abstention; within the Home of Clergy with 114 for, 65 in opposition to, and two abstentions; within the Home of Laity with 106 for, 86 in opposition to, and three abstentions.
An modification by Sam Margrave, a lay member for Coventry Diocese, to “lament and repent of the failure of the Church to be welcoming to victims and survivors and the hurt they’ve skilled and proceed to expertise within the lifetime of the Church” handed in a vote of the entire Synod with 315 for, 24 in opposition to, and 23 abstentions.
Responding to the controversy, Bishop Grenfell stated: “Mannequin three is a substantial change in itself and I do consider that it’ll assist us to maneuver on. Nonetheless, there are questions that won’t go away … problems with consistency, evenness of resourcing, and most of all of belief and confidence.”
The ultimate movement as amended handed with 392 votes for, 9 in opposition to and 6 abstentions. Synod endorsed mannequin three “as the way in which ahead within the quick time period” and referred to as for “additional work as to the authorized and sensible necessities essential to implement mannequin 4”.
Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist primarily based in Lancashire.
