The Independent Chair of Diocese of York’s Strategic Safeguarding Board, Professor Sue Proctor, has commented on this week’s Investigation Report ‘The Anglican Church’ by the Independent Investigation into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Published on the 6th October, the Report concerns the extent to which the Church of England and the Church in Wales protected children from sexual abuse in the past. It also examines the effectiveness of current safeguarding arrangements.

Professor Sue Proctor, Independent Chair of Diocese of York’s Strategic Safeguarding Board, said, “This Report is essential reading for everyone who cares about safeguarding in the Church. It makes for uncomfortable and challenging reading and there is much to learn from the findings of the Inquiry. To all those who have suffered and for those close to them we sincerely and humbly apologise. It is rightly a source of shame and concern for those in the Church who carry responsibility for ensuring the safety of all who visit or participate in its life.

“As the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has said, ‘Safeguarding is fundamental to our faith.’

"The Diocese of York is committed to working with our external statutory partners, and the National Safeguarding Team as together we seek to act locally on the recommendations made by IICSA, particularly regarding the structure and oversight of safeguarding in the Church of England.“

The Report may be read and explored online, or downloaded in full, at
www.iicsa.org.uk/publications/investigation/anglican-church.

The Church of England nationally has responded to the Report:
www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/statement-publication-iicsa-report.

An open letter from the Archbishops of York and Canterbury prior to the report’s publication may be read at www.archbishopofyork.org/news/iicsa-report-open-letter.

The Inquiry instructed Edina Carmi (an independent safeguarding consultant) to provide an expert report examining the recent management of safeguarding in the Church of England; she analysed a number of case files from four of the 42 dioceses in the Church of England: London, Sheffield, Worcester and York.

These dioceses were chosen by the Inquiry to represent a spread of geographic locations and sizes. To ensure a representative sample, the Inquiry obtained a full list of all safeguarding casework undertaken by those dioceses between April 2017 and April 2018 and selected a sample of cases to be considered by Mrs Carmi.

A summary of Edina Carmi’s findings, including reference to two anonymised safeguarding cases in the Diocese of York is at paragraphs 38-54 of Annex 3 to the main Report, found at
www.iicsa.org.uk/publications/investigation/anglican-church/annexes/annex-3-expert-analysis-safeguarding-case-files.

The Diocese of York’s current Safeguarding policies and resources are aligned with those of the Church of England and are located at www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/safeguarding.

The work of the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisers and wider safeguarding arrangements in the diocese (including those in parishes and at York Minster) are overseen by an independently chaired Strategic Safeguarding Board (SSB) which includes members drawn from statutory agencies across the diocese. Reports and recommendations arising from their scrutiny are provided to Diocesan Synod and Archbishop’s Council.

  • For anyone who has been abused through their relationship with the Church of England, Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service, providing a confidential, personal and safe space. Victim Support have been commissioned to run this national service, providing remote support through their helpline, live chat service and website: www.safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk.
  • For anyone wishing to discuss personal issues raised by the Report, you can contact the Diocese of York's Safeguarding Team at safeguarding@yorkdiocese.org or via www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/safeguarding.

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