Comment from Professor Lisa Oakley on the membership of response group for ‘The Future of Church Safeguarding’ report

On Saturday February 24, 2024, the Church of England Synod voted that these should be considered by a response group to report back to Synod in July.

The composition of the group is therefore of central importance. Notably the focus of the report is about establishing independence in safeguarding. Therefore, it can be strongly argued that the group must contain members with relevant knowledge and expertise and holding positions independent of the Church. The current membership of the group, who have voting rights, only includes one independent expert and two survivor representatives. ‘Advisors’ and ‘guests’ will be invited to participate where appropriate, however, again those listed in these roles currently are not independent. Whilst a working knowledge of the C of E can be deemed important, it is in combining this with external scrutiny, expertise and reflection that a strong and workable way forward can be forged. If the group composition remains as proposed, it will be predominantly an internal response to a report that stresses the need for independence.

There is however, still time to address these issues and strengthen the response group to provide the best possible consideration of the recommendations of the report. Additional group members could join the group, arguably there should be more survivor representation and further independent group members, all with voting rights.

This is an opportunity for the Church of England to model its commitment to developing effective safeguarding and independence through a reconsideration of the response group membership.

Lisa Oakley, Professor of Safeguarding and Knowledge Exchange