Parish Safeguarding

Promoting a Safer Church is the Church of England’s safeguarding policy statement for children, young people and adults and must be adopted by every PCC.

What does a PCC need to do?

The Parish Safeguarding Handbook, used together with The Church of England – Birmingham’s supplement, outlines what the local church must do.  The Parish Safeguarding Dashboard helps the church to implement these requirements.

+ Parish Safeguarding Handbook

+ The Church of England - Birmingham Parish Handbook Supplement

 

Duty to Report

• PCC duty to refer to DBS

• Reporting serious safeguarding incidents to the Charity Commission

 

Example Policies & Forms

• Example PCC Promoting a Safer Church Policy

• Safer church survey

• Delegation Resolution Template

• Example PCC domestic abuse policy

• Example parish safeguarding policy

• Example PCC recruitment of ex-offenders policy

  Example PCC Managing Safeguarding Complaints Process

 

Faith & Safeguarding

• The Gospel sexual abuse and the church

• Theology and domestic abuse

• Forgiveness and reconciliation in the aftermath of abuse

  Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse, Oakley & Humphries (1918)

  To Heal and Not to Hurt, Harper & Wilson (1918)

 

Hirers

• Hirers agreement statement and policy

 

Parish Safeguarding Roles

• Parish safeguarding co-ordinator role

• PCC safeguarding lead role

• Parish domestic violence contact role

• Parish identity verifier induction

• Parish identity verifier role

• Parish safeguarding coordinator induction

 

Record Keeping

• Model parish safeguarding recording template

• Safeguarding records

• Keeping safeguarding records

 

Safeguarding During a Vacancy

• Support for safeguarding in a vacancy

 

Safeguarding Updates

• Safeguarding Update February 2022

• Safer Recruitment & Safeguarding Training FAQs September 2021

Safeguarding Update August 2022

 

 

Summaries of National Safeguarding Policies for Parishes

• Responding well to domestic abuse

• Key roles and responsibilities of church office holders and bodies summary

• Responding to and reporting concerns and allegations about church officers

• Responding to and reporting concerns about under 18s and vulnerable adults summary

 

 

 Further safeguarding resources are available on The Church of England website here