Sexual abuse survivors reacted with fury last night after the Church of England’s ruling body voted to reject full independent safeguarding despite a string of damaging scandals.
Members of the General Synod yesterday chose not to adopt a new safeguarding model heavily favoured by victims, who described the move as a ‘punch in the gut’.
Representatives of survivors said the outcome was ‘incredibly disappointing’ and showed the Church had decided to ‘keep it in the family’.
It follows a series of scandals that have damaged public faith in the CofE and led to the resignation of former archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
Survivors had urged the Church to endorse a model which would have seen all safeguarding officers employed by the Church transferred to a new independent body not under the control of bishops.
But members instead voted for a less independent model ‘as the way forward in the short term’ with undefined ‘further work’ to be done to implement the move to full independence.
The endorsed model will see some staff move to a new body outside the Church but other safeguarding officers will remain.
The more radical model would have immediately taken safeguarding out of the hands of the Church.
It follows a series of scandals that have damaged public faith in the CofE and led to the resignation of former archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, who led the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) probing abuse in the Church, last night called for the Prime Minister to step in
Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley (pictured) told Sky News: ‘Many victims and survivors… were hoping that the Synod with go for the model that drove us immediately towards complete independence’
Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, who led the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) probing abuse in the Church, last night called for the Prime Minister to step in.
‘Safeguarding can no longer be trusted to be managed by the Church of England,’ she said.
‘The current system failed to prevent abuse, there’s been coverup after coverup, and today they had the opportunity to bring confidence back but instead what they’ve chosen to do is dress it up so they can keep on marking their own homework.’
They’re saying option four is something they’ll consider, but actually that’s kicking the can down the road even further because we need that change now.’
Andrew Graystone, a longtime advocate for abuse survivors, said the vote showed the Church had decided to ‘keep it in the family’ and that it displayed ‘shocking arrogance’.
He said: ‘The Church of England had an opportunity to start to rebuild trust, by admitting that it needed expertise from outside. But instead they have chosen to keep it in the family.’
The Church has been plagued by safeguarding controversies in recent months.
They have come after a damning report into serial abuser lead to the resignation of Dr Welby last year.
The Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley (centre) during the first day of the Church of England’s General Synod
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who is the de facto leader of the CofE until a replacement to Dr Welby is appointed, has himself faced calls to step down over alleged safeguarding failings
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, who is the de facto leader of the CofE until a replacement to Dr Welby is appointed, has himself faced calls to step down over alleged safeguarding failings.
On Monday he admitted he has ‘made mistakes’ in a speech to the Church’s parliament, the General Synod, and said that the Church has ‘failed greatly’ on safeguarding.
Following the vote yesterday, the only bishop to publicly called for Dr Welby to step down said she was disappointed by the move, which she described as a ‘punch in the gut’ for survivors.
Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley told Sky News: ‘Many victims and survivors… were hoping that the Synod with go for the model that drove us immediately towards complete independence.
‘I’m afraid what this looks like is that we are just kicking the can down the road and we are failing our duty to victims and survivors.’
However Bishop of Blackburn Philip North, who proposed the safeguarding motion backed by Synod yesterday, denied this and said that full independent safeguarding ‘is still very much on the table’.
He said: ‘Synod has voted almost unanimously for real progress in independence in safeguarding.
‘What we’ve got is a strong endorsement of moving immediately to setting up an independent scrutiny body and more work to ensure that operational independence is legally and practically deliverable.
‘This gives us a chance to make immediate progress on what we can achieve whilst not slowing down the pace on more fundamental change.’
