Please find the draft of Section 1.1 to 1.6 of the revised “Safeguarding in the Church” Code of Practice here. As a reminder, this document, which went through its own consultation in April/May is not new. It has until now been referred to as “Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults”. Due to recommendations from the Charity Commission to review our definitions of safeguarding and vulnerable adults, the proposed new title is “Safeguarding in the Church”.
It is very important to note that this document is in the very early stages of thinking. We understand that this has the potential to have a significant impact on practice, and we therefore need to understand from you whether these changes are workable, what the impact would be, and how we can best deliver the required changes.
The changes we have been asked to make relate to the definition of safeguarding and to the definition of vulnerable adults. In essence:
"The Church does not treat allegations of abuse from an adult not assessed to be 'vulnerable' as a safeguarding allegation.
The Commission's guidance is clear that trustees must take reasonable steps to protect from harm all people who come into contact with their charity."
The NST commissioned INEQE to review our key documents and make recommendations to bridge any perceived gaps. The amendments proposed as a result are highlighted in yellow in the attached document, and focus on:
- A definition of harm which draws on the definition of “harm” (based on the Children Act 1989) but applying that to both children and adults, and making that specific to a church context, using examples which will be added during a later stage of development.
- Adopt a formal definition of “maltreatment” aligned with Working Together 2023, applicable to both children and adults and made applicable to a church context.
- Redefine vulnerability as situational/contextual, meaning any adult harmed or at risk should be considered potentially impaired in their ability to protect themselves, triggering a safeguarding response (revised triage process)
The document has been written on the assumption that we accept these changes – we now ask you to provide the evidence as to whether this is workable or not.
INEQE have also been commissioned to develop a threshold document to support the revised triage process. This will be available for consultation in July.
Our consultation questions are therefore focused on gathering your views on the practicalities, challenges and opportunities of using these new definitions. If you consider there will be resource implications as a result of any of these changes, please make these as clear as possible for us.
The closing date for responses is the 12th June 2026.
This initial section will then be incorporated into the “Safeguarding in the Church” revision, which will go to NSSG for approval in September and then General Synod for final approval later this year.
If you have any queries about the process, please email policy.safeguarding@churchofengland.org.