The role and responsibility of all workers

Advice given as an Instruction Section 16 (4)

An important consequence of the General Assembly 2022, is an amendment to the Safeguarding Act to include Section 16 (4).

The Act was amended in the light of the recommendations of the Investigation Report on Safeguarding in the Church of England and the Church in Wales, published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in October 2020.

This followed on from an Investigation Report into Case Studies published in May 2019.

Both reports concluded that the Church of England had not resolved the need for safeguarding to function at a diocesan level with the requirement for sufficient accountability to and oversight from the national safeguarding team to ensure consistency of decision making; and that it was essential that operational decisions about safeguarding were made by safeguarding professionals, who were best placed to decide what action should be taken to keep children safe.

Noting that clergy had an important role to play in ensuring that safeguarding was a priority, which was intrinsic to the beliefs of the Church, it was nevertheless recommended that they should not hold operational responsibility for safeguarding, and that professional safeguarding staff should have the authority to make decisions in respect of key safeguarding tasks, including risk assessments and associated plans.

It was explicitly recommended that "it should be enshrined in policy that those who are volunteers and who do not follow the directions of diocesan Safeguarding officers should be removed from responsibility of working with children".

The report's recommendations were welcomed and have been implemented by the Church of England, with policy documents being amended to make compliance with guidance on safeguarding matters compulsory, rather than voluntary.

In light of these authoritative developments in best practice, the Safeguarding Act now provides that, where advice given by the Safeguarding Service in relation to safeguarding concerns is framed as an instruction, this must be followed.

In practice, congregations and CrossReach Services will receive written Confirmation of Safeguarding Advice which will reflect the amendment to the Act.

Section 16 of the Church of Scotland Safeguarding Act 2018 (As amended), is specific about the responsibilities of all workers when Safeguarding concerns arise i.e.:

16. (1) Every Charge must have a Safeguarding Panel.

(2) If any Safeguarding Concerns arise regarding Workers, such Safeguarding Concerns shall be reported without delay by the Safeguarding Coordinator to the Safeguarding Panel and to the Safeguarding Service. The Safeguarding Service shall where appropriate report the matter to Disclosure Scotland.

(3) All Fora, Councils, Committees, Presbyteries and Safeguarding Coordinators have a general responsibility promptly to report any Safeguarding Concerns to the Safeguarding Service.

(4) Advice given by the Safeguarding Service, when framed as an instruction, must be followed by all Employing Agencies and by all Presbyteries, Kirk Sessions, Safeguarding Coordinators, office-holders, staff and volunteers involved in work with Vulnerable Groups.

(5) Fora, Councils, Committees, Presbyteries and Safeguarding Coordinators must report promptly to the Safeguarding Service on action taken after advice from the Service has been given in relation to reports of Safeguarding Concerns.