THE General Synod approved the Safeguarding Code of Practice: Learning and Development Framework, in deemed business brought forward to Saturday from Monday. The code of practice is to be published in August, and must be fully implemented from January 2025.
It details the Church’s safeguarding learning pathways, and the expectations of church officers in respect to them. It also sets out the vision, model, standards, and requirements for safeguarding learning and development in the church context, and is practical guidance for use across all church bodies.
The Bishop of Stepney, Dr Joanne Grenfell, moving the motion, described the code of practice as “a vital part of our safeguarding learning and understanding”. Safeguarding training “demands a response from the heart as well as the head”, she said. “Not passing it would take us back to uncertainty as to who has completed bits of training.”
Caroline Herbert (Norwich), found the code of practice “clear, readable, and helpful” — not just about facts, but about basic awareness. She wondered whether it could be delivered face-to-face in particular circumstances.
Adrian Greenwood (Southwark) related it to the aim of the “30,000 project” to double, by 2030, the numbers of people working with young people. He was concerned that the requirement for training could result in the unintended consequence of deterring volunteers from coming forward.
The C of E had a volunteer crisis, the Revd Marcus Walker (London) said. A report by the Church Times had revealed that 87 out of 212 parishes had just one churchwarden, and 12 had none at all (News, 15 March). “Across the country, parishes are unable to find people to serve,” he said. “Be very careful about how much burden we are placing on volunteers, and how we treat them. In the C of E, we tend to say to a volunteer, ‘You are lucky we are letting you be a part of what we do.’”
Canon Jamie Harrison (Durham) asked how the Church could continue to be a truly learning organisation on the ground, especially in relation to laity. The challenge was how to implement the five safeguarding standards realistically in every parish. He was supportive of the code.
The Revd Ruth Newton (Leeds) wondered where, with online training, pastoral support could be given. The Archdeacon of Liverpool, the Ven. Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, said that the early findings of extensive research into volunteering showed that parishes were having success in retention: “We are providing high quality training of volunteers.”
David Kemp (Canterbury) supported the framework, but PCCs, he said, were showing “significant unrest about the burden of safeguarding training”. The package on domestic abuse was a case in point: did it need to be all by itself, he asked. “We don’t need for everyone on the PCC to know everything there is to be known,” he suggested.
To loud applause, Dr Sean Doherty (Universities and TEIs) said that safeguarding and safeguarding training were not a burden. “I appreciate the language was not used intentionally, but woe to us if we regard it as a burden,” he said.
The Archdeacon of Leeds, the Ven. Paul Ayers (Leeds), said: “We do need to have the authority over people who refuse to do it, even though they are a very small minority. Most people expect and welcome high-quality training.” Training online as a group, she said, had been very well received.
Canon Mark Bennet (Oxford) said: “If there is a recruitment crisis, we need to be alert to it as a risk factor.” Michaela Suckling (Sheffield), a lead parish nurse, spoke of the success of “all doing our safeguarding training together. It’s about how we invest in our volunteers and resource them. It attracts, not deters volunteers.”
The Archbishop of York was glad to see the guidelines. “I was ordained into a Church where there was no training whatsoever in these areas,” he said, and remembered “floundering” with no safeguarding training. “The journey can never be over,” he said. “There’s every need to be part of a safe culture and a need to build for volunteers. Knowing there’s a safe training culture gives them the assurance they need that the Church will be a safe place.”
Prebendary Pat Hawkins (Lichfield) urged members to give a bit more thought to online, as opposed to in-person, training: “If we are about changing church culture, then getting a PCC to do it together is really helpful.”
David Ashton (Leeds), a parish safety officer, said that there, he had no problems with the training. “Whenever anyone comes to my PCC, I tell them it’s for the good of the Church that you do it. It isn’t a case of leaving people to do it themselves. It takes the enthusiasm of a priest in a parish. I have no problem with it at all. It is the way it is presented.”
Sarah Tupling (Deaf Anglicans) said: “For those of us who are deaf, training is a barrier because of the online element. We have to pay for an interpreter. It’s difficult to manage the language of difference and accessibility. Let’s look at improved provision for deaf members so we can be fully cognisant.”
Canon David Bryant-Scott (Europe) thanked the National Safeguarding Team for the quality of the modules on leadership training. “If wardens or PCCs won’t do it, there’s very little we can do. You can refer them to the Charity Commissioners, but we should look at the consequences for not doing this mandatory thing. It’s not a burden but a prerequisite for us to do ministry.”
The vote was carried by a show of hands.