THE report on the Church of England’s handling of the abuse allegations against John Smyth is to be published on 13 November — more than five years after its author, Keith Makin, was commissioned by the Church to review the matter (News, 16 August 2019).
Allegations against Smyth had been reported by Channel 4 News two years previously, in 2017 (News, 10 February 2017), when Smyth was still alive. He died in 2018, before he could be questioned.
A statement from the Church’s National Safeguarding Team on Tuesday confirmed that it had now received the independent review.
“A detailed plan, drawn up in consultation with survivors, is now in place to enable those that choose to do so to read the document in advance in a timely manner and with support on request.”
Availability over the half-term period had been taken into account. “Once this process has been completed the report will be published in full on Wednesday November 13. On this day survivors will have the opportunity for a confidential webinar to ask questions. After the survivor webinar there will be a separate press conference.”
The publication of the Makin review has been put back repeatedly, after initially being expected in May 2020 (News, 6 August 2021; News, 18 April 2023; News, 11 August 2023). Earlier this year, Mr Makin denied that these delays were because of pressure from the Church of England (News, 19 January).
Individuals criticised in the review were to be given a chance to respond in March (a process known as “Maxwellisation”), he said at that time, with a view to publication soon afterwards. But that month, one survivor, known as Graham Jones — after seeing a draft of the report for fact-checking under a non-disclosure agreement — withdrew his co-operation, saying that the draft represented a “mere shadow” of the case (News, 15 March).
In May, Mr Makin apologised that his review would not be published that month as previously promised, but at a date yet to be set (News, 17 May). The Maxwellisation stage had started “later than planned”, he had said, “because there was a substantial change to a contribution to the review, at the final stages of completion”.