THE protection of children in faith settings will come under scrutiny in a new inquiry launched by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Safeguarding in Faith Communities.

It seeks to assess how well the existing definition of “regulated activity” — work that a barred person must not do — is understood and applied, after several loopholes have been identified in aspects of work with children and young people, and in some worship practices, which are often volunteer-led on a rota basis, with no regular children’s worker present.

Gaps and loopholes exist in relation to Sunday schools; community-led toddler groups and playgroups, where volunteers are not classed as needing an enhanced DBS check; around supplementary schools, language classes, and cultural teachers; around the supervision of children during the “silent” mode during Ramadan; and the “temporary and roaming” nature of informal Sikhism teachers, who have unsupervised access to children.

There are also concerns about caretakers for places of worship and community centres, who often work unsupervised; roles at residential holiday camps; and itinerant preachers and faith leaders, who are perceived as safe by the congregation owing to their position in the faith community.

All these are putting children and young people at risk, the APPG says. It says that clarifying and expanding the current definition of these groups would ensure comprehensive safeguarding across all contexts, and help to educate faith groups about their responsibilities.

“To date, there has been limited research, data, and formal scrutiny of how the regulated activity definition operates in practice within faith communities,” Peter Wright, the spokesman for the APPG, said at the launch in Parliament last week.

“This inquiry is intended to fill that gap by providing both quantitative and qualitative evidence to ensure that discussions with the Government about key legislation, such as the proposed mandatory reporting duty, are grounded in and informed by the experience and voice of faith communities.”

Recommendations made by the Government’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), in 2022, called for improved access to the barred list. The Independent Review of the Disclosure and Barring Regime (2023) recommended amending the definition of regulated activity to make it more easily understood.

The inquiry welcomes submissions from a wide range of stakeholders, including people with experience of safeguarding in a faith context; practitioners; safeguarding professionals; youth and children’s workers; academics; voluntary and community organisations; people with lived experience; and other relevant parties.

The questions seek to discover the extent of shared and consistent understanding of the definition of regulated activity; what are the associated risks for faith communities and organisations; and what are the implications of these for safeguarding practices and promoting safe environments.

The inquiry closes on 26 July, and the evidence will be studied over a 12-month period before the final report is published.