INDEPENDENT audits of church safeguarding have repeatedly found that the capacity of diocesan safeguarding teams is being stretched unsustainably.
Over the past ten months, the INEQE safeguarding group has published reports based on its audits of nine dioceses. To varying extents, each audit has found that the capacity of the diocesan safeguarding team (DST) needed addressing to ensure that current levels of safeguarding provision were sustainable, and that capacity was able to grow as and when the need arose.
In a generally positive report on the diocese of Worcester, for instance, the auditors say that the DST “work beyond their agreed hours to ensure they are delivering supportive and timely responses. This is commendable but not sustainable.”
When contacted by the Church Times, a diocesan safeguarding adviser (DSA) from a different diocese said: “I don’t know a DSA who has got a good work-life balance.” She said that she often worked until midnight.
The issue of safeguarding staff working beyond their contracted hours is identified in a document published in 2024 by the National Safeguarding Team (NST), analysing current staffing levels in diocesan and cathedral safeguarding teams.
The paper warns that, given that “many safeguarding officers reported already working beyond their contracted hours,” any resourcing model needs to avoid reinforcing reliance on staff working overtime.
The trend is identified in the audit of the diocese of Exeter. On the subject of capacity, the report says that, “regardless of the team’s undeniable strengths, it does not have the capacity to meet the ambition of the church to grow, nor in the opinion of the Audit, an ability to manage long-term extraction [staff absences] or diversion of resources.”
DSTs are funded by the diocese rather than by the Church Commissioners or from other central funds. As a result, the financial constraints of a diocese will affect what level of investment it puts into its safeguarding team.
The INEQE audit programme, however, has been paid for by central funds. The most recent report published relates to the diocese of Chichester, where, again, capacity issues were identified. The “current workload is not sustainable”, the report says. The DST, which it praises, is “overburdened with a high volume of cases, leaving little bandwidth to manage critical incidents or unexpected extractions” (News, 24 January).
The diocese of Oxford has one of the largest DSTs in the country: ten members of staff are listed on the safeguarding page of the diocese’s website. Despite the resources devoted to safeguarding, INEQE found that capacity issues arose on occasion, particularly when it came to the delivery of training.
Safeguarding training is a significant part of the expectation of diocesan teams, and it can be difficult to ensure that this work is done within current staff capacity, a DSA had told the Church Times.
He said that the NST could have “unrealistic expectations” that safeguarding teams were unable to fulfil without the risk of compromising casework — something, he said, that no safeguarding professional would be willing to do. “In any tug of war, casework always wins.”
The Bristol audit praises the diocesan safeguarding officer for applying an “artificially low threshold” for the team taking on cases from parishes. This, the audit finds, “increases the work of the DST but minimises the risk that a case will be missed. In the context of the current environment, this is good practice.”
While commending the safeguarding team, the audit finds that “resilience needs to be considered,” and recommends the employment of a director of safeguarding to “provide the capacity to oversee the implementation of national standards, to drive and coordinate improvement and be the conduit by which a transition to any new system is managed”.
The recommendation that a new post of director of safeguarding be created, in addition to a diocesan safeguarding adviser or diocesan safeguarding officer, has been a feature of every INEQE audit, starting with the first completed report on the diocese of Salisbury.
Several advantages of the new post are given: that it would increase capacity, especially at the strategic and managerial level, ensuring that these elements were prioritised alongside casework; and that it would put safeguarding at the heart of the diocese’s senior leadership team.
In Salisbury, INEQE’s recommendation has been met with the creation of a new position of Head of Safeguarding, and the employment of an extra member of staff focused on casework.
Another diocese that is scaling up its DST in response to its audit is Newcastle. INEQE reported that Newcastle’s DST “suffers from a critical lack of capacity”, and that this had the potential to undermine the “positive trajectory” of the diocese’s safeguarding provision.
The then DSA in Newcastle, Carol Butler, “works exceptionally long hours and is stretched between strategic responsibilities, the provision of training, the oversight of operational delivery and case work”, the audit says. the chair of the diocesan safeguarding advisory panel acknowledged that “capacity issues in the DST have created some tensions and frustrations.”
The INEQE audit also highlighted the diocese’s use of external consultants to increase the capacity of the NST. While this was helpful to meet demand, “as part of a long-term strategy [it] has the potential to impact upon resilience, hinder proper succession planning and as such, undermine the good work that [Ms Butler] has led.”
Shortly after the INEQE audit, Ms Butler left her position. The diocese is currently seeking a full-time “Safeguarding Director & Designated Safeguarding Officer”, and a spokesman for the diocese told the Church Times that the diocese was also recruiting a designated caseworker, a member of staff to oversee training, and an administrator, which would reduce the need for external consultants.
“Swift action has been taken to reshape our safeguarding infrastructure to further enhance capacity and resilience,” the spokesman said. This involved the DST’s being “fully refreshed”.
In an article in The Daily Telegraph in December, the journalist Charles Moore wrote that Ms Butler had left under a non-disclosure agreement. The diocesan spokesman told the Church Times that former employees “are legally bound by the usual confidentiality clauses contained within any settlement agreement, which is common practice in any organisation”.
The audit of the diocese of Truro, which was published last summer (News, 5 July 2024), says that “capacity for safeguarding is an issue and that this can impact on spans of control and the blurring of roles and responsibilities for some.
“Looking ahead, it is also clear that across society there is a growing number of people in need, demand for safeguarding services and support are likely to increase, and there is potential for significant change to the Church’s safeguarding arrangements.”
