With much focus on safeguarding in the Church of England and General Synod voting on independent safeguarding this week, we take a look at the work being done in our diocese to ensure we are a safe space.

The Diocese of Truro was one of the first dioceses in the country to be independently audited by INEQE. While the report praised the work being done here it also provided a comprehensive list of recommendations for improving safeguarding. Improvements that would need to be led by a small professional team with limited capacity.

The diocese’s safeguarding team is headed by two former police officers – Andy Earl, who is Head of Safeguarding and Diocesan Safeguarding Officer, and Jo Pomery, Deputy Diocesan Safeguarding Officer. They are joined by Lora Prynn, an accredited, experienced social worker, Jo Bell, Governance Officer, and Mandy Wells, Safeguarding trainer, as well as Simon Vaughan, Safeguarding administrator.

This small team oversees the safeguarding work of the Truro Diocesan Board of Finance Ltd, 12 deaneries made up of almost 300 parishes and Truro Cathedral.

Andy Earl, Head of Safeguarding, said: “The INEQE audit highlighted good practice in our diocese, but we are not complacent.

“As a result of one of the recommendations in the INEQE report, the diocese has increased funding in safeguarding which has allowed us to expand our team. This has been helpful because we have seen additional demand partly as a result of a better understanding of safeguarding in our parishes and partly because of the media interest in safeguarding nationally.”

To meet recommendations, the team has also reprioritised some of its resources to better support parishes and is in the process of developing bespoke role specific training to ensure parishes are well equipped to build on the superb work already occurring.

Andy added: “Our case work team has been strengthened to ensure oversight and supervision because we strive to be a continuous improvement organisation that offers trauma informed care.”

“.. safeguarding in the diocese is supported from the very highest levels..”

The work of safeguarding is supported in the diocese from the very highest levels with both bishops and the diocesan secretary actively engaged. The Bishop’s Diocesan Council (BDC), the body which is responsible for considering matters of policy; advising the diocesan bishop and determining how matters should be taken forward to the diocesan synod for further consideration, even has an identified trustee with specific responsibility for safeguarding.

Andy Thompson’s role is to ensure the safeguarding team’s operations are understood and resourced by the trustees. “I am here to act as another conduit between the front facing team and the governing body. It’s about making sure that outcomes and results from inspections and audits are understood and actioned by all the trustees. I do that through supporting Andy to make presentations to the trustees and I report on the meetings of the Diocesan Safeguarding Scrutiny Panel, on which I sit as an observer on behalf of the trustees. It is all about maintaining channels of communication and making safeguarding central to all developments and policies.”

Andy, who is a Local Worship Leader and DIT and Deanery Synod member in West Wivelshire, is there as a check for the team when national safeguarding structures change. He also has a role in checking the safeguarding risk register. Andy said: “It is all about helping to change culture and behaviour within all parts of the diocese.”

Another layer of scrutiny is provided by the Diocesan Safeguarding Scrutiny Panel, led by an independent chair, Justine Hosking.

Justine, a solicitor specialising in social care law, was previously the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly) as well as chair of the Cornwall Family Justice Board among many other things.

Justine is joined on the panel by independent panel members from external and statutory organisations specialising in child protection, allegations against professionals, adult safeguarding and domestic abuse, parish representatives and clergy, ensuring that national safeguarding trends are thoroughly reflected within the panel’s discussions. She said: “Each diocese holds a fundamental obligation to establish a diocesan safeguarding advisory panel, and we are fortunate in that this diocese not only recognises the importance of the panel but also values its unique composition.”

The panel recently undertook a development session to review the findings of the independent safeguarding audit (INEQE). Justine said: “This session provided an invaluable opportunity to listen to both local and national safeguarding challenges facing the Church. Through discussion and collaboration, it became clear that our panel’s role needed to evolve to better address these issues and as a result, we agreed to transition from a diocesan safeguarding advisory panel to a diocesan safeguarding scrutiny panel – DSSP. This change signifies our commitment to providing an independent source of scrutiny and challenge on effective safeguarding policy and practice. It underscores our dedication to continually improving and adapting our approach to safeguarding to ensure we remain vigilant and proactive in protecting our church community.”

The Diocese of Truro is fortunate to be part of an open and collaborative South West region where the dioceses share good practice and collaborate on benchmarking progress. This regional cooperation further enhances our ability to uphold and compare our performance against the National Safeguarding Standards.

Justine added: “The DSSP is acutely aware that safeguarding challenges remain across the diocese. One key issue is how to fully support and engage parish volunteer officers to increase awareness and confidence in recognising and reporting safeguarding issues. Equally important is helping volunteers to recognise where concerns are not safeguarding related but involve unreasonable or inappropriate behaviour. Addressing such behaviour as early as possible is crucial to prevent it from becoming the norm and in some cases, becoming a more serious safeguarding issue. We recognise that there is an increasing demand on the Safeguarding Team’s resources to provide this support. However, it is the role of DSSP to promote continuous improvement in safeguarding practice at all levels of the church community to build confidence that it is a safer Church for everyone.”

And at the front line of all of this are the 250 Parish Safeguarding Officers (PSOs), volunteers in our parishes, who give their time to this vitally important role.