As set out by the Charity Commission, PCCs and Church charities are responsible for taking reasonable steps to protecting people from harm in a church setting.

A new section on the Church of England website signposts PCCs to existing mandatory and best practice information relating to protecting people from harm in a church setting. Policies and procedures from trusted sources are grouped by topic ranging from safeguarding and conduct and behaviour to health and safety, buildings, governance and finance, and data management.

Policies are marked as ‘mandatory’ or ‘strongly advised’, and where relevant, link to a national policy or to a template that can be downloaded and adapted for local use. Where possible, a point of contact is provided for each topic.

In all instances, the policies, procedures, forms, and templates are from the Church of England or other official bodies including the Health and Safety Executive, ACAS, and the Charity Commission. In some instances, like safeguarding, PCCs need to follow national Church policy. For everything else, PCCs need their own policy or procedure.

Relevant policies and procedures are grouped under the following headings:

  • Safeguarding – Parish safeguarding resources.
  • Health & Safety – Health and safety at work, disability and accessibility, fire safety risk assessment, food safety, accident and first aid, working at heights, gas safety regulations.
  • Conduct & Behaviour – PCC Code of Conduct, complaints procedure, whistleblowing.
  • Buildings – Safety and security in church buildings (Martyn’s Law), building maintenance and repair, bell ringing and tower safety, churchyard regulations.
  • Human Resources – Disciplinary and grievance, sickness and absence, recruitment, statutory maternity pay and leave, reviews and appraisals, lone working.
  • Data Management – Data protection, filming and photography in church, CCTV.
  • Governance & finance – Church representation rules, charity trustee: what’s involved, internal financial controls, code of fundraising practice.
  • Risk – Reporting serious incidents to the Charity Commission.
  • Insurance – guidance from the Charity Commission.

The improved Church of England website, due to go live in the autumn, will bring information for PCCs that is currently held across several sites, including Parish Resources and AChurchNearYou.com, together into one place.

Visit churchofengland.org/resources/safety for the list of resources.