Scotland’s Anglican church has become embroiled in its own safeguarding scandal after it emerged that welfare officers were not consulted before a bishop accused of bullying was cleared to return to her duties.
The Most Rev Justin Welby resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury last week after a report found he mishandled allegations against a prolific abuser.
His departure prompted a senior member of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC), which is separate from, but has close links to, the Church of England, to reflect on its own protective structures.
In a message to clergy the Right Rev Ian Paton, the Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, wrote: “Safeguarding in the SEC is a vitally important part of our life and any concerns reported are passed, without fail, to the SEC safeguarding team in Edinburgh. Survivors are placed at the centre of any response.”
Evidence has now emerged which appears to contradict this.
In 2021 a number of priests and church employees told The Times that the Right Rev Anne Dyer, the Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, had made their working lives intolerable.
Sir Iain Torrance, a former Church of Scotland minister, was commissioned to compile an independent investigation. It concluded that Dyer had presided over a culture of “bullying and dysfunction” and suggested that she “step back permanently”.
He wrote: “It is my belief that the overall culture within the SEC and its leadership is of sufficient concern to demand a wider inquiry,” but his recommendations were dismissed.
Paton and all other Scottish bishops were also sent a more detailed report at the time, which contained claims that Dyer “bullied, harassed and discriminated against” a disabled employee “to the point that she was signed off work, in breach of the SEC safeguarding policies”.
It was alleged that she ridiculed and undermined the woman on a near-daily basis, leading her to express “suicidal thoughts”.
One cleric claimed that her bullying left him with nightmares and damaged his mental health, while another witness claimed Dyer urged an unwell colleague to discuss their funeral arrangements, leaving them so alarmed that hospital staff banned her from visiting again.
Despite this, it is claimed the document was not shared with welfare officers, with one allegedly being assured there were “no safeguarding issues at play”.
Last month the SEC’s legal officer ruled it would “no longer be in the public interest” to pursue the allegations made against Dyer, 67, despite sufficient evidence existing to “provide a realistic prospect of conviction in respect of each allegation”. She had been suspended since August 2022 but was allowed to return to her duties last month.
She insists she is innocent of all wrongdoing and is a victim of bullying by a conservative “cabal” within the church.
Daphne Audsley, the SEC’s assistant safeguarding officer, said she was not consulted before it was announced that Dyer had been reinstated.
John Wyllie, the church’s head of safeguarding, said he did not become aware of the decision until two weeks later, when he returned from annual leave.
Read it all in The Times
