As Bishop of Exeter, I am committed to the highest standards of safeguarding and enabling the voices and experiences of abuse survivors to help shape our safeguarding culture. I welcome the General Synod’s decision to transfer the National Safeguarding Team to an independent body (Model 3) and thus move to independent scrutiny, together with the amendment to call for further work as to the legal and practical requirements necessary to implement Model 4. You can read more about the changes here.
The benefits of Model 3 include enabling the safeguarding team to remain embedded in the Diocese of Exeter, where they feel they can best support parishes and influence diocesan culture. Work is already underway for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor, Costa Nassaris, to transition to becoming the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer, which will strengthen his autonomy in making safeguarding decisions.
In the Diocese of Exeter, we are fortunate in having a highly skilled and experienced safeguarding team, led by the Director of People Services and Safeguarding. Collectively they bring decades of expertise in police child protection work and adult and child social care ensuring a strong foundation for safeguarding across our diocese. Their views on the way forward certainly weighed heavily with me in discerning which safeguarding model to vote for.
The safeguarding team were commended in our recent INEQE independent safeguarding audit, which also concluded that our safeguarding structures were safe and robust. We have just recruited a new Assistant Safeguarding Advisor to increase capacity in our safeguarding team, in line with INEQE’s recommendations.
We are grateful to have an experienced and committed Independent Chair of our Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel (DSAP), Steve White. Our DSAP members have plans in place to progress implementation of a number of recommendations from INEQE across the Diocese within the coming months.
We are also enormously grateful for the hard work and diligence of our network of parish safeguarding representatives who are on the frontline when it comes to safeguarding in our churches.
There is however no room for complacency and, as a diocese, we will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen our safeguarding structures and ensure the highest standards of protection for children and vulnerable adults in our communities. We look forward to hearing more details about the implementation and delivery of the new independent body for safeguarding scrutiny.
As we navigate these changes, my colleagues and I remain committed to offering full support to our Safeguarding Team, recognising the challenges ahead. We will continue to communicate promptly and clearly with all relevant parties about any changes that may affect safeguarding practice.
The Rt. Rev’d Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Exeter
