Welcome to the February 2026 safeguarding newsletter from St Albans Diocese. This issue introduces:
- A national Parish Safeguarding Survey (closing date 20th Feb)
- Archdeacons’ Questionnaires
- Charity Commission requirements for PCCs
- Promoting a Safer Church consultation
- 31:8 guidance on how to handover safeguarding successfully
- DBS Eligibility Sources of Information
- Modern Slavery Workshop
- A church Near You – safeguarding arrangements request
- Reminder for training requirements for bell ringers
- Partner Agency Information
With thanks for all you do to help ensure that everyone—children, vulnerable adults, and indeed all members of our communities, can experience the church as a place of safety where they are cared for. Please email us with any questions.
Jez Hirst, Diocesan Safeguarding Officer
Dave Adams, Assistant Diocesan Safeguarding Officer
Jos Perris, Safeguarding Training Coordinator and Trainer
Warren Lucas, Assistant Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser
Melissa McDonald, Safeguarding Administrator
Erica Hayter, DBS Administrator
Introduction by Archdeacon Charles
Last week, the Archdeacon’s Articles of Enquiry were sent out to Churchwardens. As has been the case for a number of years, the questions in them are all related to safeguarding.
We are hugely grateful to all those who are involved in responding to them. We appreciate that it can be a significant exercise, which is why it moved as of last year to the beginning of the year, so as not to clash with other requests that are sent from Archdeacons to Churchwardens the other side of Easter. Ensuring that all parishes make a return is vital in getting an up-to-date picture of safeguarding practice across the Diocese and discerning the areas where parishes are most in need of support in striving to build a safer church.
Safeguarding is of course about more than simply compliance. It is about creating and embedding a safeguarding culture and fundamentally it is a mission imperative. I took part in an online meeting this week. During it, one of the participants described a recent experience of people who had joined a church and started to get involved. When they learned about some of the aspects of safeguarding in the parish, for these people, it was a positive inducement for them to get more involved. They wanted to be more committed because they felt that it would be a safe place to do that.
Thank you for your continued commitment to safeguarding and to creating a safe church where all are valued and can flourish.
Parish Safeguarding Survey
The National Safeguarding Team are taking the opportunity to conduct a brief survey of how useful their resources are for parishes, and what further resources could be useful. This is simply a “temperature check” of how things are currently and ideas for future development, to help them gauge what they are producing. It is not a test, compliance check or anything that will be used for any other purposes. Please could this be completed to help shape how national resources will look.
The closing date is Friday 20 February 2026. This is a national survey and if you have any questions about it, please email: policy.safeguarding@churchofengland.org
Archdeacons’ Questionnaires
Towards the end of January, Churchwardens received the Archdeacons’ Questionnaires, to be completed via an online link. These questionnaires focus exclusively on safeguarding and are designed both to help each parish check that required measures are in place and to highlight where additional diocesan support may be needed.
Churchwardens are encouraged to involve the PCC, the incumbent, and/or the Parish Safeguarding Officer to ensure the information provided is accurate. Please take time to discuss the questions together before submitting your response.
If your parish is not managing to meet requirements, please take this as an agenda item to your next PCC meeting for discussion about how this can be addressed and a suitable timeframe. If you need help from the Diocesan Safeguarding Team, then please do be in contact. The online submissions have been requested to be completed before Saturday 28 March. Thank you for your help.
Charity Commission requirements for PCCs
The Charity Commission have warned that the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England must rapidly accelerate the delivery of safeguarding improvements and close gaps in its approach to handling complaints. Read the report from November 2025 in the link below and response from the Archbishops’ Council.
In summary, charities within the Church of England must get better at recognising and reporting safeguarding serious incidents. This means being prepared and having a formally agreed delegation of trustees.
Reporting safeguarding Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission and forming a delegation.
All PCCs are charities and so are required to report all Serious Incidents (safeguarding and otherwise) to the Charity Commission.
A safeguarding Serious Incident is an adverse event, whether actual or alleged, which results in or risks significant harm to the charity’s beneficiaries, employees, office holders, volunteers or to others who come into contact with the charity through its work.
The ultimate responsibility for reporting safeguarding Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission sits with the PCC’s trustees. For reasons relating to confidentiality, many charities restrict the sharing of information relating to safeguarding to a smaller group of trustees only. If a PCC has such an arrangement in place, it should be reflected in the delegation so that it also confers authority on this smaller group of trustees to oversee the reporting of any serious incidents to the Charity Commission. The Diocesan Safeguarding Officer reports safeguarding serious incidents to the Charity Commission on behalf of the PCC trustees.
The relevant guidance from the House of Bishop’s for reporting safeguarding Serious Incidents can be found here:
The relevant Charity Commission Guidance for reporting serious incidents can be found below:
A template for use by PCCs for forming a delegation can be found here:
The Charity Commission are currently taking a strongly critical approach to charities that are part of the Church of England who do not report any serious incidents. If your PCC has not formerly agreed a delegation, then please do so immediately rather than being caught out when a safeguarding Serious Incident occurs.
Promoting a Safer Church consultation
The Promoting a Safer Church document has been revised and updated now that the National Safeguarding Team have almost finalised updating all the safeguarding documents.
The accompanying explanatory note provides an overview of how all safeguarding documents sit together and it is helpful to read this before the survey, as the document looks quite different. Please be aware this is not the final branding, which is under development. This is an important strategic document, and we want to ensure that your thoughts and suggestions are included as much as possible.
A request has been made for parishes to examine this important strategic document and give feedback through a short survey.
The closing date is the same as the above-mentioned Parish Safeguarding Survey, Friday 20 February 2026.
If you have any questions regarding the survey, please email policy.safeguarding@churchofengland.org
We appreciate this is the second national survey you are being asked to complete but it is your opportunity to have an input to the overall safeguarding national function.
31:8 guidance on how to handover safeguarding lead role successfully
Handing over the role of safeguarding lead is one of the most important transitions in any organisation. Whether you’re moving on to a new role, retiring, or simply stepping down from the position, it is crucial to ensure people in your care remain safe. Ensuring a smooth, thorough handover will help protect the people and give your successor the best possible start.
This blog highlights the advice from 31:8 for the top 10 things to consider making your handover a success.
DBS Eligibility Information Sources
A useful Church of Education document on DBS Role Eligibility, can be found in the Toolkit within the online Safer Recruitment and People Management module. You can find the link here:
Link to 31:8 roles and eligibility
Please note that the 31:8 documents can only be accessed by Recruiters and Lead Recruiters (DBS administrators).
‘Church Roles’ is an extremely useful document showing several roles and their eligibility:
Recruiters can access an interactive eligibility guide here:
Importantly, when accessing this guide, it uses a different set of login details to your ‘Manage Application’ login. Essentially, Recruiters can just create their own account on the 31:8 website and, as long as they use the same email address that 31:8 already hold for them, they will automatically be recognised as a Recruiter and granted access to the interactive guide. If there are any problems accessing it, please contact 31:8 for support on 0303 003 1111 or disclosure@thirtyoneeight.org
Please also see our safer recruitment and DBS FAQs on the diocesan website here:
Modern Slavery Workshop
Thank you to everyone who responded to the notice in our last newsletter, expressing interest in a Modern Slavery Workshop. The planned workshop is Tuesday 14 April from 1pm-4pm (which will be hybrid: in person at Holywell Lodge and on Teams).
This will be an opportunity to hear from our two speakers Lois Bosatta (Director of Clewer) and Ruth Dearnley (President of Stop the Traffik) who will introduce some of the key issues that we face here in the UK.
A representative from the police and social services will then share their perspective and we also want to hear from you, many of whom have your own experience and expertise. Therefore, this meeting will be an opportunity for us to gather the different perspectives, insights and considerations from those present, reflect on issues and priorities and then create a plan going forward.
Please can you email Jos Perris if you would like to be involved in this workshop:
Lent Course from Clewer
We would also like to draw your attention to a Lent Course being offered by Clewer.
This course shines a spotlight on child exploitation. A shocking 1 in every 4 victims of modern slavery is a child. Modern slavery and exploitation impact children in different ways – many are trapped in domestic servitude, county lines and sexual exploitation.
As Clewer write: “Even though we work in the sector and regularly hear of the trauma faced by survivors, we were still taken aback by some of the things we learnt as we listened to the stories and experience of the front-line practitioners and survivors interviewed in the films. If you haven’t watched the six short films yet, we’d urge you to take some time this week to watch them. As our communities become increasingly fragmented, the cost-of-living crisis deepens and refugees, asylum seekers and migrants face ongoing hostility, it is vital that we consider practical ways in which we can reach out to vulnerable people groups and protect children from harm.”
The films have been designed to work as a Lent Course, but they can also be used in other ways, to share insights and into the reality of Modern Slavery and practical guidance on how to challenge it.
A church Near You – safeguarding arrangements request
Previously, advice has been shared about what safeguarding information to put on a parish website, while recognising that not all parishes have one. In this situation the parish may want to offer some information on the A Church Near You website where safeguarding contact details and information can be shared.
There is no requirement to offer such information, but it is good practice to share here, whether your parish has a website or not.
Reminder for training requirements for bell ringers
We understand that there is some residual resistance from bell ringers to complete the mandatory safeguarding training.
Below is reminder from the Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework. The training and raising of awareness are important in what is often a remote part of the church.
Tower Captains and Ringing Teachers must complete:
- Basic Safeguarding Awareness
- Safeguarding Foundations – renewal every three years.
Also, anyone (volunteers and employees) working with children, young people, or vulnerable adults must complete Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse and renew every three years. This applies to Tower Captains and Ringing Teachers.
Bellringers must complete:
- Basic Safeguarding Awareness – renewal every three years
Partner Agencies Information
NHS England Safeguarding Alert from Central Bedfordshire Council:
Safeguarding Bedfordshire is the multi-agency training provider for the Safeguarding Children Partnerships in Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Luton and they offer many free courses.
Training is aimed at those working or volunteering with children and young people across Bedfordshire and offer a wide range of class based (virtual and face-to-face) safeguarding training. Funded e-learning is also available.
Details of upcoming training with dates can be found here: