What recommendations can be made by the CSSA?

4 May 2023

What recommendations can be made by the CSSA?

The CSSA can make recommendations as follows:

What the CSSA can recommend

That the church body acknowledges what went wrong and apologises to the complainant.
That the church body takes relevant action to prevent a similar situation occurring again e.g. that learning takes place or local policy and procedures are reviewed and revised.
That the church body looks again at its decision, if the CSSA finds that in reaching it, it did not follow its procedures, that information was not properly taken into account in the decision being reached, or that a conclusion wasn’t supported by the available evidence.
That there is no further action because the complaint is not upheld.

What the CSSA cannot recommend

That individuals are disciplined, suspended or have their employment terminated.
That compensation is paid.
That a particular policy or procedure is adopted, unless it exists within the national safeguarding policies and procedures manual.
That the church body makes a different decision.

The complainant and church body will receive the final decision and what the CSSA expects the church body to do to put things right. The CSSA will follow up to see if recommendations are carried out.

The CSSA will not make recommendations where the church body has acted properly and the CSSA has not identified any learning points.