Note from Nazir

1 November 2024

This is my final message as Chair of the CSSA, as my tenure comes to its three-year end.  I was brought in to help set up the CSSA and I am already past my shelf-life!

I am proud to be leaving the CSSA in such a strong position. When I first arrived, we had a team of good, strong people on the Board, and the support of Catholic Church leaders. We had the Elliott review and recommendations. But the rest was over to us to make happen.

Since then, we have established the national eight safeguarding standards, developed an audit model (for religious life groups and dioceses), delivered the baseline audits of every diocese in England and Wales, and published the results. We have supported the Catholic Church in driving up safeguarding standards and in understanding what is expected of them.

The road has often been rocky, of course it has. In all my roles, I have become used to withstanding professional criticism and challenge. There has been plenty of that at the CSSA. This is how it should be actually – because it means the change is real. In my experience, if meeting the challenge is easy, it is usually the wrong challenge. (I sincerely thank everyone who has chosen not to make their challenge personal).

Thank you to everyone who works so hard in safeguarding in the Catholic Church – we haven’t always agreed on the process, but we have always agreed on the outcome – to prevent harm.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the CSSA Board who have put up with me for three years! They are rigorous in their approach, they scrutinise, they support the excellent staff team. They blend their independence of judgement with their personal and professional backgrounds. To criticisms that we act too slowly,  I would say that the step change achieved is nothing short of extraordinary. When a tiny agency of three years attempts to bring about operational and cultural progress in a centuries-old faith setting, the odds are – frankly – stacked against them.

But the CSSA are here to stay and today, as the first day, holds firm to its core purpose – to assure a general public that everything possible is being done to keep people safe in the Catholic Church, through regulation. The Agency is poised to strengthen further its independence, as the Church takes the reins on guidance and training, and the CSSA develops its regulatory function – both in depth and in reach.  I wish the new Chair every possible good wish in delivering this next stage of work.

My final, and most important, thanks go to survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church. To those whom I have let down, I am truly sorry. For those whom we’ve managed to make a difference, its nothing less than you deserve. For those who are yet to have an outcome which brings them peace, my reassurance that the CSSA will continue to work their hardest on your behalf. You will remain in my thoughts even as I move on to other roles.

With my very best wishes and thanks,

Nazir