Quality
Assurance
Framework
Quality Assurance Framework
Our role at the CSSA is to regulate safeguarding in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and to share what we find.
We do this through a programme of planned audits and unscheduled reviews of Religious Life Groups (RLG’s) and dioceses. Both audits and reviews assess safeguarding practice against our eight National Safeguarding Standards. They also monitor compliance with mandatory requirements, such as the reporting of allegations to statutory authorities.
Audits are carried out by members of our Quality Assurance team. All are highly qualified and experienced safeguarding professionals who are independent of the Church.
What is the purpose of audits?
We carry out audits and reviews in order to:
- Exercise oversight and ensure that the RLG or diocese has suitable safeguarding procedures in place and that those procedures are being complied with to meet the safeguarding standards.
- Check that the relevant safeguarding statutory and regulatory requirements, including the mandatory requirements, are met.
- Identify and share effective practice.
- Identify areas for development.
The audit process focuses on supporting improvement, as well as measuring compliance. We all want church bodies to succeed at safeguarding.
Our job is to hold them to account.
How do we go about auditing?
No one-size-fits-all approach to audit could be applied to the wide range of RLG’s and dioceses in England and Wales. We therefore have distinct audit models for RLG’s and dioceses. These includes three different levels of audit for RLG’s, depending on their size and ministry.
The next sections summarise our audit process. You can find full information about what to expect before and during an audit in our Audit Frameworks, here:
- RLG Audit Framework
- Diocesan Audit Framework (due for review early 2025)
The RLG framework includes information about how RLG’s are allocated to each audit level.
Audit activity
There are two stages to all CSSA audits:
- A process for self-assessment by the RLG or diocese
- Audit by the CSSA Quality Assurance team
Self-assessment
The audit process begins with a request for the RLG or diocese to complete a safeguarding self-assessment tool. This helps inform the CSSA audit, but also allows the RLG or diocese to work out where they are in terms of compliance with the safeguarding standards. It supports them to evaluate where improvements can be made, and how best safeguarding practice can be achieved in their specific context and ministry.
The completed self-assessment tool should be submitted to us alongside documentary evidence that supports the assessment.
We have created guidance for evidence to be provided alongside the self-assessment. This includes information that the audit team will always ask for in preparation for audit, alongside other examples of evidence that could be provided. This is not intended to be a definitive list. How any RLG or diocese chooses to evidence their safeguarding practice is, to a large degree, in their own hands and will reflect their own unique circumstances.
Self-assessments
Guidance for evidence to be provided
CSSA audits of RLG’s and dioceses
Our starting point for any audit is always a review of the self-assessment and supporting evidence. This will help us decide the areas that we need to focus on, which we refer to as our key lines of enquiry.
What we do during audits will vary according to the size and type of RLG or diocese being audited. It always will include an in-person visit and meetings with people in key roles. Beyond this we may carry out audits of how individual allegations and concerns were managed (our case audit matrix provides more detail about this), we may visit specific premises to assess safeguarding arrangements, we may ask to speak to groups of people and (in dioceses) we may carry out surveys.
Audit timetable
RLG’s and dioceses will receive at least 12 weeks’ notice prior to their audit. Our audit flowcharts provide rough timelines for the process, but there will be variables depending on the scope of the audit and the size of the organisation concerned. We will work with you to ensure that timescales are realistic.
Audit flowcharts
Audit outcome
All of the information that we obtain during the course of an audit is used to assess the RLG’s or diocese’s progress against each safeguarding standard. We use a Maturity Matrix tool to inform our grading process.
Each standard will be individually graded, in turn these are combined to provide an overall grade.
Dioceses and larger RLG’s (Levels 2 and 3) will receive one of seven potential grades of Below Basic, Basic, Early Progress, Firm Progress, Results Being Achieved, Comprehensive Assurance and Exemplary. Smaller RLG (Level 1) are graded using a three-point system of Not Met, Met with Recommendations and Met.
Maturity Matrix tools
Reporting
Each audit will result in a written report which will include an assessment of the extent to which the RLG or diocese has met, and continues to meet, the safeguarding standards and other mandatory requirements. The report is likely to include recommendations to further strengthen practice.
An opportunity will be provided to the RLG or diocese to review the content of the report, to make any representations they see fit and to correct any points of factual accuracy. The final version of the report will be published on this website.
Audit actions, review, and follow-up
It is the responsibility of RLG and diocesan leaders to implement audit recommendations, however we will be available to provide further information about what we expect to see as an outcome. We may also share good practice that we have seen elsewhere. Support for RLG’s about how to act on recommendations is available from the Religious Life Safeguarding Service
The outcome of the audit will inform the level of subsequent oversight by the CSSA.
Safeguarding Reviews
A Safeguarding Review is an unscheduled review of an RLG or diocese.
A Safeguarding Review may be triggered in a number of circumstances including where:
- in the reasonable belief of the CSSA there is a risk of harm or potential risk of harm relating to safeguarding.
- evidence-based concerns or reports of a safeguarding nature are made to, or come to the attention of, the CSSA.
- evidence-based concerns or complaints of poor safeguarding practice by the RLG or diocese are made to, or come to the attention of, the CSSA.
- the RLG or diocese itself seeks formal advice and/ or recommendations from the CSSA.
We will agree the bespoke terms of reference and methodologies for the review with the RLG or diocese concerned.
Continuous Improvement
At the CSSA we hold ourselves to the same high standards that we expect to see in the church bodies that we audit. We therefore seek to learn from what we do and from others to continually develop our audit model. To promote the transparency that we expect to see throughout the church, we will publish any external reviews of our practice that we commission, together with our own overviews of phases of audit activity.
You can find a review of our pilot diocesan baseline audits undertaken by an external safeguarding consultant HERE. We’re sorry there was a delay between receiving this report and publishing it. Learning from this review informed the development of the final diocesan baseline audit model and preparations for re-audits.
Any questions?
Please email qualityassurance@catholicsafeguarding.org.uk if you would like to speak with a member of the QA team.