The
Eight
National
Safeguarding
Standards

The central importance of respect, trust, and safety always i.e. “safeguarding”, is recognised and prioritised in all the decisions and actions of the Church body. Effective safeguarding is embedded in the Church body’s leadership, governance, ministry, and culture.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

LGC1: Leadership – The Church body will:

• Have a zero-tolerance approach to all abuse.
• Seek and support the engagement of those who report having been harmed in contacts with personnel of the Church body, listen and respond to them.
• Make publicly available statements of its safeguarding commitments that are displayed within any location (e.g. physical and online) that it operates.
• Ensure a culture of safeguarding, as everyone’s responsibility and integral to its mission and ministry, is championed by its leadership.

LGC 2: Governance – The Church body’s leadership will:

• Establish and regularly update their governance arrangements to ensure that they facilitate the implementation of the safeguarding standards.
• Set out clearly the responsibilities of Bishops/Superiors, Parish Priests / Religious Life Group members and other leaders of ministries and services for safeguarding practice to enable effective adherence to the agreed standards.
• Establish a safeguarding committee made up of leaders of the Church body and professional experts to drive their Safeguarding Implementation Plan and oversee their safeguarding practices.
• Develop and publish a Safeguarding Implementation Plan and ensure that governance arrangements facilitate its delivery and review.
• Provide adequate resources, recruit, and support suitably trained and experienced safeguarding personnel to deliver resilient safeguarding services at every level including that of the parish and other ministries and services.

LGC: 3: Ministry and Culture – The Church body’s leadership will:

• Identify, prevent, and mitigate safeguarding risks in its structures, culture, and practice of ministry.
• Provide a safe environment in all its places of ministry.
• Promote the work of the safeguarding lead / team as a source of expertise and influence throughout the Church body.
• Actively promote the Caring Safely for Others pastoral standards produced by the Bishops’ Conference and / or the Integrity in Ministry standards produced by the Conference of Religious.
• Encourage and support a culture of transparency.
• Adhere to information sharing practices and record creation policies that have been agreed nationally.
• Promote constructive engagement with the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency and the Strategic Council for Catholic Safeguarding.

The following represents evidence that could be used to indicate compliance with this standard:

• Existence of a written safeguarding implementation plan for the Church body.
• Commitment to the Safeguarding Implementation Plan being regularly review and amended.
• Definition of the responsibilities of all involved in leadership in the Church body in contributing to effective safeguarding.
• The minutes of leadership meetings containing reference to safeguarding matters being discussed in line with the standards.
• Regular liaison with the CSSA and their advice being sought.

Each Church body proactively communicates the Church’s safeguarding message.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

CSM: 1 The Church body will:

• Have a written plan that describes how it will communicate its safeguarding messages, to whom, and in what manner.
• Regularly review its communication plan, taking account of developments in its practice.
• Link to other Church bodies and organisations to promote a safer environment within the Church and local community.

CSM: 2 The Church body’s leadership will:

• Actively engage with victims and survivors, volunteers, parents, and guardians, adults at risk and children and young people, when deciding how to communicate their safeguarding messages most effectively.
• Promote an understanding of their commitment to effective safeguarding amongst those that they serve, and to the wider public.
• Demonstrate that they own the safeguarding messages that they produce.

The following represents evidence that would indicate compliance with this standard.

• The existence of a written plan that details the Church body’s approach to communicating its safeguarding messages.
• Reviews of the communication plan and a timetable for planned revision.
• Links with local organisations, voluntary and statutory, that are present within the community.
• Reference to safeguarding messages in management and leadership meetings within the Church body.
• Existence of posters and other notices containing essential safeguarding information on open display in any premises that the Church body operates within.

Those that report having suffered harm receive a compassionate, caring and timely response, and are provided with access to appropriate support, advice, and pastoral care.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

EC1: The Church body will:

• Respond to any disclosure of abuse with compassion and care, provide signposting, support and advice, and offer pastoral care tailored to the needs of the individual.
• Establish access to personnel with training relevant to specific needs, to deliver professional support when required.
• Collaborate with other organisations, both voluntary and statutory, who specialise in this area of work.
• Learn from the experience of those that are provided with a service, to confirm that it is meeting their needs.
• Reflect on any disclosures that it receives with a view to drawing learning from them.

EC2: The Leadership of the Church body will:

• Actively reflect upon their individual and organisational response to those who report having been harmed.
• Make themselves available to engage with those who report having been harmed in order to respond to their needs.
• Support development in their practice that is aimed at enhancing a compassionate and caring response.

The following represents evidence that would indicate compliance with this standard:

• Seeking training for all members who may receive a disclosure of abuse to help them respond in a compassionate and caring way.
• Signposting to other organisations that have appropriately trained personnel to respond to those that report that have been harmed.
• Commissioning reviews of their practice from the CSSA (Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency).
• Creating conversations with those that report that they have been harmed, either in groups or individually.
• Records that show that the experience of those that report that they have been harmed has been actively discussed and reflected upon within leadership and management meetings in the Church body.

Each Church body will have processes for raising concerns or making allegations, which are clear, understood, and accessible and reviewed by its leadership.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

EF1: The Church body will:

• Ensure that it receives and responds to allegations in line with the nationally agreed policies and Canon Law, including through reporting to statutory authorities within expected timescales.
• Collect necessary information to respond to allegations and concerns, while ensuring that this does not conflict with, or jeopardise the actions of, statutory authorities.
• When necessary, investigate allegations and utilise the findings to inform subsequent actions.
• Maintain an appropriate level of confidentiality in respect of allegations or concerns, in line with accepted standards.
• Keep accurate and retrievable records of allegations and concerns in accordance with data protection principles, national policies and procedures.
• Comply with the stipulations of Vos Estis Lux Mundi (2019, revised 2023) and the DDF’s Vademecum (2022) regarding responding to and supporting those who report having been harmed.
• Where relevant, inform the CSSA of the existence of the allegations and share with them the details that would enable them to  respond if required.
• Inform the trustees of the existence of allegations and confirm the responses being made.
• Routinely seek to draw and share learning from any allegations and concerns that are raised as a way of developing practice.

The following can be used to confirm that this standard is being met:

• Records of allegations and concerns received, and details of the responses made to them.
• A written plan for supporting those who make and those who are the subject of an allegation.
• The minutes of leadership meetings within the Church body that record that an allegation has been received and has been responded to in accordance with the agreed policy for the Church.

Each Church body will have in place an effective process for responding to safeguarding concerns and allegations, which includes a robust system for managing and monitoring, and an effective system for supporting respondents.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

SMR 1: Management – The Church body will:

• Have access to personnel that have been trained in providing management, monitoring and support of respondents.
• When required, ensure that preliminary investigations and canonical investigations into allegations, including through referral to the National Tribunal Service, take place in compliance with can. 1717 §§1- 3, other relevant provisions of the 1983 Code of Canon Law and any lawfully promulgated revisions, Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela (as amended in 2010), Vos Estis Lux Mundi (2019, revised 2023), the DDF’s Vademecum (2022) and other applicable law and instruction from the Holy See.
• Access suitably accredited professionals to conduct risk assessments to inform the provision of safeguarding plans.
• Enable respondents to safely participate in the life of the Church through the use of regularly reviewed safeguarding plans.
• Maintain confidentiality whilst meeting disclosure requirements to statutory and canonical authorities.

SMR2: Support – The Church body will:

• Adhere to national policies and/or practice guidance that set out how a respondent is to be informed when an allegation has been made, and supported afterwards.
• Be mindful of the impact on the wellbeing of the respondent and appoint a support person with the responsibility for listening to and addressing the pastoral needs of the respondent.
• Access suitably accredited professionals to deliver professional mental health and other appropriate support when required.
• Ensure that the respondent has access to suitable legal representation when subject to statutory/canonical investigation.

The Church body may evidence that it is meeting this standard by:

• Appointing appropriately trained and experienced personnel.
• Demonstrating adherence to national policy through how they inform, support, manage, and monitor respondents.
• Facilitating leave from sacred ministry.
• Managing the return of the respondent to ministry when there is no case to answer or the allegation has been shown to be false.
• Conducting appropriate safeguarding risk assessments.
• Providing records detailing the steps taken to monitor respondents.

Each Church body will ensure that those working with children or adults at risk are appropriately recruited, vetted, and supported to deliver safeguarding standards in practice.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

HRM1: Safer Recruitment – The Church body will:

• Ensure that all safer recruitment procedures have been completed and the results acted upon for all clergy, religious, lay and voluntary posts.
• Ensure that all visiting clergy and religious have received necessary vetting, including the receipt of a celebret and testimonial of suitability (when stipulated) prior to active ministry.
• Maintain up to date records of all postholders to ensure that all Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are completed in a timely way.
• Ensure prompt and robust risk-based responses to blemished DBS, keeping accurate records of actions taken in response.

HMRC2: Human Resource Management and Support – The Church body’s leadership will:

• Agree, publish and implement a safeguarding complaints policy, making it available to all who may wish to make use of it.
• Agree, publish and implement a whistle blowing policy, making it readily available to all eligible to use it.
• Maintain active oversight of all safer recruitment, complaints and whistle blowing processes to ensure compliance with policy expectations and learning from practice.

The following represents evidence that indicates that this standard is being met:

• Leadership of the Church body is regularly informed of any delays in completing screening checks for new personnel in safeguarding roles.
• Appropriate checks are made on all overseas personnel.
• Records are monitored by leadership to ensure that they are up to date.
• Training is provided to those involved in the supervision and management of offenders or those who are subject to a safeguarding plan.

The Church body will provide and access ongoing training and support to everyone involved in safeguarding to enable them to deliver the practice described within the safeguarding standards.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

TS1: Training – The Church body will:

• Ensure that all clergy and religious who require it, including those in formation, have access to and avail themselves of nationally agreed safeguarding training to support their contribution to the Church body’s safeguarding practice.
• Require all overseas personnel, and those that are new to ministry, to have received training in the safeguarding standards and to have a good understanding of their content, prior to being involved in active ministry.
• Ensure that all lay employees and volunteers receive safeguarding training appropriate to their role, including specialist training for those with specific leadership or safeguarding responsibilities.
• Promote continuous improvement through regular review of the range, quality and impact of training provided.
• Produce a training needs analysis to facilitate the provision of training.
• Avail themselves of locally provided safeguarding training from relevant organisations in the area.
• Keep records of those who avail themselves of training opportunities and proactively engage with those who do not attend.

TS2: Support – The leadership of the Church body will:

• Prioritise the provision of effective safeguarding training.
• Maintain active oversight of its training provision to address any failures to meet its training requirements which may impact negatively on its practice.

The following represents evidence that would indicate compliance with this standard:

• The existence of a safeguarding training plan for the Church body, which has been updated and revised.
• A comprehensive training needs analysis for safeguarding for the Church body.
• Notes within the minutes of management and leadership meetings for the Church body, that the training needs are being tracked and discussed.
• An induction programme for new leaders and other key roles within the Church body.

The Church body will develop a plan of action to quality assure compliance with the safeguarding standards to continuously improve their practice.

The criteria which indicate that this standard is being met include:

QA 1: Quality Assurance – The Church body will:

• Put in place and maintain arrangements that will evaluate compliance with the agreed safeguarding standards in all its various activities.
• Undertake audit and review activity in order to learn from and improve practice.
• Analyse concerns and allegations, and complaints received, to draw learning from and inform future practice.
• Actively engage in CSSA audits/ inspections, using recommendations as a means of driving improvements in safeguarding arrangements.
• Report the findings of all quality assurance activity, along with any recommendations, to the competent Bishop or Superior, and to its trustees.

QA2: Continuous Improvement – The Church body’s leadership will:

• Create a rolling Safeguarding Implementation Plan that is reviewed annually (or sooner if required).
• Facilitate the delivery of the Safeguarding Implementation Plan by making available the necessary resources to track and complete the agreed actions. Produce and publish an annual safeguarding report for members, trustees, and other stakeholders.

The following represent evidence that would indicate compliance with this standard. The Church body has:

• Devised a range of mechanisms that track its compliance with the agreed safeguarding standards; these may include direct observation of practice to ensure compliance with agreed standards.
• Sought and shared information relating to its performance with the CSSA.
• Regularly monitored and amended its safeguarding implementation plan as circumstances change.
• Shared details of its performance with its members, trustees, the CSSA, and other stakeholders.