The CSSA judges Arundel & Brighton as ‘Results Being Achieved’ in safeguarding people.
26 February 2024
The Catholic Diocese of Arundel & Brighton, in the first audit of their safeguarding practice today, has been judged by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) to be graded as ‘Results Being Achieved’. The regulatory agency for England and Wales report that the Diocese demonstrates clear evidence of working towards the eight national safeguarding standards. The Diocese was able to satisfy independent auditors from within the CSSA about how it keeps people safe.
Arundel & Brighton were equally strong across six areas including: safeguarding being embedded in their leadership and culture; communicating the church’s safeguarding message; caring for those who report having been harmed; effective management of allegations and concerns; the support of the subjects of allegations and concerns and human resource management. Crucially, the Bishop was seen to be leading on safeguarding, with clear expectations of the level of vetting and training required of clergy and volunteers. When expectations were not seen to met, action was taken.
The CSSA auditors identified further scope for development in areas including: training and support for safeguarding and quality assurance and continuous improvement.
The CSSA’s recommendations for Arundel & Brighton include: that an annual safeguarding report be produced and published; to gain feedback from respondents on the effectiveness of the support they receive; and to promote the Complaints and Whistleblowing policies on the diocesan website.
Steve Ashley, Chief Executive Officer, CSSA says: “These results show that Arundel & Brighton is achieving the standards expected, and they should be satisfied with their progress in helping keep people safe in their churches and communities across the Catholic diocese. They must keep improving. Only this way can they assure a wider public that everything possible is being done to help prevent harm.
“We know that for some survivors, what we find in our audit of today’s safeguarding, may not represent their past experience. We are acutely aware how painful this can be sometimes for individuals. Our door is open, and we will not compromise in scrutinising a church body’s commitment to survivors now or in the future. We are sorry where this causes pain to anyone based on their personal history with the Catholic Church.”
Having exceeded potential lower gradings (in a scale ranging from ‘below basic,’ ‘basic’ ‘early progress’ and ‘firm progress’) Arundel & Brighton have further work to do to achieve either of the two higher gradings possible (namely ‘Comprehensive Assurance’ and ‘Exemplary’). The overall grading of ‘Results Being Achieved’ represents a combination of the Diocese’s scoring across eight areas of work relating to safeguarding standards.
The CSSA publish the Executive Summary of safeguarding audits from every Catholic Church body in England and Wales. You can find the Executive Summary of Arundel & Brighton’s audit here.
ENDS
More information about the CSSA’s audit process can be found HERE.
Journalists: to speak with Steve Ashley, CEO, or Nazir Afzal, OBE, Chair, please initially contact Sarah Gleadall: sarah.gleadall@catholicsafeguarding.org.uk