The CSSA judges Birmingham to be making ‘Firm Progress’ in safeguarding people in the Catholic Archdiocese
29 April 2024
Birmingham Archdiocese, in the first audit of their safeguarding practice today, has been judged by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) to be making ‘firm progress’. The safeguarding regulatory agency for England and Wales report that the Diocese demonstrate evidence of working towards the eight national safeguarding standards. The Archdiocese was able to satisfy independent auditors from within the CSSA about how it helps keep people safe.
Birmingham was particularly strong in areas concerning communicating the Church’s safeguarding message, and significantly, in engaging with, and caring for those who report having been harmed. A culture of safeguarding was seen to be modelled by the Archbishop and other senior leaders. Auditors judged that sound progress was being made across four of the other eight safeguarding standards.
The CSSA auditors identified greater need for development in terms of ‘Robust Human Resource Management’ and ‘Training and Support for Safeguarding’. For example, the Archdiocese has particular challenges around the management of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. They will also need to complete a training needs analysis and use this to agree a training plan.
The CSSA’s recommendations for Birmingham include that they: review resourcing of the safeguarding team; review the functioning of the safeguarding sub-committee; develop a plan to ensure that all clergy, employees, and volunteers have up to date DBS checks and that there is an ongoing programme of safeguarding training available to all in the Archdiocese who need it.
Says Steve Ashley, Chief Executive of the CSSA: “These results show that Birmingham should be satisfied with its work to help keep people safe in their churches and communities across the Catholic Archdiocese. But there are areas where we need to see improvement. Only this way can the Archdiocese assure a wider public that everything possible is being done to help prevent harm. We are satisfied that Birmingham has shown an overall grading of ‘Firm Progress’ so far.
“The CSSA set high standards, for which we make no apology. Birmingham is doing good work. The fact that they engaged so openly with their audit process tells us a lot about their approach to people’s safety. We acknowledge their hard work and commitment to safeguarding and we look forward to monitoring their progress to come, as there is considerable work to do in two particular areas.”
Having exceeded potential lower gradings (in a scale ranging from ‘below basic,’ ‘basic’ and ‘early progress’) Birmingham have further work to do to achieve any of the three higher gradings possible (namely ‘Results Being Achieved,’ Comprehensive Assurance’ and ‘Exemplary’). The overall grading of ‘Firm Progress’ represents a combination of the Archdiocese’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 Birmingham’s audit here
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
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