Risk Assessment for Clergy Tightened up

By Madeleine Davies
Church Times
January 24, 2014

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/24-january/news/uk/risk-assessment-for-clergy-tightened-up

BISHOPS will have the power to demand that a priest undergoes a safeguarding risk-assessment under legislative changes proposed by the Archbishops' Council last week. Priests who fail to comply "without good cause" will be guilty of misconduct under the Clergy Discipline Measure.

The proposal is one of 12, published on Monday of last week, which will be debated by the General Synod next month. They have been produced in response to the report of the Archbishop's Chichester Visitation, which called for an "urgent" review of the Church's safeguarding legislation.

The report that lists the proposal states that commissioning risk-assessments would be "the exception, rather than the norm", and that bishops would need to give reasons to justify the direction. Priests would have the right to seek a review by the President of Tribunals of the diocesan bishop's direction.

Another proposal is that the Clergy Discipline Measure be amended so that complaints about sexual misconduct against children or vulnerable adults can be made at any time. Currently, a 12- month limitation period is in place, although the President of Tribunals can grant permission to make a complaint outside this period.

The final report of the Chichester Commissaries warned that the law of the Church of England was "presently not in line with the rest of the civil law of employment" (News, 10 May).

The new proposals follow up a key recommendation by the Commissaries that "urgent consideration should be made to amending the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 to permit the compulsory suspension of any cleric immediately a complaint of abuse which is not obviously malicious is received".

Currently, a bishop may suspend a priest once the diocesan registar has produced a preliminary report on a complaint. This can be within 24 hours. In cases where the alleged misconduct took place more than 12 months ago, however, suspension may not be possible for up to three months, because the President of Tribunals first has to grant permission for a complaint to be made.

The new proposals would give bishops the power to suspend a priest as soon as a written application seeking permission to make a complaint out of time is submitted by a complainant to the President of Tribunals.

The report can be found on www.churchofengland.org

A BARRISTER representing survivors of child abuse has criticised those formulating new safeguarding legislation for failing to consult survivors.

Anne Lawrence, of the Stop Church Child Abuse alliance (SCCA), said on Tuesday: "We haven't seen these proposed safeguarding procedures. No one at SCCA has been asked to look at this."

On Wednesday, a Church of England spokeswoman said that consultation had taken place. Proposed legislative changes had been published in July, and sent out for consultation (News, 21 June). She said: "The report was sent to the SCCA prior to [the July] Synod, and they received further copies at Synod itself. The consultation was referred to during a meeting with SCCA in August, and they were encouraged to respond to it by the closing date on 30 September. A copy of the consultation was available on the C of E website through this time." Ms Lawrence disputes this account.

On the substance of the proposed legislation, Ms Lawrence was critical of the decision to make amendments to the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) rather than "sit down with a blank piece of paper. . . The CDMs are not fit for purpose in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. There needs to be a set of procedures beyond these which are specifically designed to deal with abuse cases," she said. It had "nothing to do with clerical standards, and leaving such matters for determination under these procedures diminishes . . . the nature of the offending of the perpetrators."