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The Post Office at Prayer? Auditing Risk and Practice: A Safeguarding Appraisal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2025

Clive Stephen Billenness*
Affiliation:
General Synod of the Church of England, Léran, Ariege, France
Rosie Harper
Affiliation:
Church of England, London, UK
Martin Sewell
Affiliation:
Church of England, London, UK
Richard Scorer
Affiliation:
Slater and Gordon Lawyers, London, UK
*
Corresponding author: Clive Stephen Billenness; Email: clive.b@expertpc.org

Abstract

Multiple instances of safeguarding failures and criticisms of poor process and weak governance have afflicted the Church of England for many years, despite repeated assurances that ‘Lessons would be learned’. An Independent Safeguarding Board has been formed and then abolished without being replaced. A report by Professor Alexis Jay, former Chair of Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, recommending the creation of two independent charities to oversee Church safeguarding has been passed to a Response Group and is being resisted by various groups within the Church. This article examines issues of the management of safeguarding within the overall governance of the organisation, compares issues within the Church with those which have been exposed by the Post Office Horizon scandal and considers the potential role of the audit function to concern itself with safeguarding matters as part of its oversight of risk management and corporate governance.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust

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