Safeguarding: Child Protection

The Diocese of London is committed to care for the spiritual, physical and emotional well-being of the children with whom it has contact. With this in mind, every parish is required to adopt a Child Protection Policy, as outlined in the House of Bishops' Policy Document on Child Protection (1999). This policy will govern the work undertaken with children who attend church or take part in children's activities on church premises or organised by the church within the parish. Liability insurance in relation to such issues may be invalidated if such a policy is not in place and being implemented.

To assist with the drawing up of a parish Child Protection Policy, the Diocese of London has issued guidelines in the document Children in the Diocese of London. These can be downloaded below.

A short summary of the Guidelines, suitable for distribution to children's leaders and others (but not a substitute for the complete Guidelines) can also be downloaded below.

The guidelines require that PCCs should:

• Discuss the policy, procedures and guidelines presented in "Children in the Diocese of London";
• Adopt a parish policy on Child Protection - a model policy is provided in the Appendix of "Children in the Diocese of London";
• Appoint someone to act as Children's Advocate for the parish, as outlined in Children in the Diocese of London;
• Send a copy of the adopted policy to your Area Archdeacon's Office;
• Implement the policies, procedures and guidelines in the parish;
• Follow the procedures outlined in "Children in the Diocese of London" for the appointment of volunteers to work with children, ensuring that declaration forms are completed, proper references requested and vague or unclear replies are followed up;
• Ensure that all work with children is properly supervised and that those working with children on behalf of the parish are given appropriate support and encouragement.

All queries about Child Protection Policies and training opportunities should be sent to

Due to the Equality Act 2010 changes have been made to the Confidential Declaration statement and parishes should now use this new form (Appendix E) in future.

Appendix E: confidential declaration
Parish Child Protection Policy

CRB Disclosure applications

The Government have confirmed their intention to scale back the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) to “proportionate, common sense levels”. As a result, the ISA registration phase of the scheme has been halted and did not launch on 26th July 2010.

Existing requirements concerning Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) will remain in place, and parishes should carry on their existing CRB procedures as normal.

The scope of the review process is currently being finalised by the Government; we will let you know as and when it announces a time frame.

The Diocese is still legally obliged to refer information to the ISA if they have moved or removed an individual because they have harmed or there is a risk of harm to a member of a vulnerable group. Our Bishop’s Advisers and Area Risk Assessors have been doing this and will continue to do so.

New Application form

The CRB have still launched the new application form as originally planned. Details regarding Diocesan procedures for CRB disclosures and information about the new form can be found in the “Information for Evidence Checkers” booklet below. You will note that due to changes in the nature of the form, CRB Section X Checkers should now be referred to as Evidence Checkers.

Guidance for CRB applicants
Information for Evidence Checkers

Bishops' Advisers for Child Protection

For advice relating to specific child protection concerns, contact one of the Bishops' Advisers for Child Protection, who are:

Rina Kaur
020 8442 8813

John Nixson
020 8933 1799
07967 828091