'Safeguarding embedded into parish culture' external audit finds

Bishop Stephen thanks parish safeguarding volunteers and the safeguarding team for their commitment as a new external audit reports that safeguarding is embedded in the culture of parishes across the diocese. 

The independent audit was carried out by INEQE Safeguarding Group, which was commissioned by the Archbishop’s Council to audit all dioceses and Cathedrals. Salisbury is the first to be audited. The audit was carried out in January this year and published this week. 

Auditors said the “real strength in Salisbury is its people. From the leadership teams to the volunteers, there was an absence of hubris, no defensiveness and a desire to learn”. 

The diocesan safeguarding team “places victims and survivors, the young and the vulnerable at the centre of what they do”, auditors said, in their published report. 

Bishop Stephen said: “Safeguarding is both a right and a Gospel imperative. I am grateful for our safeguarding team and their commitment to being survivor led and trauma informed, and I am very thankful for the ministry of our many volunteer parish safeguarding officers. This audit will act as a springboard to continue and deepen our practices and policies.” 

Watch Bishop Stephen’s response to the audit

Read the audit in full here