Safeguarding Policies and Guidance
The following page contains safeguarding information, policies and guidance for all churches, parishes, mission communities and other Church of England bodies within the Diocese of Exeter.
Diocesan Safeguarding Policies:
- Diocesan Safeguarding Policy Statement – 2024
- Diocesan Safeguarding Policy – 2023
- Diocesan Domestic Abuse Policy Statement – 2024
- Diocesan Domestic Abuse Policy – 2023
- Diocesan Whistleblowing Policy – 2023
- Safeguarding complaints policy and procedure: guidance on how to make a formal complaint about the Safeguarding service provided by the Diocese of Exeter.
- Safeguarding Privacy Notice 2023: This privacy notice explains what to expect when the Diocese of Exeter collects your personal information.
- National Church Institutions Safeguarding Privacy Notice: This privacy notice explains what to expect when the NCIs collect your personal information.
Diocesan Safeguarding Guidance:
- Reporting concerns about a child or vulnerable adult Flow Chart: a simple flowchart summarising the initial actions to be taken when you are in possession of information regarding a safeguarding situation.
- What happens when an offender wants to worship at your church: guidance on how to respond if you become aware of an offender (or someone else who poses a risk) who is worshiping or wants to worship in your church.
- Confidentiality – Information Sharing Guidance for Clergy and Parishes: guidance on how safeguarding information should be handled.
- Data Protection and Safeguarding: detailed guidance on how and why Safeguarding data is held and processed in the Diocese of Exeter in line with GDPR and the UK Data Protection Bill, including data retention periods.
Church of England Safeguarding E-manual:
The Church of England Safeguarding e-manual contains the most up to date safeguarding guidance including ‘Safer Recruitment and People Management’, ‘Safeguarding in Religious Communities’, the ‘Safeguarding Learning and Development Framework’, ‘Responding Well to Victims and Survivors of Abuse’ and ‘Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults’. View the Safeguarding e-manual here.
Church of England Safeguarding Policies and Practice Guidance:
The Church of England Safeguarding Policies and Practice Guidance contains practice guidance including the Parish Safeguarding Handbook, ‘Safer Environment and Activities’, ‘Code of Safer Working Practice’, PCR2 guidance, how to respond well to safeguarding concerns and allegations, serious incident reporting and policy statements including ‘Promoting a Safer Church’ and ‘Protecting All God’s Children’. View the Church of England guidance and policies here.
Church of England Safeguarding Templates and Resources:
The Church of England Safeguarding Templates and resources section includes (amongst others) a blank ‘Parish Safeguarding Poster’, a wide variety of model consent and risk assessment forms for parishes to use, information about key roles and responsibilities of church officers and bodies, guidance on responding to, assessing and managing concerns or allegations against church officers and some key theological texts regarding safeguarding and responding to abuse. View the templates and resources here.
