RMC Briefing: The Alexis Jay report on safeguarding in the Church of England
02/21/24 • 51 min
A report by Prof Alexis Jay into safeguarding in the Church of England recommends two new charities should be set up to deliver and scrutinise safeguarding operations, and they should be entirely separate from the church. It says the current safeguarding system is “flawed and cannot be sufficiently improved whilst it remains within church oversight” and needs to fundamentally change to restore the confidence of victims, survivors and clergy.
In this Religion Media Centre briefing, our panel discuss the report’s tough criticism of the current safeguarding system on seven key issues including inconsistent systems across all 42 dioceses, failure to collect data and lack of independent scrutiny. They consider how this major change can be implemented when confidence and trust are at an all-time low. And they voice complaints that this is another structural change which will be forced through like those which failed before, and that the same people involved in the collapse of the last system have been assembled to oversee the setting up of the new charities, with an absence of survivors at the heart.
Ruth Peacock hosts, with guests: Julie Conalty, the Bishop of Birkenhead; Rev Dr Ian Paul, member of the Archbishops’ Council; Andrew Graystone, advocate for survivors of church abuse; Jane Chevous, co-founder of Survivors Voices; and Justin Humphries, CEO of Thirtyone Eight, a Christian organisation dealing with safeguarding.
Links
Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw
Contact Information
[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709
A report by Prof Alexis Jay into safeguarding in the Church of England recommends two new charities should be set up to deliver and scrutinise safeguarding operations, and they should be entirely separate from the church. It says the current safeguarding system is “flawed and cannot be sufficiently improved whilst it remains within church oversight” and needs to fundamentally change to restore the confidence of victims, survivors and clergy.
In this Religion Media Centre briefing, our panel discuss the report’s tough criticism of the current safeguarding system on seven key issues including inconsistent systems across all 42 dioceses, failure to collect data and lack of independent scrutiny. They consider how this major change can be implemented when confidence and trust are at an all-time low. And they voice complaints that this is another structural change which will be forced through like those which failed before, and that the same people involved in the collapse of the last system have been assembled to oversee the setting up of the new charities, with an absence of survivors at the heart.
Ruth Peacock hosts, with guests: Julie Conalty, the Bishop of Birkenhead; Rev Dr Ian Paul, member of the Archbishops’ Council; Andrew Graystone, advocate for survivors of church abuse; Jane Chevous, co-founder of Survivors Voices; and Justin Humphries, CEO of Thirtyone Eight, a Christian organisation dealing with safeguarding.
Links
Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw
Contact Information
[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709
Previous Episode
RMC Briefing: The "devastating, outrageous" impending closure of the Inter Faith Network
The impending closure of the Inter Faith Network after 37 years has shocked and dismayed faith leaders across the UK. The government says it is withdrawing funding because a new IFN trustee is associated with the Muslim Council of Britain, an organisation which the government will not speak to due to a dispute in 2009.
The Inter Faith Network was set up to raise awareness and understanding of different faith communities and promote good interfaith relations. It has supported local initiatives and brought together national faith organisations to provide opportunities for safe dialogue, especially needed during the flashpoints of the Rushdie book burning, 9/11 and terrorist attacks in the UK.
In this Religion Media Centre briefing, speakers said its role was more important than ever at the moment against the background of war in the Middle East. So the decision to withdraw funding was outrageous and devastating, leading to predictions that dialogue will wither. Rosie Dawson hosted this discussion with many speakers including Dr Harriet Crabtree, executive director Inter Faith Network; Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra; Dr Ed Kessler, founder director of the Woolf Institute; the Bishop of Bradford Toby Howarth; and Bishop Patrick McKinney, lead Catholic bishop for inter-religious dialogue; plus many local interfaith activists.
Links
Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw
Contact Information
[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709
Next Episode
RMC Briefing: 35th anniversary of Inform, which researches new religious movements
The charity Inform (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements) has just celebrated its 35th anniversary and in this briefing, we look back at its work with founder, Professor Eileen Barker; honorary director, Dr Suzanne Newcombe; and senior research officer, Dr Sarah Harvey.
Inform's role has always been to research and communicate information about minority religions, sects and new religious movements. Over 35 years, the landscape has changed from clearly visible groups like the Moonies and the Children of God, to invisible networks on social media, where ideas bounce and re-emerge across them all, and increasingly new groups within mainstream traditions. The continuing growth of new religious movements across the board looks certain to secure Inform's future, with Dr Newcombe observing that "people's beliefs and practices are not going away, they're just changing contexts. And even if it appears that people aren't identifying with institutional religion, they're still doing similar things".
Links
Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/
X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw
Contact Information
[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/religion-media-centre-podcast-447838/rmc-briefing-the-alexis-jay-report-on-safeguarding-in-the-church-of-en-61115528"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to rmc briefing: the alexis jay report on safeguarding in the church of england on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy