The legislation to introduce the Redress Scheme for survivors of Church-related abuse will not be laid before General Synod for final approval in February, as previously scheduled, so that final checks can be carried out to ensure its eligibility criteria are robust enough in light of the Makin report.

The Scheme infrastructure is now in place and the Scheme is ready to receive applications once legislation is complete, following an enormous amount of work by survivors and others over the last three years.

However, the Church of England is deeply committed to developing a robust and effective Redress Scheme for survivors of Church-related abuse. So the Redress Project Board, which is advised by survivors, has decided to reflect further on the findings of the Makin report and to consider whether the Scheme’s eligibility criteria sufficiently recognise negligence of Church office-holders who have received a safeguarding allegation or disclosure and have not responded appropriately.

This is a serious and important question, and the Redress Project Board will consider carefully the implications of recognising this more fully through the Scheme’s eligibility criteria. This work requires very thorough analysis before the Project Board can decide whether or not it wishes to make any amendments to the current eligibility criteria and is not a guarantee that new or different policy decisions will be taken.

The Survivor Working Group will continue to play a vital role in shaping the Scheme, providing expert advice and guidance, and two Survivor Working Group representatives will continue to hold voting positions on the Project Board.

The legislation that will underpin the Scheme requires successful passage through the Church and parliamentary legislative processes before the Scheme can open to applications. The earliest that the Redress (Abuse) Measure would be laid before General Synod is July 2025.

Comment

The earlier Press Release Redress Scheme Update was issued on 9 July 2024, and subsequently an article on Safeguarding governance in the Church in Civil Society, reported here.

Comments on this post are closed