On 5 May 2026, the Church of England issued the Press Release Independent audit report of the National Safeguarding Team, extracts of which are reproduced below.
Independent audit report of the National Safeguarding Team
05/05/2026
The first independent audit of the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Team (NST) has been published today. The audit was carried out by the INEQE Safeguarding Group and commissioned by the Archbishops’ Council, following a recommendation from the National Director of Safeguarding. It assesses the work of the NST against the National Safeguarding Standards. The report highlights areas of good practice as well as identifying 66 recommendations for further improvement. Some of these relate to the wider Church’s safeguarding structures, while others are specific to the NST.
You can read the full report here.
Areas of good practice
The audit recognises that the NST has undergone significant transformation in recent years and is now a professional national function focused on improving safeguarding practice across the Church of England.
It highlights a strong internal culture, supported by confident leadership and a senior team with a wide range of expertise. Staff reported feeling able to raise concerns and contribute to ongoing development.
The report recognises the significance of the development of the National Safeguarding Standards. These now shape policy, training, supervision and day-to-day practice in churches and cathedrals:
“The National Safeguarding Standards establish a critical framework that constitutes good safeguarding practice. The NST defined and built this collective understanding to support parishes, dioceses, and cathedrals locally in developing a consistent, high-quality approach to safeguarding practice and culture.”
The audit also commends the NST’s shift towards safeguarding based on evidence and information, and it states that the casework team’s triage system functions well.
“The audit saw evidence of good practice by the NST, with caseworkers effectively receiving referrals, collating information and analysing cases. There was evidence of escalation to senior managers as appropriate, swift triage and allocations being accompanied by a written brief from the casework manager.”
Recommendations and next steps
The audit identifies several areas where further work is needed to strengthen safeguarding arrangements. These include:
- improving communication around survivor participation;
- strengthening feedback mechanisms with dioceses and cathedrals;
- clarifying the circumstances in which the National Director of Safeguarding can intervene in local cases;
- developing specialist HR safeguarding expertise;
- ensuring resilience and contingency planning for case management systems;
- further developing national safeguarding training and learning infrastructure.
The NST will now consider the recommendations in detail and set out how these will be taken forward.
[…]
About the audit
The audit included:
- 68 engagement sessions involving 96 individuals;
- analysis of 950 documents;
- 222 survey responses from victims and survivors, NST staff, and those working across dioceses and cathedrals;
- seven focus groups and a confidential contact process.
Support information
If you or anyone you are in contact with is affected by the publication of this report and would like to talk to someone independently, please call the Safe Spaces helpline on 0300 303 1056 or visit safespacesenglandandwales.org.uk.
Alternatively, you may wish to contact the National Safeguarding Team at safeguarding@churchofengland.org.
Comment
There is further information in the Church Times article(£) “NST audit makes recommendations to expand Church’s national safeguarding capacity“. It observes: “No costing or calculations on staffing are included”, verb. sap.