On the 29th April 2026, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 received Royal Assent. Sections 85 to 94 introduce a statutory duty to report child sexual abuse. This is one of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which published its final report in October 2022...

"The Church of England has appointed Her Honour Heather Baucher as the Appeal Authority for the Redress Church of England scheme for survivors of Church related abuse. The Appeal Authority is the independent judicial role responsible for determining appeals made under the Scheme.” Let’s examine this independence a little.

The Church of England has become painfully good at surviving scandal...Accountability becomes a process rather than a consequence.

An “urgent review” afterwards isn’t due diligence. It’s damage control. The Church of England has become remarkably good at things suddenly “coming to light”. The trouble with keeping things buried is that somebody always brings a shovel.

A person walking into a BMO should be able to discover who governs it, who holds its leader accountable, who oversees safeguarding and where they can complain or whistleblow without needing to understand the internal machinery of the Church of England...We have already seen what can happen when charismatic leadership grows faster than the structures capable of challenging it.

I’m sharing this important piece from House of Survivors because it reiterates something safeguarding institutions still too often fail to grasp: abuse does not expire because it is labelled “historic”. The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ position statement recognises the potentially lifelong impact of non-recent child sexual abuse. House of Survivors goes further, highlighting the secondary trauma that can be caused by defensive, adversarial institutional responses.

Independent safeguarding reviews have become one of the Church's favourite forms of institutional theatre: commission a report, express concern, promise change, and carry on much as before. After reading enough of them, scepticism isn't cynicism. It's a rational response to an institution that has become far better at reviewing failure than confronting it.

If Synod leaves believing that the seal of the confessional is the Church's biggest safeguarding problem, it will have missed the central lesson of the last thirty years.

Whatever your theological convictions, safeguarding asks a different question. Is somebody being harmed? Safeguarding is not about policing belief. It is about recognising when power, influence and spiritual authority are exercised in ways that cause harm.

Fr Robert Thompson, Vicar of St Mary's with All Souls', Kilburn, and St James's and the Sherriff Centre, West Hampstead, and a member of General Synod, explores why the Church's next safeguarding challenge is not compliance, but culture. A thoughtful reflection on accountability, trust, and creating churches where people feel safe to speak.

Rivals hardly pretends to be highbrow television. It is glamorous, ridiculous, funny, outrageous and at times completely over the top. What I wasn't expecting was that, somewhere between the shoulder pads and the sex, I'd find myself recognising a story that many of us sadly know all too well.

In this guest blog, Fr Robert Thompson, Vicar of St Mary's with All Souls', Kilburn, and St James's and the Sherriff Centre, West Hampstead, reflects on the deeper cultural and institutional challenges that continue to shape safeguarding in the Church.

Depending on what tickles your pickle, your private life may remain entirely your own business or become the subject of reports, consultations, working groups, theological statements, listening exercises, passive-aggressive area meetings, and debates about the future of Anglicanism itself.

Some things do not become harmless because they are loved, defended, protected, platformed, rehabilitated, or given another chance. Some vipers simply recover their strength, then bite the hand holding them. This is the part many institutions refuse to confront.

Jonathan Fletcher has now been found to have committed indecent assaults spanning decades. The court this week heard allegations involving humiliation, psychological domination, and abusive “discipline” presented within the language of spiritual mentoring. But the truly damning part is that this was not hidden abuse suddenly uncovered. This went on for years.

At what point does an “improvement plan” stop looking like progress and start looking like an admission that the system itself has been profoundly dysfunctional for years?

I attended what was described as a house blessing. It developed into a form of deliverance ministry, what some might describe as a minor exorcism...There were no levitating bodies or anything resembling a scene from a horror film. No spinning heads, no dramatic soundtrack. And yet the safeguarding concern was there, subtle, complex, and hidden in plain sight.

When a leader associated with safeguarding failures steps into a role centred on restoration, the question is simple. On what basis?

Safeguarding within church contexts has, rightly, focused on protecting children and vulnerable adults, often where clergy or church officers have been the source of harm. But this has created a fundamental blind spot. There is far less recognition or confidence when harm flows in the opposite direction, from congregant to clergy.

If you haven’t yet watched Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards , be prepared: it is difficult viewing. But it is important viewing, not simply because of the subject matter, but because of what it reveals about trust, and how easily that trust can be misplaced. Huw Edwards was not just a public figure; he was a trusted presence in the homes of millions. For years, his calm, measured, and mellifluous delivery offered reassurance during moments of national significance and colle