The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), is conducting an external, independent audit of Lambeth Palace’s safeguarding arrangements in March 2022 – please contribute if you have first-hand experience of seeking a safeguarding response from the Palace. 

This is part of a national programme covering Church of England dioceses, cathedrals and palaces. The audit of Lambeth Palace was postponed in March 2021 because of restrictions in place owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The independent team want to hear from people with first-hand experience of seeking a response from clergy, or others in Church-related roles, at Lambeth Palace, to safeguarding issues. You may have disclosed abuse, you may have shared Church failures to respond to such disclosures or you may have shared concerns about unsafe practices or people. The independent auditors want to understand what is working well and what has gone wrong in the past. 

The role of the Palace in this aspect of the audit is simply to help publicise that the audit is taking place and that the external team want to hear from abuse survivors. Nobody at any level within the Church will be told you are taking part and please be assured that all communications with survivors will remain confidential within the SCIE audit team. 

The aim of the independent audit is to support safeguarding improvements and the final report of the audit will be published by Lambeth Palace. 

Canon David Porter, Chief of Staff to the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: “Archbishop Justin has made safeguarding a top priority for the Church of England. Lambeth Palace welcomes and supports any opportunity to enable us to see what is working well, identify where safeguarding improvements need to be made, and to plan for that improvement.

“These audits are part of the Church of England’s wider commitment to develop and embed good safeguarding practice and culture, ensuring a safer Church for all.”

The audit is expected to consider safeguarding arrangements including governance and leadership, policies and practice guidance, case-work, recruitment and training.”

If you would like to contribute to this audit, as a survivor or as someone who may have raised a safeguarding concern, please email the auditors directly at: [email protected].

You can also call and leave a message on the following number and you will receive a call back: 07921 251614. Please leave your name and phone number in your message.

The expected dates the auditors are planning to be in contact with those who wish to contribute to the audit are 1st - 4th March 2022.

Read the Privacy Notice for the Lambeth Palace SCIE Safeguarding Audit here.