The Bishop of Leicester welcomed the report of an independent audit of safeguarding provision in the Diocese of Leicester. This concluded that safeguarding arrangements in the diocese are well organised and coherent.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence, whose audit team visited the Diocese in February 2017, was commissioned to look at safeguarding across the whole of the Church of England over a 2 year period starting in 2015. While visiting the Diocese in February the auditors met with the Bishop, Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser and other senior diocesan staff. They also spoke to a group of people with diverse roles in local churches and with the Independent Chair of the Diocesan Safeguarding Oversight Group, Trevor Worsfold.
The audit report, which was published on 28 April 2017 notes that the Diocese has made significant progress in safeguarding provision over the last two years. This follows the appointment of Rachael Spiers as full-time Adviser in January 2015. The auditor’s report found evidence of ‘a clear change in pace and purpose’ over the time Rachael has been in post and noted that safeguarding staffing has been further strengthened more recently with the appointment of a Training Officer and part-time Administrator.
The report highlights 13 considerations for further development of safeguarding processes and an action plan executive summary, responding to these considerations, has been published by the Diocese.
The Full Report can be downloaded here
The 13 point audit plan can be downloaded here