About the Independent Safeguarding Audits

In August 2023, INEQE Safeguarding Group was appointed by the Archbishops’ Council to carry out the next round of independent external audits of Church of England dioceses and cathedrals. The purpose of these audits is to make sure dioceses, cathedrals and palaces are doing all they can to create environments where everyone feels safe, valued and respected.

The independent audit programme will run for 5 years from 2023 to 2028, with audits commencing in January 2024. Audits will be carried out in the diocese and cathedral at the same time (previously this was done separately).

To ensure the most productive use of time, INEQE’s approach during the independent safeguarding audits will be to analyse all available information in advance of site visits, using the online 360° Safeguarding Audit Tool.

Each Church body, with the exception of those being audited in early 2024, will receive their Audit Briefing Pack, which will include INEQE’s 360° Safeguarding Audit Tool, at a minimum of three months in advance of their audit site visit.

Once published, INEQE’s independent safeguarding audit reports will be made available on the website.

Welcome from our Lead Auditor, Jim Gamble

Find the information for your region

Click on the button to visit the page that is relevant to your region. Each page contains:

  • the links to your surveys
  • the privacy notice for the Safeguarding Audit
  • a form by which you can contact the Audit Team and
  • signposting to support if you need someone to talk to.

Audit Dates

  • February – Blackburn
  • March – York
  • March – Bath & Wells
  • May – Durham
  • June – Portsmouth
  • June – Peterborough
  • July – NST
  • September – London
  • October – St Edmunsbury & Ipswich
  • November – Chester
  • January – Southwell & Nottingham
  • February – Ely
  • March – Liverpool
  • May – Sheffield
  • June – Southwark
  • July – Coventry
  • August – Bishopthorpe Palace
  • September – Sodor & Man
  • October – Leicester
  • November – Canterbury
  • January – Norwich
  • February – Chelmsford
  • March – Guildford
  • April – Hereford
  • May – Manchester
  • June – Derby
  • July – Rochester
  • August – Lambeth Palace
  • September – Winchester
  • October – The Diocese in Europe
  • November – St Albans
  • January – Lichfield
  • February – Birmingham
  • March – Leeds

Read the Annual Reports

Annual Report 2024

Read the Audit Reports

The Diocese of Salisbury and Salisbury Cathedral

The Diocese of Gloucester and Gloucester Cathedral

The Diocese of Truro and Truro Cathedral

The Diocese of Bristol and Bristol Cathedral

The Diocese of Newcastle and Newcastle Cathedral

The Diocese of Oxford

The Diocese of Worcester and Worcester Cathedral

The Diocese of Exeter and Exeter Cathedral

The Diocese of Chichester and Chichester Cathedral

The Diocese of Lincoln and Lincoln Cathedral

The Diocese of Carlisle and Carlisle Cathedral

If you have specific questions, wish to share information, or have other related inquiries for the team regarding past completed audits, and you wish to contact us, please use the form below. This will help us manage and respond to your message effectively.

Immediate Risks

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, it is important that you quickly get the right help – call the police on 999.

You might find that other organisations offer support that feels even more closely aligned with your current needs, should you feel ready to explore these options.

Want to talk?
Further Support

Diocesan Safeguarding Contacts

To locate the contact details of the safeguarding team from the diocese you need to contact please visit:

Under 19 and Need to Talk?

Call Childline for free on 0800 1111 or get in touch online. You can talk to Childline about anything. No problem is too big or too small. It’s confidential.

Safe Spaces

Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service, providing confidential, support to survivors of church related abuse. Call for free on 0300 303 1056.

Samaritans

Samaritans adult helpline is available for whatever you’re going through.

Call for free, anytime on 116 123

NSPCC

Contact the NSPCC Helpline for adults concerned about a child’s safety or wellbeing.

Call for free on 0808 800 5000

Contact the Safeguarding Audit Team

If you wish to reach the Audit team, please use the confidential contact form provided below. You can use this to contact the team about a past audit, an audit happening in the future, or if you have questions about how to best engage with the audit process.

Submissions via the confidential contact form are received by the Independent Safeguarding Audit team at INEQE Safeguarding Group. Please note: these submissions are not monitored 24/7.

Meet the Independent Audit Team

Click their names for more information

Jim is a former Chief Police Officer and was the founding Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. He is currently CEO of INEQE Safeguarding Group, Independent Child Safeguarding Commissioner of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership, and the Independent Chair of Bromley Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Jim is a former UK Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for child abuse investigations, internet safety and countering child trafficking. He was a co-author on the UK’s first Domestic Homicide Review and, in 2010, was appointed by the Home Secretary to lead the initial scoping review of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

More recently, he led a wide-ranging safeguarding review of an NHS Trust, Oxfam GB and an international faith-based organisation at the request of the Charity Commission.

He has also commissioned and overseen a number of contemporary Serious Case and Practice Learning Reviews, including the recent Child Q.

Jim has been called to give evidence to the UK Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and has appeared before numerous Parliamentary Committees.

Having graduated from the UK College of Policing Senior Command Course, he completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in Criminology and Criminal Justice Management at Cambridge University.

Rory is a qualified social worker with over thirty years of experience in children’s services. He holds an in-depth knowledge across a broad range of services, having held both strategic and operational responsibility for children’s social care, adult safeguarding, youth offending, youth services, early years services, domestic abuse services, LSCBs and LSCPs.

Rory co-designed and delivered the first Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub in the UK and also works as the Senior Professional Advisor (SPA) for the safeguarding partnership in the City of London and Hackney. He was previously the SPA of the City & Hackney Safeguarding Board, the first LSCB in the country to be awarded an outstanding grade by Ofsted in 2016.

Rory has significant experience in coordinating effective safeguarding arrangements that deliver impact and make children safer. He has designed learning & improvement systems, delivered safeguarding training at all levels and has written a number of contemporary practice learning reviews, including co-authoring the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review and update report into Child Q. He is one of the lead auditors on INEQE’s team.

Hannah is the Director of Operations at INEQE Safeguarding Group. Through working with children in the UK and abroad, Hannah has developed a strong practical insight regarding the context of the risks they face. This is accompanied by the academic studies and research associated with her M.Phil from Trinity College Dublin and an LLM from Queens University Belfast, which focused on human rights and the International Criminal Court.

She has significant practical experience working within the third sector with children and vulnerable young people in the UK, India, Kosovo and Africa. Added to this, she plays a leading role in INEQE’s programme of safeguarding reviews and has been involved in all of INEQE’s recent and ongoing reviews.

Lynne is a Senior Safeguarding Advisor with over 28 years of policing experience, having served in leadership roles in Northern Ireland and England. She joined South Yorkshire Police in 2020 as a Superintendent for Operations.

She spent many years as a senior investigating officer in Public Protection roles including child abuse, rape crime and domestic abuse. She is an advocate for victims of domestic abuse and sexual crime and worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service in England to improve the police response.

Prior to joining INEQE, Lynne was the Violence against Women and Girls Engagement (VAWG) Lead with the National Police Chief’s Council and the College of Policing. She holds a BA (Hons) in Public Policy and Management and a Master of Studies in Applied Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge.

Lauren is a Senior Research Analyst and the Lead Researcher on the Church of England Audit Programme. She holds an MSc in Psychological Research Methods in Child Development and a BSc with Honours in Psychology. In her undergraduate degree, her final year thesis explored how the environmental shift to formal schooling affected the development of false belief understanding in children. Subsequently, her Masters thesis focused on differences in neurocognitive development depending on age children entered formal education.

Post-graduation, Lauren worked for 2 years with children ranging from 9 months to 8 years of age of various developmental abilities before starting her position as Research Officer at INEQE Safeguarding Group.

Danielle is a Safeguarding Auditor and Trainer at INEQE Safeguarding Group. Graduating from the University of Greenwich with a degree in Primary Education, she cultivated a personal interest in safeguarding and child protection in relation to domestic abuse and childhood trauma. Going on to develop practical insight into these areas through her work as a teacher, Danielle has taught in primary and secondary schools across Northern Ireland and Northern and Southern England, working with children from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, abilities, and age groups. She previously led a team in the creation and development of safeguarding materials and continues to deliver training courses for schools, parents and organisations working with children.

Jemma holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Chester and has experience working in social care, particularly supporting Looked After Children (LAC) in high-pressure environments. Jemma gained valuable frontline experience as a Residential Support Worker within children’s homes and secure units, before moving into a Support Worker role within LAC teams. Throughout her career in social care, she developed expertise in therapeutic practices and an ability to manage complex and challenging situations effectively. She currently serves as Training and Office Manager for INEQE Safeguarding Group, while also acting as the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for Church of England audits.

Trauma Informed Practice

INEQE takes a trauma-informed approach to ensure that the voices of victims and survivors are heard at all levels. Measures are adopted to support them before, during, and after their engagement with the audit team.

To achieve a positive outcome for victims and survivors, participants can choose how they wish to engage with the audit team, whether through face-to-face discussions, confidential surveys or contact forms, or online video calls. INEQE gathers their accounts using the method that best provides participants with choice and empowerment.