Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

The fourth edition of Protecting All God’s Children, the Church of England’s child protection policy since 1995, has been published today (Wednesday, November 24). Since the last edition, in 2004, a significant amount of new legislation and statutory guidance has been produced concerning the safeguarding of children, most notably the Children Act 2004 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010, which has been incorporated into the revised policy document.

The latest version builds on the work of past editions, updated with regard to the recent government legislation and guidance and the sharing of safeguarding principles under the Anglican/Methodist Covenant. Both Churches are committed to  full compliance with the Working Together guidance in terms of informing the statutory authorities of concerns and allegations.

It also includes a number of clarified and expanded sections, as well as a model code of safer working practice for use as part of induction packs and as the basis of local church policy development.

Safer recruitment practice is highlighted in an accompanying paper as an interim policy until current uncertainties around the Independent Safeguarding Authority are clarified by the Government.

The policy is freely available to download from the Church of England website at http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/papers/protecting_all_gods_children .