Helen Hayes

Helen Hayes

Labour — Dulwich and West Norwood

Speaking in the House of Commons on 2 March 2026

Debate

Small Religious Organisations: Safeguarding

Contribution

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. On reasonable suspicion, does he agree with me that in any closed community, including religious organisations, it is a characteristic of abuse that people have suspicions, but often nobody feels able to speak up? Bringing reasonable suspicion into the definition for mandatory reporting, and putting that on the statute book, is a really important safeguard in that context. It creates an additional duty that could allow us to deal with circumstances that are pretty common.

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