Child Sexual Abuse: Duty to Report
Thursday, 22 October 2026
Contributions
Sam Carling (North West Cambridgeshire) (Lab)Labour
6. What steps the Church of England is taking to ensure compliance with the duty to report child sexual abuse introduced in the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
Sir Alan CampbellLabour
The national Church institutions have reviewed the duty to report in the Crime and Policing Act 2026 and consider that the Church’s existing policies and code of practice reporting expectations regarding safeguarding are compliant with the new duty. The Church will continue to keep its guidance under review as the new statutory duty is implemented. Since 2016, all Church officers have a mandatory requirement to promptly report safeguarding concerns, allegations and disclosures of abuse to the appropriate safeguarding authorities.
I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. General Synod papers from June claim that “it is now clear” that the duty to report child sexual abuse in the Crime and Policing Act does not apply to religious confessionals. That comes despite many reassurances from the Home Office to me and the hon. Member for Wells and Mendip Hills (Tessa Munt) during the passage of the Act that confessionals would not be exempted. What discussions has the Church had with the Home Office to inform its current position?
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He has spoken very powerfully, over a period of time since joining the House, on the importance of safeguarding and I thank him for that. It is the role of this Chamber to scrutinise the Church and I am sure that the Second Church Estates Commissioner welcomes his continued scrutiny of this aspect of the Church. We all need to continue to do better to address safeguarding. The protection of children and vulnerable adults remains the Church’s first priority. It is committed to preventing abuse and ensuring survivors are heard with compassion and care. He asks a question on a specific point about discussions between the Home Office and the Church. I am not across that, for fairly obvious reasons, but I will ensure that he gets an update from the Second Church Estates Commissioner, which I hope will answer the points he raises.
Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)Liberal Democrat
The Church’s lead safeguarding bishop has said that mandatory reporting should take precedence over confidences passed under the seal of confession, which is to be lauded. Confession is not a regulated activity, as defined under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, so does the right hon. Gentleman agree with the Bishop of Tewkesbury when he says: “the responsibility is firmly in our court”? Can the right hon. Gentleman set out what steps the Church will take to ensure that that happens?
In line with what I just said to my hon. Friend the Member for North West Cambridgeshire (Sam Carling), if the hon. Lady—who speaks powerfully on those matters—puts what she is saying in writing to the Second Church Estates Commissioner, I am sure that she will take it up with the Church to ensure that that view is heard and her question is answered.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5423144.