THIS THEMATIC INVESTIGATION AUGMENTS THE DEDICATED INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE ANGLICAN AND ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES ALREADY CONDUCTED BY THE INQUIRY.

In this investigation, the Inquiry obtained evidence from 38 religious organisations with a presence in England and Wales, which vary greatly in character and size. They may have a significant and even dominant influence on the lives of millions of children, often engaging a large proportion of a child’s time outside of their full-time schooling, including through tuition in religious and cultural studies or national curriculum subjects (known as ‘supplementary schooling’) alongside social and leisure activities.

The religious organisations and settings examined in this investigation have a range of theological beliefs and practices. Respect for a diversity of beliefs is a hallmark of a liberal democracy. However, freedom of religion and belief can never justify or excuse the ill-treatment of a child, or a failure to take adequate steps to protect them from harm.

Child sexual abuse in religious organisations and settings

Precise and reliable evidence about the scale of child sexual abuse within religious organisations and settings is not currently available.

Police forces are not required under Home Office counting rules to record whether the circumstances of a crime involving child sexual abuse involves a religious organisation or setting; there is thus no way of reliably knowing how many child sexual offences reported in England and Wales took place in, or were linked to, such settings.

The numbers of referrals to local authority designated officers and the internal records kept by some religious organisations themselves are unlikely to reflect the true scale of abuse, given what is already known about the under-reporting of child sexual abuse in general.

However, the evidence received and heard from witnesses in this investigation leaves no doubt that the sexual abuse of children takes place in a broad range of religious settings.

Barriers to reporting

Within some religious organisations and settings there are significant barriers to the effective reporting of allegations of child sexual abuse. These barriers may be linked to the organisation itself or to the wider community to which it relates.

Child protection policies and procedures

A child protection policy is the basic foundation on which organisations working with children should build their practices to keep children safe.

Although there is a range of guidance available to religious organisations and settings on child protection policies (such as the Department for Education’s Working Together to Safeguard Children), there is no legal obligation on such settings to follow this guidance. There is significant diversity between religious organisations as to whether they have adequate child protection policies in place and the extent to which they effectively follow them. We were also alerted to the problem of ‘disguised compliance’, where an organisation might take care to have a policy in place but the reality is one of half-hearted or non-existent implementation.

Responding to allegations of abuse

While some religious organisations and settings have effective systems in place for responding to allegations of child sexual abuse that are implemented throughout the organisation, others have procedures that are ill-defined or are not communicated and followed.

Few religious organisations have formal arrangements in place for the provision of professional counselling or therapy services for those who have been abused in the context of their religious organisation or setting. Some do have a system of pastoral support for victims and survivors.

Supplementary schooling, out-of-school settings and unregistered schools

Some religious organisations provide education and services to children through ‘supplementary schooling’ or ‘out-of-school provision’. It has been estimated that around 250,000 children in England and Wales receive education in supplementary schools with a faith focus or that are organised by a religious organisation. However, because there is no requirement for such schools to be registered with any state body, this estimate cannot be relied upon.

Voluntary guidance is available (such as the Department for Education’s Keeping children safe in out-of-school settings: code of practice), but supplementary schools and out-of-school settings are not subject to any compulsory minimum standards. Additionally, while there are some pilot projects, local authorities do not currently have powers to inspect or oversee such settings.

There are also a number of ‘unregistered schools’ which may pose as providing part-time education but in fact provide full-time education (and thus ought to be registered as a school), or provide the sole education that the child receives. There is a gap in the legislation whereby schools that provide solely religious education cannot register as a school, even if this is the only education a child receives.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) has serious concerns that a minority of out-of-school settings are putting children at risk by failing to adhere to basic child protection standards. Ofsted’s remit in inspecting such settings extends only to determining whether an unregistered school is being conducted; it does not have any powers to take any action against these settings, except where they are deemed to be operating as unregistered schools.

In 2015, the Department for Education issued a consultation on whether to change the law in respect of the registration of schools. It recently made a public commitment to tighten the definition of an independent school and legislate to strengthen Ofsted’s powers in respect of unregistered schools.

Inspection and oversight

While there are a number of state and local governmental or quasi-governmental bodies that have oversight of some aspects of the services provided by religious organisations, none of them can or do provide oversight of child protection within such settings. These bodies include the Department for Education, Ofsted and the Charity Commission, among others.

Local authorities are legally responsible for running child protection services and taking action when children have been abused. This investigation obtained evidence from nine local authorities across England and Wales, covering large and diverse religious communities. Each one indicated that it wished to have greater powers to help religious organisations to better protect children.

The current system for oversight of child protection within religious organisations and settings is one of patchwork influence rather than mandatory standards and enforcement. While the religious organisations and settings that provided evidence to the investigation expressed different views as to how any oversight ought to work, there was clear evidence that some standard-setting and oversight is required.

Conclusion

Two recommendations are made in this report:

(i) that all religious organisations should have a child protection policy and supporting procedures; and

(ii) that the government should legislate to amend the definition of full-time education to bring any setting that is the pupil’s primary place of education within the scope of a registered school, and provide Ofsted with sufficient powers to examine the quality of child protection when undertaking inspection of suspected unregistered schools.

Charles Derham comments ‘the evidence heard and the conclusions drawn only go further to strengthen the support that is maintained for mandatory reporting. Regardless of the setting, environment or belief, nobody should be able to evade liability for failing to disclose a child is at risk or suffering harm.‘

To view the full report – please click the logo below