Every diocese in the Church of England either has or will be taking part in a . These independent audits are conducted by the INEQE Safeguarding Group and the site visit for the ÑÇÖÞÂ鶹 of Canterbury will take place in November 2026.
The audits are an important part of our ongoing commitment to safeguarding and accountability.
Please complete the survey
The auditors would like to hear from as many people as possible as your views matter – please complete the survey(s) which are relevant to your role.
The surveys close on 9 September and your responses will help inform the recommendations of the Audit.
How can parishes help?
- Please fill in the
- By advertising the surveys - you may find the and or helpful
- By supporting the groups within the survey demographics to complete the survey if help is needed.
- By participating in focus groups when required.
National Safeguarding Standards
This Audit aims to assess current safeguarding practices across our diocese and the cathedral. It will seek to find areas of good and best practices as well as identify areas for improvement. The audit will use the Church of England’s five to ensure we are creating safe and welcoming church environments.
- Culture, Leadership and Capacity: Church bodies have safe and healthy cultures, effective leadership, resourcing and scrutiny arrangements necessary to deliver high-quality safeguarding practices and outcomes.
- Prevention: Church bodies have in place a planned range of measures which together are effective in preventing abuse in their context.
- Recognising, Assessing and Managing Risk: Risk assessments, safety plans and associated processes are of a high quality and result in positive outcomes. The assessment and management of risk is underpinned by effective partnership working.
- Victims and Survivors: Victims and survivors experience the timeliness and quality of Church bodies’ responses to disclosures, and their subsequent support, as positively meeting their needs, including their search for justice and helping their healing process.
- Learning, Supervision and Support: All those engaged in safeguarding-related activity in Church bodies receive the type and level of learning, professional development, support and supervision necessary to respond to safeguarding situations, victims and survivors, and respondents, effectively.
What does this mean for parishes: Expectations and Key Dates
Preparation
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, which is why this audit is not limited to the safeguarding team but considers every parish and every role holder.
As such, we recommend that you conduct an internal audit in case you are visited by the auditors to include what you need to have in place (e.g. safeguarding posters, relevant policies etc).
A simple way to complete your own safeguarding internal audit is through the use of the Parish Safeguarding Dashboards and Parish Safeguarding Hubs – if you have not already signed up to these tools, you can .
We will be contacting some parish officers and clergy with sample surveys in the Spring.
Surveys - July to September 2026
Every person in parishes and within the ÑÇÖÞÂ鶹 will be invited to participate in surveys from July to 9 September 2026. This will give you the opportunity to share your unique experiences and insights.
Pre-audit preparation – 26-30 October
Parish members may be invited to participate in online or in-person focus groups. These may take place either the week before the audit itself (w/c 26 October) or during the audit week.
Audit week – 2-6 November
The audit team will be in Canterbury working closely with colleagues in the Cathedral and Diocesan House. They may also select a few parishes or parish activities where they would like to carry out a site visit. This may be at short notice so we recommend that you have done any preparation work well in advance.
If you are ever worried about anything and would like some advice please complete our referral form available on our website or email us at safeguarding@diocant.org.
Post audit
After the audit is completed, the report will be published on the INEQE and ÑÇÖÞÂ鶹 of Canterbury websites within approximately two to three months.
Links and documents
Powerpoint for Canterbury ÑÇÖÞÂ鶹
INEQE Audit Webpage for Canterbury
Letter for Diocesan workforce INEQE_Letter_ÑÇÖÞÂ鶹_Staff_Member_2026 .pdf
Letter for Diocesan Community INEQE_Letter_Parish_Community_Member_2026 .pdf