Bimringham archdiocese is to undergo a major transformation of how it handles child protection, its archbishop told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA}.
Archbishop Bernard Longley outlined his action plan for the diocese on the fifth day of the hearings into sexual abuse scandals in the archdiocese over 70 years. While much of the evidence given was about assaults many decades ago, Archbishop Longley, the final witness, focused on the present and plans to make the archdiocese a safer place for children in future.
A series of audits commissioned by the archdiocese itself in recent months, after a previous IICSA chair, Justice Lowell Goddard, suggested named organisations should carry them out, have revealed failures in its management of child protection.
An audit by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) showed that the archdiocese’s recording systems were inadequate and that there was poor case management, with abuse patterns being missed. A study of past cases by abuse expert, Jan Pickles, also highlighted chaotic paperwork and a lack of supervision of staff.
The SCIE study also found that many people were fearful about whistleblowing, with some even worrying that if they exposed what they knew their children would lose their places in Catholic schools. The archbishop said he was surprised people were fearful as they often made complaints.
Archbishop Longley told the inquiry that he has now appointed more lay people as diocesan trustees and a lay chief operating officer who will have overall responsibility for safeguarding. He has also appointed an interim director of safeguarding, Andrew Haley, who started work this week.
Meanwhile, the archdiocese’s long-standing safeguarding officer, Jane Jones, has resigned after criticisms in the SCIE audit. Mrs Jones’ role also came under scrutiny at the IICSA hearing, with Adrian Child, former director of the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS), saying that Mrs Jones was openly hostile to the national safeguarding office.
Archbishop Longley said that he had tried to ensure his door is open to victims and survivors of abuse but “it is a dilemma because not every approach directly from me would be welcome”. However, he said that this approach had led to meetings with survivors.
He also acknowledged in his witness statement to the inquiry that fear of negative publicity had affected decisions in the past.