The Questions (and answers) for next week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod were sent to Synod members today. They are not yet online with the other Synod papers but I have put copies online. They come in four parts.
QUESTIONS Notice Paper 1 General Feb 2023
QUESTIONS Notice Paper 1 General Feb 2023 additional info
QUESTIONS Notice Paper 2 LLF February 2023
QUESTIONS Notice Paper 2 LLF Feb 2023 additional info
The first of these starts with this note.
The Business Committee has scheduled two hours for Questions at the February 2023 Group of Sessions of the General Synod. This is divided between 80 minutes on Monday 6 February and 40 minutes on Tuesday 7 February. Notice has been given of 206 questions, of which just under one third or 64 are questions of the House of Bishops relating to Living in Love and Faith and ancillary matters. The Business Committee has determined that the two questions sessions will take the following format. There are two Questions Notice Papers. This first Notice Paper contains all questions other than those relating to the Living in Love and Faith process. The second Notice Paper contains all questions to the House of Bishops on Living in Love and Faith. The first session for questions will begin at the start of the first Notice Paper and will continue until the time provided for in the agenda comes to an end. The second session will then begin at the start of the second Notice Paper and will continue until the time provided for in the agenda comes to an end.
The order in which questions are answered follows convention. The three bodies or individuals of whom questions were asked and who appeared at the bottom of the Notice Paper at the previous occasion questions were asked are taken first in this group of sessions. The remaining bodies and individuals follow in the same order as previously.
The previous occasion questions were asked was November 2022. This means questions to the Secretary General, the Clerk to the Synod and National Society Council will be taken first at this group of sessions.
Press release from the Archbishop of Canterbury
Bishop David Urquhart to be the new Bishop to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York
02/02/2023
Archbishop Justin Welby and Archbishop Stephen Cottrell have announced the Rt Revd David Urquhart as the new Bishop to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Bishop David will work directly for both Archbishops and closely with the entire College of Bishops. Bishop David takes over from Bishop Emma Ineson who has been appointed Bishop of Kensington.
As a senior member of the Archbishops’ teams, Bishop David will play a key role in supporting the Archbishops and liaising with the House and College of Bishops, as well as alongside NCI and Diocesan colleagues and other key stakeholders.
Bishop David will be part-time in this one-year interim role while continuing in his other part-time role as Assistant Priest for St Mary at Hill in the City of London. He will start in post next week.
Bishop David was ordained in York Minster in 1984 and served in parishes in Hull and Coventry. In 2000 he became Bishop of Birkenhead and in 2006 Bishop of Birmingham, succeeding John Sentamu after he became Archbishop of York, stepping down in October 2022.
He became the Convenor of the Lords Spiritual in May 2015, and was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG) for services to international relations in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018.
As previous chair of the West Midlands Bishops, and former member of the Assets Committee of the Church Commissioners, Bishop David has wide experience of many aspects of Church and national life.
Bishop David said: “I am looking forward to supporting the ministry of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and to sharing with them the pastoral and practical needs and opportunities of our episcopal colleagues across the Church of England”.
Archbishop Justin Welby and Archbishop Stephen Cottrell said: “We are delighted to welcome Bishop David to this important role. We know he will bring his considerable wisdom, humour and humility to the role, as well as his wealth of experience as a bishop and leader in the Church and the national life.”
31 CommentsUpdated Thursday and Friday
My previous post on this topic is here: Church Safeguarding: Updates for General Synod
Some more recent items:
Church Times Hattie Williams Disputes undermine effectiveness of the Church’s Independent Safeguarding Board
THE Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has upheld a third complaint of a data-breach made by a survivor against the chair of the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB), Professor Maggie Atkinson, the Church Times has learned.
This paper also understands that, despite being informed of this, the Archbishops’ Council, who employ the ISB as independent contractors, has recently reinstated Professor Atkinson’s access to her ISB email account against the wishes of the two other ISB board members.
The two have requested that her access be removed until they are reassured and can assure survivors that their data is safe…
and the report continues with a great deal of detail on the confusion, ending with:
“…However, due to ongoing concerns about the current working relationships, the Council agreed at its January meeting that members should enter into a dispute-resolution process to ensure this important independent work can continue with effective collaborative working between its members. This will enable the ISB to reach decisions including on outstanding work and to provide services to the Church agreed in its contract.”.
Read the whole report if you can.
The Acting Bishop of Lincoln has written this letter: The Retirement of the Dean of Lincoln, The Very Reverend Christine Wilson. It concludes:
…It is well-known that Dean Christine was caught up in the safeguarding debacle leading from allegations made against the Canon Chancellor. He was subsequently found not guilty; but both the Bishop of Lincoln and Dean Christine were disciplined for a reporting error with regard to the safeguarding breach. Dean Christine voluntarily stepped away from her duties. The Bishop was suspended. Later the Bishop received an apology from the National Church for the undue duration of his suspension. Perhaps because the Dean’s situation was more informal and local, she received no corresponding recognition. A subsequent independent review of the case found that Dean Christine paid too high a price for her mistake, which she apologised publicly for on her return to work. The review, conducted by a senior and highly-esteemed barrister, also found that Christine was never a threat to children or vulnerable adults as had been asserted.
Of course, the first priority of the Diocese was to ensure that no breach of process could possibly lead to a vulnerable adult being hurt. The Court finally determined that there was no case to answer; but the two senior leaders involved paid the price in the meantime. That price has been high and provides a media narrative which will linger for a long time. However, the whole matter can now be seen in perspective, and Dean Christine should in the years ahead be allowed to celebrate her many achievements in ministry under God, as I am celebrating today.
Archbishop of York Press Release: Bishopthorpe Palace publishes its Independent Safeguarding Audit from SCIE and the full text of the audit report is here.
Church of England Press Release: Statement on ISB and Christ Church review
The Archbishops’ Council, at its meeting last week, has agreed that the review of the handling of safeguarding issues regarding the former Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, Dr Martyn Percy, originally referred to the Independent Safeguarding Board, ISB, should be led by another person.
All parties have been informed of this decision and next steps will be announced in due course.
The Archbishops’ Council and the Diocese of Oxford originally referred the review to the ISB early in 2022 and Terms of Reference were announced in May. In the autumn, the ISB announced it was pausing work on the review due to finite resources, current workload and a desire to study the outcomes of other independent reviews into Christ Church.
Due to ongoing concerns about current working relationships and the conclusion of the ICO investigation into the Chair the Council also agreed at its January meeting that the three ISB members should enter into a dispute resolution process to ensure this important independent work can continue with effective collaborative working between its members. This will enable the ISB to reach decisions including on outstanding work and to provide services to the Church agreed in its contract.
The ISB, was set up to provide vital scrutiny of the Church’s safeguarding work and we remain committed to this principle and would like to thank members for their work to date.
Church Times:Review of Dean Percy case will not be conducted by Independent Safeguarding Board
…Early last year, the ISB had agreed — at the request of the diocese of Oxford and the Archbishops’ Council — to undertake a review of the quality of earlier safeguarding investigations into what became a long and protracted dispute between the college authorities and Dean Percy (News, 24 June 2022). The Secretary-General of the Archbishops’ Council, William Nye, later defended the ISB’s ability to do so, after its competence and capacity to investigate were questioned by a General Synod member, Martin Sewell (News, 1 July 2022).
Last October, however, the ISB “paused” its review indefinitely because it was not confident in its own independence and resources (News, 21 October 2022).
On Wednesday, the Archbishops’ Council announced that the Christ Church review “should be led by another person” — the day after the Church Times reported that a third complaint of a data breach had been made by a survivor against the ISB, and that this had been upheld by the Independent Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The complaint concerned an email exchange between the survivor and the chair of the ISB, Professor Maggie Atkinson.
Updates
Statement from the ISB about the Cbrist Church review
Church Times Member’s motion to tackle exclusion of Independent Safeguarding Board from Synod
The full text of this motion as originally submitted appears in the comments below.
Report from the ISB to General Synod
15 Comments“The Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) is committed to sharing its thinking and emerging findings. Despite attempts to secure an opportunity to update Synod in person, no time was made available. We do not believe that the importance of ISB work is consistent with a ‘fringe’ activity. This paper is published in accordance with our commitment to transparency and accountability.”