Audit of safeguarding in our diocese
One of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was that safeguarding policies and procedures in every Church of England diocese should be subject to an external audit. The INEQE safeguarding group was appointed by the Archbishops’ Council in 2023 to carry out these external audits, to make sure dioceses and cathedrals are doing all they can to create environments where everyone feels safe. Their reports on each of those dioceses can be read here.
It was recently the turn of the Diocese of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Cathedral to be audited. This included an anonymous online survey that was completed by 642 individuals. There was also a week-long visit to our diocese and cathedral in June 2025. In total, the auditors analysed 360 documents and interviewed 130 people.
Publication
The INEQE audit was published in September 2025, and their conclusion was: “Portsmouth DBF has undergone a substantial and positive transformation in its safeguarding culture, establishing a firmly embedded and robust framework. This success is primarily attributed to the diocesan bishop's clear, committed, and effective leadership, which has strategically positioned safeguarding as a core theological concern and gospel imperative.”
The audit also included a number of recommendations, to improve our practice. You can read more detail about the INEQ safeguarding audit here, including the response of our bishop and dean. And you can download and read the full INEQE audit from here.
Safeguarding audit and our response
This is a document that we hope might be helpful. It's a summary of the INEQE audit, the full list of recommendations, the response by the bishop and by the dean, and some helpful information about our safeguarding team.
Feel free to download the document and print it out for those who may be interested within your parish. You can download it from here.
Read the full INEQE safeguarding audit, and our response to it, here:
Latest documents
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Safeguarding Audit
Our response to INEQE safeguarding audit
We’ve put together a document that summarises the INEQE safeguarding audit, and includes all its ... Read more
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Safeguarding Audit
INEQE safeguarding audit of our diocese and cathedral
The audit by independent safeguarding group INEQE of safeguarding practice in the Diocese of Portsmouth ... Read more
