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THE Church of England today confirmed every diocese in the country will appoint an independent reviewer to look over files of clergy and church employees as part of a systematic review of child protection. The broad principles for the new procedure were outlined today following an announcement by the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year after two high profile cases of child abuse in the Church of England. In April former Hampshire choirmaster Peter Halliday was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting a trail of abuse back in the 1980s. It emerged his suffragan bishop had been told of the abuse but allowed him to ‘leave quietly’. Then in May Somerset priest the Rev David Smith was jailed for five-and-a-half years for abusing boys over a 30-year period. The review will see each diocesan bishop initiate a review which will include clergy, retired priests, diocesan lay employees and readers. An independent reviewer will then be appointed by each bishop to review the files to assess whether any ‘causes for concern’ exist. Each diocesan bishop will also write to previous bishops, archdeacons, bishops’ chaplains and secretarial staff to ask whether they have any information about any cases of abuse or concerns from the past which were not followed up at the time in the way that they would be now. Additionally, any concerns expressed by other clergy or churchgoers will be included in the list for the reviewer, and any urgent issues that arise will be referred to the relevant statutory authorities. The reviewer will pass the portfolio to the Diocesan Child Protection Management Group to formulate an action plan to be led by the Diocesan Child Protection Adviser.
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