All PCCs are charities and therefore they are required to report any Serious Incidents (both safeguarding and non-safeguarding) to the Charity Commission.
Following recent high-profile safeguarding related incidents in the charity sector, the Charity Commission updated its guidance in October 2018, with a particular focus on the reporting of safeguarding Serious Incidents. The Church of England has worked with the Charity Commission to agree bespoke guidance for DBFs, PCCS and Religious Communities on how to identify and report a Serious Incident. From 1 January 2019, when PCCs report any Serious Incident to the Charity Commission, they should do so in accordance with the new CofE Guidance.
The purpose of this Guidance is to assist those responsible within PCCs to ascertain:
- whether an incident is a Serious incident (whether safeguarding related or otherwise) and so must be reported to the Charity Commission; and
- how to report the incident.
CofE Guidance on reporting Serious Incidents:
- Explanatory Note explaining what the new Guidance and Templates are and what action needs to be taken.
- Guidance for DBFs, PCCs and Religious Communities on identifying and reporting Safeguarding Serious Incidents.
- Practical Guidance on how to make a Safeguarding Serious Incident Report (including a template report).
- Guidance for PCCs on identifying and reporting non-safeguarding Serious Incidents (including a template report).
- Example Delegation for the PCC trustees to bespoke and pass in order to delegate authority:
- to the DS to submit safeguarding Serious Incident Reports on behalf of the PCC’s trustees; and
- to a suitable person within the PCC to submit non-safeguarding Serious Incident Reports on behalf of the PCC’s trustees.