Independent safeguarding audit of Bradford Cathedral
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reporting and good practice, these are in various separate documents. This risks a situation whereby staff and, especially, volunteers need to have knowledge of specific information to properly understand how safeguarding works at the Cathedral and their duties. This is complicated by the current situation whereby such documents are stored within a computer drive, and the auditors were unclear how easily accessible these actually are to those within the Cathedral. A staff and volunteer handbook would be one way in which this problem could be overcome, centralising all information in one document that individuals have as a running point of reference. The auditors reflected, therefore, that the time needed to produce this would be well worth the investment, and may be helped by the alreadycomprehensive induction training presentation, which could form their basis. The auditors were pleased to hear of the positive work that has happened within the music department to develop such handbooks for their practice, including for choristers, chaperones and adult members of the choirs. The chorister handbook in particular is a very detailed document which captures key areas of safeguarding, behaviour, conduct and expectations clearly. Questions for the Cathedral to consider • Does the current suite of policy and guidance effectively capture the Cathedral’s context in relation to safeguarding? How could this be further developed? • What would staff and volunteer handbooks look like, and who should be involved in their creation? • How will the Cathedral ensure access to essential safeguarding material for all staff and volunteers?
Description Bradford Cathedral’s Canon for Mission and Pastoral Development has the dual role of CSO and so has the responsibility for the majority of safeguarding work. They have been at the Cathedral since 2015, and bring experience to the safeguarding role by virtue of their previous background within education as a secondary school teacher. They have an enhanced DBS check and have completed basic, foundation and leadership safeguarding training. The CSO role is formalised through a role description, which includes both their operational and strategic functions. The auditors heard how, on joining the Cathedral, the CSO inherited a system for DBS checks and for basic safeguarding training, but little else, requiring much work around wider systems implementation and cultural change. The CSO is supported in their role by an Assistant CSO, who works at the Cathedral one day per week in their dual post as a verger. They bring significant experience to the role from their prior work in education safeguarding. The auditors heard how the Assistant CSO role was created to support capacity during the sabbatical of the CSO in 2018. Since this time, they have continued to support the Cathedral as part of the safeguarding team. Like the CSO, they also have an enhanced DBS check and have undertaken basic and foundation safeguarding training.
