SAFEGUARDING arrangements at Blackburn Cathedral are “inadequate” and require immediate action, an independent audit has concluded.
The audit was carried out by the INEQE Safeguarding Group as part of a rolling programme across the Church which is due to be completed by 2028.
It began in October 2024, two months after the BBC reported that a member of the cathedral Chapter, Canon Andrew Hindley, had been forced to retire by the then Bishop of Blackburn in 2021, and that a six-figure sum had been paid to him in a legal settlement (News, 16 August 2024). Canon Hindley has insisted that he has never posed a danger to young people or been a safeguarding risk.
The audit report was published last week. It concludes that, while there are some positive aspects to the cathedral’s safeguarding, including good practices in chorister safeguarding, these are “significantly undermined by critical vulnerabilities that demand urgent and comprehensive attention”.
Among its recommendations is that the Dean — whose designation as safeguarding lead is, it says, “neither appropriate nor sustainable” — should step back from involvement in day-to-day safeguarding activity “to ensure the appropriate separation of leadership and governance from operational safeguarding activities”.
“There is a view that safeguarding is not being driven or influenced by a safeguarding professional but by the opinion of senior leadership,” the audit states.
“Whilst senior leaders are rightly accountable, they are not equipped with the skillset to deliver operational safeguarding. Interviews and a review of other material revealed that neither the part-time Cathedral Safeguarding Advisor nor the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer appears able to effectively challenge the Dean on safeguarding matters. . .
“It has resulted in an absence of effective safeguarding leadership, questionable decision-making, inadequate safeguarding capacity and expertise, poor communication, inconsistencies in practice, and a failure to embed robust governance, oversight, and accountability.”
Recording-keeping is “poor”, it says, and HR processes are “in need of urgent improvement”. Overall, safeguarding arrangements are “currently inadequate and require immediate action”.
Some participants in the audit mentioned “internal conflict during discussions”. There were suggestions that the behaviour of certain individuals at the cathedral illustrated “a culture that appears collaborative on the surface but has underlying tensions”.
The audit itself “encountered evidence of these tensions”. It observes that “the anxiety following the recent exposé of the Hindley case persists and has impacted many staff, volunteers and leaders,” and it warns of “a significant risk of division that could prevent or further undermine the urgently required improvements in safeguarding at the Cathedral”.
The audit also concurs with the assessment, made by some participants, that tensions between the cathedral and the diocese are “creating additional barriers to effective communication”.
A “refreshed” Memorandum of Understanding between the cathedral and the diocesan board of finance is “crucial”, it concludes. It also recommends that consideration be given to establishing a dedicated safeguarding directorate responsible for the delivery of safeguarding across both the diocese and the cathedral.
Its audit of the diocese is largely positive, identifying a “strong commitment to safeguarding” and a “genuine willingness to listen and learn”. It praises the diocesan Bishop, the Rt Revd Philip North, having found evidence of his “appropriate and unambiguous challenge at all levels. This included making difficult decisions that put safeguarding before reputation, personal or professional relationships . . . exemplified in his approach to concerns raised with him regarding perceived leadership challenges at the Cathedral and their potential impact on safeguarding.”
Last week, Bishop North said in a statement: “It is clear from the audit published today there is a need for the Cathedral to act swiftly to make improvements and the Diocese continues to be happy to offer support to the Cathedral to implement in full the recommendations contained in the report.”
A cathedral spokesperson welcomed the audit and said that the Chapter had taken “swift and decisive action to implement the most urgent recommendations”. It would implement all the recommendations in full, the statement said. “We apologise unreservedly to anyone who feels let down by our previous safeguarding arrangements.”
