Serious incident reporting
All PCCs are charities. Therefore, they are already required to report any Serious Incidents (both safeguarding and non-safeguarding) to the Charity Commission. This means that, from 1 January 2019, when PCCs report any Serious Incident to the Charity Commission, they should do so in accordance with the new Church of England Guidance. 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. This page will help you understand what a serious incident is and how and when to report it. What is considered a serious incidentThe national church and the Charity Commission have issued guidelines that set out how serious incidents which affect the reputation of the church should be reported. The guidelines mention two categories of incident:
A serious safeguarding incident is described as
Other Serious Incidents are described as:
Reporting serious incidents to the Charity CommissionAs trustees of the local church, the PCC is already obliged to report serious incidents but now you need to follow the new guidance which is set out here PCCs (Parochial Church Councils): Explanatory Note The national church has agreed that serious safeguarding incidents are reported on the PCC’s behalf by the Diocesan Board of Finance. PCCs need to report other serious incidents themselves. What you need to doIf you haven't already, at your next PCC meeting you may wish to use the template: PCC Template Delegations to formally agree on who on your PCC decides what is a serious incident and makes the report. Useful resourcesFor more information about serious incident reporting and what you need to do then, please read the guidance notes on the parish resources website:
House of Bishops safeguarding guidance
Charity Commission guidance Key Contacts
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