Dear colleagues
I am writing to you following the Short Term Task Group (STTG) meeting which took place on Friday afternoon. The work of the safeguarding project is drawing to a close, having established or nearly completed the new structures.
Thanks to all of you who have been working on the different workstreams that are concerned with operational matters e.g. standards and audit, complaints, training, and the ending of alignment. As the safeguarding project ends, this work will continue under the wing of the CSSA, in collaboration with the Religious Life Safeguarding Service (RLSS).
The CSSA Board which was confirmed earlier this month will be meeting before the end of June. I will be taking the product of the workstreams to the Board for their consideration. From this meeting, we will be well placed to move from some positions of principle that the workstreams have developed, to, for example, the detail of the standards, how audit will function, and how complaints will be addressed.
The TUPE transfer of CSAS to the CSSA took place on the 1st April 2021. This meant that there was a transfer of undertaking of all business, assets and day to day operations. This enables the CSSA to adopt the current national policies and procedures etc until such time that it is ready to implement the new standards and introduce new procedures where necessary.
Between now and the autumn, the CSSA will continue developing its operations and the tools that will support the church bodies that contract with it in due course. Integral to this work is the development of new information sharing agreements that will enable the church bodies to work together in the interests of protecting people.
CSSA is planning a meeting of all safeguarding coordinators in October. The agenda will focus on the transition to the standards based approach, and the other functions of the CSSA including audit, training, formal case consultation and complaints. The meeting will also provide an opportunity to meet some of the members of the Board and the operational team.
In the interim, I will be arranging meetings within each of the 5 Provinces which will provide updates and allow time for more detailed discussion about the work currently underway.
If you have any questions arising from this, please get in touch.
Kind regards
Colette
Dr Colette Limbrick
Chief Executive Officer
Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency
