The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Safeguarding in Faith Communities (APPG) has started an inquiry aimed at improving child protection in churches, mosques, temples, and other faith-based settings.
The group is inviting anyone involved in the sector - faith leaders, safeguarding officers, volunteers, youth workers, survivors, and organisations - to share real-life experiences and evidence. This includes a questionnaire, written submissions, and hearings. The deadline is July 2026 and the process will conclude with the creation of a report with recommendations.
At the heart of the inquiry is the concept of “regulated activity”, a legal term which refers to work or volunteering with children that is considered to be of sufficient risk that strict legal standards, such as enhanced DBS checks, must be enforced.
In faith settings there is sometimes a lack of clarity about when such rules apply, for example in Sunday school, youth group, Bible study or prayer meetings. Some situations are considered informal and legally may not require enhanced checks.
The APPG has said it wishes to examine how well the current rules are understood by faith communities and to ensure that they understand what is required of them.
The APPG referred to the 2022 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said that the supervision exemption for regulated activity should be removed. The exemption states that if a person is constantly supervised then the threshold for “regulated activity” has not been met.
Christian safeguarding charity Thirtyone:eight, which is promoting the inquiry, have said of the issue, “Clarifying and expanding the definition of regulated activity would ensure comprehensive safeguarding across all contexts, including faith-based settings, and help educate these groups about their responsibilities, leading to better protection for children and vulnerable individuals.
“Significant gaps exist in the current definition of regulated activity within faith communities. Addressing these issues is crucial for safeguarding children and vulnerable individuals.”
Peter Wright, lead for the secretariat to the APPG, said at the launch of the inquiry, “To date, there has been limited research, data, and formal scrutiny of how the regulated activity definition operates in practice within faith communities. As the APPG on safeguarding for faith communities, we feel we are uniquely placed to provide some of that crucial information.
“This inquiry is intended to fill that gap by providing both quantitative and qualitative evidence to ensure that discussions with Government about key legislation such as the proposed mandatory reporting duty are grounded in and informed by the experience and voice of faith communities.”
It was recently announced that the APPG would be co-chaired by Joanne Grenfell, who for three years has acted as the Church of England’s lead bishop for safeguarding.
