TRUSTEES’ MEETING SATURDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2025.
Summary Report: Trustees’ Safeguarding Committee 9 September 2025
1. Introduction
This summary report covers the meeting of the Trustees’ Safeguarding Committee held on 9 September 2025. In attendance: Mrs Fiona Bateman, Mr James Reilly (Chair), Fr Paul O’Reilly SJ, Fr David Smolira SJ, Fr Peter Gallagher SJ (Provincial), Mrs Nadra Gadeed and Mrs Julie Ashby-Ellis. Mr Jim Gallagher sent apologies owing to a family bereavement. Ms Angie Palmer, Acting Safeguarding Administrative Assistant, attended as part of her induction. Mrs Fiona Robb assisted in taking the minutes of the non-confidential items. This meeting was observed by the two auditors from the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) as part of their baseline audit.
Approval was given to minutes of the meeting on 17 June 2025 and the action log reviewed with future actions recorded.
2. Work with Victim/Survivors and Safety Management Plans
The Committee reviewed the current work during which Nadra Gadeed reported on her recent engagement with three victim/survivors. All the complaints are historical and the perpetrator is deceased. Two have been receiving support over an extended period and one is a recent referral, whose complaint was supported by another victim/survivor who has received extensive support.
She outlined the actions taken to facilitate one-to-onecontact with the Provincial, assist in accessing ongoing therapeutic support from accredited practitioners, and advise on the process of submitting compensation claims. The Committee was keen to see a review of the compensation processes to ensure that victim/survivors have well-grounded expectations and apositive experience in navigating this process.
Mrs Julie Ashby-Ellis updated the Committee on progress witha personal misconduct plan. She informed that two complaints received since thelast meeting were reviewed with senior members and confirmed to be handled under the personal conduct framework.
3. Various Updates
The Committee were informed of the closure of Mount StMary's College in July 2025, following persistent financial difficulties. As aresult, any follow-up actions related to the safeguarding inspection report earlier this year have ceased.
As agreed at the previous meeting, Mr James Reilly and Mr Andrew Johnson, Province Delegate for Education, will meet on 16 September to map outthe process for restating and strengthening the existing agreements and understandings between the eight schools and the Province.
Mr James Reilly and Fr David Smolira SJ provided an update onthe new Strategic Council for Catholic Safeguarding (SCCS) in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The SCCS will assume functions previously withinthe remit of the CSSA, leaving that agency solely as an inspection body. The remit of the SCCS is still being finalised.
Mrs Julie Ashby-Ellis and our visiting CSSA auditors confirmed that the revised One Churchsafeguarding policies and related practice guidance, produced in collaboration with the Social Care Institute of Excellence, are expected to be published within the next two months.
Changes to safeguarding accountabilities, responsibilities and liabilities for parishes run by religious remains under discussion, with are vised draft document produced. The Province and the Committee continue to have questions about the proposed changes.
4. Committee Business
CSSA Audit: The audit commenced on 8 September and includes a review of documentation, interviews with key personnel, and visits to key works of the Province: St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre, Farm Street and the Jesuit retirement community in Boscombe. The auditors attended the Superiors and Trustees’ Safeguarding Committee meetings. The draft report will be shared with the Province for factual accuracy before final publication later in the year.
Risk Register: The Committee reviewed and updated the register and agreed to review scoring with Mr Jim Gallagher at its next meeting. The auditors provided some suggestions for an issues log. There are no issues or risks to escalate to the Trustees.
Work Programme: The Committee reviewed the programme and added work on updating agreements with schools, and work arising from collaboration with the Irish Province, as reported to the Trustees.
Training Plan: The Committee reviewed the Training Plan and noted that bespoke training will berequired next year, linked to the national policies and guidance for England and Wales that are due to be published.
DBS/PVG Checks: The Committee was assured by the very high level of compliance, with just two checks outstanding and being progressed. It noted that DBS now requires a self-updating mechanism for annual updates, and that proactive prompting will be needed to avoid individuals being removed from the register. Progress by associate retreat spiritual directors in completing their registration and checks with DBS was also noted.
CPOMS Electronic Records: Ms Angie Palmer, as Acting Safeguarding Administrative Assistant, is undergoing training to fully operate the system. Mrs Julie Ashby-Ellis is also undergoing training to ensure back-up capacity exists within the team. This system ensures that all relevant information for investigations can be accessed and provides strong reporting capabilities and strict confidentiality controls.
The Committee’s next meeting is on Tuesday 11 November 2025.
