Two press releases today:
Archbishops’ Council appoints Felicity Mitchell to lead next phase of Church safeguarding reforms
Rollout of safeguarding complaints process underway full text of this is copied below the fold
From the first release:
The Archbishops’ Council has appointed Felicity Mitchell as Interim Non-Executive Chair of the Safeguarding Structures Programme Board with immediate effect.
Felicity is a qualified barrister who has worked for many years in the ombuds sector. She has served on the Programme Board since September 2025, having joined the Programme in July 2025. She has played a central role in supporting the vision for safeguarding reform, and more recently the design of a new independent safeguarding authority. In addition, she has advised the programme on a new unified safeguarding complaints process featuring local resolution and access to an independent safeguarding complaints body…
…Felicity follows Dame Christine Ryan, whose strategic vision presented to General Synod in February 2026 formed the basis of the development work over the past 12 months. Drawing on proposals developed independently by the Safeguarding Structures Programme Board, the Archbishops’ Council has approved the national rollout of a new complaints process and a detailed operating design for new safeguarding structures, including plans for an independent safeguarding authority to oversee Church safeguarding.
This autumn stakeholders will have opportunities to consider aspects of the detailed operating design, engage with the programme team, and meet the new Interim Chair.
Implementation of new safeguarding arrangements will happen in phases and will prioritise stability over speed to protect frontline capacity. The practical changes will be evaluated in real-world conditions and are likely to inform further refinements to the design over time. This iterative process will help to ensure that future legislation to make the arrangements mandatory is built on proven, robust practice…
More about Felicity Mitchell
Felicity qualified as a barrister and is currently an independent consultant working mainly in the ombudsman sector. From 2018 to 2023, she was Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education at the OIA, the ombuds scheme for higher education students in England and Wales. As Independent Adjudicator, Felicity led the OIA’s case-handling and outreach functions, including the development of the Good Practice Framework. She worked at the OIA for 19 years in various case-handling roles.
Felicity joined the Church of England Safeguarding Structures Programme in July 2025, joining the Programme Board in October 2025. She has co-chaired the Programme’s Policy and Assurance Advisory Group.
Felicity sits on the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales’ Advisory Panel, a non-statutory forum whose main role is to support the Ombudsman in providing leadership and good governance. She is the Independent Reviewer of Service Complaints for the Housing Ombudsman. She is an external member of the Academic Board of the University of Law.
Felicity is an active member of her local parish church, a trustee of a charity supporting women to become entrepreneurs in Uganda, and she volunteers for a local debt counselling charity.
Second press release:
National rollout of a new safeguarding complaints process is now underway following Archbishops’ Council approval.
The new process brings together a local resolution stage and an end-stage overseen by an independent safeguarding complaints body into a single, unified, national process. Church bodies can take the necessary steps now to voluntarily adopt the process ahead of the policy becoming mandatory next year through new legislation, subject to General Synod approval.
The new policy marks a longstanding commitment to change how safeguarding complaints are made, handled, and resolved in the Church.
Drawing on proposals developed independently by the Safeguarding Structures Programme Board, the Archbishops’ Council approved the national rollout of the new complaints process at its meeting in October.
Chair of the Archbishops’ Council, Alison Coulter, said: “The availability of this new safeguarding complaints process is an important development and is one of a number of changes proposed as part of a wider restructuring of Church safeguarding. We are very grateful to the Programme Board, and for the collective effort of all involved to help us reach this point.”
At its October meeting, the Archbishops’ Council also approved a detailed operating design for new safeguarding structures, including plans for a new independent safeguarding authority to oversee Church safeguarding.
The developments follow extensive engagement over the last 12 months to understand current safeguarding arrangements. A formal consultation on the early design proposals generated detailed submissions from survivors, churchgoers, safeguarding professionals, Church leaders, and trustees.
Under the design, day-to-day operations of the new safeguarding authority will be led by a Chief Safeguarding Officer, overseen by a majority-independent Board and Chair. The design also establishes robust structures to ensure operational safeguarding decisions remain independent. These protections will explicitly cover professional decisions on individual casework and risk assessments, scrutiny findings, enforcement action, and clergy disciplinary action. While local Church bodies will continue to manage daily safeguarding, the authority will hold powers to inspect them, issue compliance notices, and assess senior clergy risk.
Welcoming the developments, Bishop Joanne Grenfell, a long-time advocate for independent safeguarding and a Programme Board member, said: “Confirmation that a new safeguarding complaints process is now available nationally for Church bodies to adopt is significant progress, and I would encourage all dioceses and cathedrals to sign up to the policy locally as soon as possible.
“I also want to express my sincere thanks to the many safeguarding professionals, survivors, and Church leaders who have shared their input over the course of this year. As we implement these initial changes and transition to new safeguarding arrangements, the detailed operating design provides the target model we need to ensure we remain on track and implement reform carefully and safely.”
This autumn, stakeholders will have opportunities to examine aspects of the detailed operating model, engage with the programme team, and meet the incoming Interim Chair, Felicity Mitchell.
Implementation of new safeguarding arrangements will happen in phases and will prioritise stability over speed to protect frontline capacity. The practical changes will be evaluated in real-world conditions and are likely to inform further refinements to the design over time. This iterative process will help to ensure that future legislation to make the arrangements mandatory is built on proven, robust practice.
Key implementation milestones:
• Late 2026: National rollout of a voluntary, unified complaints process, including access to an independent safeguarding complaints body.
• 2027: Legal establishment of the new independent safeguarding authority, leadership appointments, and implementation of initial scrutiny functions.
• 2028: Complete transfer of national safeguarding staff and operational functions, underpinned by new legislation.