Clergy Conduct Measure

Baroness Butler-Sloss Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Brinton (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I declare my interest that one of my sons is a priest in the Church of England.

I thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester for introducing the Measure to your Lordships’ House today, and the Ecclesiastical Committee for its helpful report on the revised Clergy Conduct Measure, published earlier this month, both of which have been very helpful. I also thank those people who have provided briefings and comments ahead of this debate.

My Front-Bench portfolio—victims and vulnerable people—means that I have a particular interest in formal processes to investigate and remedy complaints, whether minor or very serious. I should also add that, as president of the Lib Dems between 2015 and 2019, I was a witness at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse regarding historical sexual abuse by a senior Liberal Party MP. As president, I was involved with changes to our own party’s disciplinary process and worked with the Committee on Standards in Public Life, as well as my opposite numbers in other parties at that time. Some of my questions today reflect my experience of those processes a few years down the line.

Assessing how process works in practice is where I want to start. The statement of purpose for the CCM currently speaks of preserving

“the collective good standing of clergy”.

If viewed from the Church of England’s perspective, this is logical. A new Measure should work so well that it will root out established poor behaviour through a transparent process in which all participants feel heard, even if one party disagrees with the outcome. That would certainly speak to the continuing of the collective good standing of the clergy.

However, those with experience of past complaints under previous Measures that were unsatisfactory might be concerned that this would repeat the old practice, where the good standing of the clergy was there to protect the Church of England, regardless of the claimant and the cleric. That, of course, would be a failure, so it is good to hear the Bishop explain to your Lordships’ House how this system will work.

My first question is: what review and reporting structures will there be to ensure that it is the former and not the latter outcome? Which bodies in the Church will see annual general reports on how the system is working? If minor changes need to be made in practice, is there capacity to do this without starting all over again through synod and then Parliament?

I move on to the details of the process. The division into four categories of complaint is helpful, as is the flexibility for the assessor and/or the bishop to change or reallocate the complaint, in the words of the Measure, if further evidence surfaced so that it needed to move into a different category. I am pleased to see a formal process for vexatious complaints and litigants. It is a sad part of the tribalisation of our society that far too many people move straight to complaints and use the law repeatedly, rather than all parties being more considered and discussing things earlier on in the process —where that is appropriate, of course. It is clearly not in some of the more serious cases that are likely to appear.

The changes in process to reflect the IICSA recommendations are also clear and helpful, and it is right that the penalty by consent, where a penalty was agreed with a bishop entirely in private, has been abolished. The previous arrangement would inevitably lead complainants to believe that deals were being done behind the scenes. That is never good, so it is good that it has gone.

I also want to examine the boundaries between safeguarding and the complaints procedure, because the safeguarding procedure and the complaints procedure are separate but interlinked. IICSA’s full report demonstrated the failures of a number of organisations in our society that at best ignored warnings about abuse and at worst hid appalling long-term abuse by people involved. How will the Church judge the very different needs of a safeguarding service and a conduct process? It is vital that they are not separated but that they are different.

Finally, I note that the Ecclesiastical Committee report expresses concern that it was disappointed that its comments in a previous report about meeting in public were not taken into account, so it was good to hear from the right reverend Prelate that this has now been accepted. Accountability and safeguarding must be at the heart of any process like this, and transparency is also vital. As long as synod and other relevant bodies regularly see the annual data on complaints, including those unfounded or vexatious complaints and allegations of sexual behaviour, then the Church has the mechanism to monitor the type of cases and the judgments in those cases over time. Only that way will the Church get a clear idea of whether it has a fully functioning process. That is because the Church must be firm on dealing with those who are perpetrators of abuse, but also clear when vexatious claims are made to undermine clergy. That is a hard task, but I believe this Measure and its process appears to have the capability to do so. I wish it well.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

My Lords, I will speak to the report that I seek leave to present to the House, as chairman of the Ecclesiastical Committee. I will leave the answers to the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, to the right reverend Prelate, although I will make just one or two comments.

I chair the Ecclesiastical Committee, which was created in 1919 as a statutory committee, oddly, and not a Select Committee, which means we do not have parliamentary privilege—which every now again I need to remind the 15 MPs and 15 Peers who are its members. Our entire duty is to scrutinise the Measures of General Synod before they reach both Houses of Parliament. The right reverend Prelate gave the exact date, 2003, when there was last a finding by a previous committee of a Measure being inexpedient. Since then, every Measure passed has been accepted by the committee that I now chair.