Diocesan Safeguarding Lead Trustee

Role Description

[Employer hidden] (BCDT) are looking to appoint a lead Trustee for Safeguarding. This is part of their ongoing commitment and support for Safeguarding, and to ensure senior leadership and collaboration between the BCDT, the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel and its Independent Chair, Diocesan Safeguarding Officer and colleagues in other Dioceses and within the National Church. This role will need to be filled either by an existing trustee, or someone eligible to be appointed.

Role Purpose

To provide strategic leadership, oversight, and assurance on safeguarding matters across the Diocese, ensuring BCDT meets its legal and moral responsibilities in promoting a safer church. To work with and alongside the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel (DSAP) Independent Chair, who is not a trustee, the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer (DSO), and the Diocesan Bishop to ensure trustees are appropriately briefed on all relevant concerns including strategy, risk management and appropriate resource provision. To act as the “link trustee” for Safeguarding, in a similar manner to Trustee committee chairs and their respective operational oversight areas. This is not an operational role.

Key Responsibilities

• Champion safeguarding at trustee level, ensuring it remains a priority in diocesan governance.
• Ensure safeguarding is embedded in diocesan culture, policies, and practices.
• Monitor compliance with national Church safeguarding policies and standards.
• Ensure the Diocese has effective safeguarding structures, including a Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel (DSAP).
• Receive and review regular safeguarding reports from the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer and assist with the presentation of these reports at meetings of [Employer hidden] and Diocesan Synod.
• Attend meetings of the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel (DSAP), as a Diocesan Trustee representative.
• Provide appropriate support and challenge to BCDT and senior diocesan staff on safeguarding matters.
• Ensure safeguarding risks are identified, assessed, and managed appropriately, via review of the safeguarding risk register during meetings of DSAP and BCDT.
• Act as a point of contact for safeguarding concerns at trustee level.
• Liaise with the DSO, Independent Safeguarding Chair, Diocesan Bishop, and other safeguarding stakeholders to ensure transparency and accountability.
• Engage and lead in local and national consultations and communications when required, relating to wider safeguarding matters. This may include statutory bodies such as the Charity Commission.

Person Specification

Essential

• Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.
• Understanding of governance responsibilities in a charitable or church context.
• Ability to ask challenging questions and hold others to account, whilst maintaining strong working relationships and appropriate boundaries between operational management and non-executive oversight.
• Be a member of [Employer hidden] (or be eligible for co-option1).

Desirable

• Experience in safeguarding, social care, education, or related fields.

Time Commitment

Attendance at meetings of BCDT (typically 5 per year, with one residential). Attendance at DSAP meetings (quarterly). Attendance at Bishop’s Safeguarding meetings (quarterly). Attendance at Diocesan Synod meetings (3-4 per year). Participation in safeguarding briefings and training. Availability for consultation on urgent safeguarding governance matters, e.g. being part of the trustee group who are consulted on the reporting of Safeguarding Serious Incidents to the Charity Commission. Preparation time and pre-reading will be expected for all meetings.

Accountability and relationships

Reports to [Employer hidden].

Works closely with the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer, Independent Safeguarding Chair, Bishop of Lincoln and the Diocesan Secretary.

Term of Office

The Safeguarding Lead Trustee will usually be appointed by [Employer hidden] at the beginning of each triennium, or where an elected Lead Trustee has not been re- elected to BCDT. A recommendation on this appointment would usually be made by the Search and Nominations Committee, in consultation with Officers and other key stakeholders.

V3 07.08.25

1 Members [Employer hidden] are elected or appointed from the membership of Diocesan Synod. Where a candidate is not a member of Diocesan Synod, they may first be co-opted. In order to sit on Diocesan Synod, lay candidates need to be on an electoral roll of a parish within the Diocese and be an “actual communicant”(CRR 83 (2)) . All candidates must not be disqualified from being a charity trustee or director and must agree to a code of conduct including the requirement for a DBS check.