The Bishop of Norwich asked a question on police action in cases of institutional abuse on 8th January 2025:
The Lord Bishop of Norwich: My Lords, recent events have rightly turned the spotlight on the Church of England’s record around safeguarding. Those of us on these Benches are highly committed to listening to survivors and bringing about the further institutional and cultural changes that need to be made, beyond the enormous progress that has been made over the past 10 years. What assurance can the Minister give that the police will act on information that they receive, which, it is alleged, was not the case in 2013, when the horrendous crimes of John Smyth were correctly reported to them?
Lord Hanson of Flint (Lab, Home Office): I am grateful to the right reverend Prelate for his question. Let me put it this way: one thing that my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has committed to this week is to make sure that we have a mandatory reporting requirement for individuals who have child abuse reported to them, and indeed for perpetrators who report themselves to an authority. That will then have to be mandatorily reported to the police and to law enforcement authorities. Self-evidently, if there is a mandatory reporting of that incident, it will be a major failure of any police force not to investigate, and potentially take further action, reporting to the CPS, if they substantiate the allegations that have been reported mandatorily by an individual. The history of this is complex, but I hope that the recommendations made can be implemented. That is one of the early things that we want to do, which is why we are getting on with it, rather than having further inquiries that will delay matters to safeguard children.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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