Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO)

Click on a link below to take you to the relevant section:

• Information Welcome Pack
• Role and responsibilities of a PSO
• Appointing a PSO
• DBS Checks for PSOs
• Courses Required for PSOs
• New PSO Tasks and Actions
• Dashboard
• PSO/Recruiter Drop-In Sessions
• Annual Safeguarding Service

Information Welcome Pack

In August 2025 the NST updated the Information Welcome Pack to include links to the National Safeguarding Standards and Resources and a note explaining that the Parish Safeguarding Handbook is being updated and will be reissued in a digital form:

Information Welcome Pack | The Church of England

Explanation of the role and responsibilities of a Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO):

The role of the PSO is one of trust and requires a high degree of honesty and integrity. The PSO will be privy to highly confidential and potentially sensitive information and we do therefore require that the role is filled by someone with the highest principles.

You should have read the Church of England Model Parish Safeguarding Officer Role Description, or received something similar from your recruiter, when you went through the Safer Recruitment process for the role of PSO.

On Section 3.3 (pages 22-23) of The Church of England Key roles and responsibilities of church office holders and bodies practice guidance it says:

Each Parish Safeguarding Officer’s (PSO) role is to:

• Work closely with the incumbent to advise within the parish on all safeguarding matters relating to children, young people and vulnerable adults;
• Receive, with the incumbent, any concerns about children or adults in the parish and make sure that proper advice is sought and proper referrals are made;
• Report all matters relating to concerns and allegations of abuse against church officers, in liaison with the incumbent, to the DSA [Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser] who will liaise with the statutory agencies, as required. Concerns about the incumbent should be raised directly with the DSA;
• Ensure that any ex-offenders with offences against children or vulnerable adults known to be in the church community are notified to the DSA and contribute to managing Safeguarding Agreements;
• Promote safer practices in all activities and make any recommendations required taking into account the particular arrangements of the parish;
• Seek to ensure that Safer Recruitment practice is followed, with the support of diocese.
• Attend diocesan safeguarding training at least every three years;
• Maintain safeguarding records;
• Complete national, diocesan and parish safeguarding self-assessments as required;
• Contribute to the annual review of parish safeguarding arrangements;
• The PSO should regularly report on safeguarding in the parish. Safeguarding should be a standing agenda item at each PCC meeting. At the APCM the PCC will provide an annual report in relation to safeguarding.

The Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO( may also be responsible for:

• Being the DBS Administrator [within the Diocese of Chelmsford we use the term Registered Recruiter]
• Supporting other church officers who work with children or vulnerable adults;
• Providing or arranging provision of safeguarding training for parish workers (both volunteers and paid staff).

Preferably the PSO should be someone who is a lay person, has good pastoral and organisational skills and experience of working with children/young people or vulnerable adults, although not always currently involved in such work in the parish. They should not be the incumbent or his or her partner.

The level of the resource will be dependent on the size and complexity of the parish. These roles often are voluntary but some larger parishes have paid posts. Some parishes have one PSO for children and one for vulnerable adults. If required, in rural parishes, or in group arrangements, arrangements for safeguarding maybe shared whilst remembering that legal responsibilities will continue to rest with the individual parishes.

Appointing a Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO)

On page 19-20 of The Church of England Key roles and responsibilities of church office holders and bodies practice guidance it says:

In terms of safeguarding, with the incumbent the PCC will:

Appoint:

At least one appropriately experienced designated Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) to work with the incumbent and PCC. This PSO should be a lay person. It cannot be the incumbent. The PSO may also be the DBS Administrator for church officers who work with children or vulnerable adults but if not, the PCC should appoint another individual. The PSO should be supported, trained and given a copy of the parish safeguarding policy and procedures;

Additional safeguarding roles, as required. These roles are optional. They will be dependent on local need and available resources. They may also be fulfilled by the same people. Any additional roles are left to local determination

We rely on Incumbents (or a Churchwarden if the parish is in interregnum) to contact us when a Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) is retiring from post and/or a new Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) has finished the Safer Recruitment process at the parish and has been appointed to the role. This will ensure that your Parish Safeguarding Officers (PSOs) receive support and important information.

DBS (UK Criminal Record Checks) for PSOs

The role of PSO alone is not automatically eligible for an Enhanced DBS check. If the PSO is also on the PCC they may be eligible for an Enhanced DBS check without the barred lists. In these circumstances please go to What level of DBS are PCC members eligible for? for further reading.

Please remember that we cannot accept DBS certificates from other organisations unless the individual has subscribed themselves to the DBS Update Service to make their certificate portable/transferrable. In these circumstances please email safeguarding@chelmsford.anglican.org and we will explain exactly what information we would require to be able to carry out a quick and free online Status Check.

For those PSOs that are not eligibile for an Enhanced DBS check, a Basic DBS check can be processed.

Church of England Courses Required for PSOs

Church of England courses that every PSO is required to complete (ideally within 6 months of their appointment).

Please be aware: Regardless of your professional/secular background you are still required to complete all of the required Church of England Safeguarding Courses. The only other accreditation that the Church of England National Safeguarding Team will accept instead is from the Methodist Church as their training covers both child and adult safeguarding in a Christian Faith setting.

New PSO Tasks and Actions

• Work through the Church of England Model Parish Safeguarding Checklist.
• Ensure that the Church of England Promoting a Safer Church poster for parishes is visible on your Church notice board.
• Ensure that the Church of England Parish statement on domestic abuse is complete and up to date.
• Ensure that the Church of England Safeguarding in your parish – who’s who? document is complete and up to date.
• Update The Church of England Model Parish Safeguarding Policy at your parish annually or when there is a new PSO, Incumbent or Churchwarden. 
• Ensure that the safeguarding arrangements are up to date and clearly visible on the front page of your parish website.
• Complete/book onto the required Church of England Safeguarding Training course(s).
• Have a Pocket Guide to hand at all times. It is small enough to fit inside a wallet.

If you are a Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) and you do not receive our emails/updates/newsletters please email the Diocesan Safeguarding Team so that we can ensure that we have the correct contact details for you.

For more information or to report anything wrong with this page please contact The Safeguarding Team