Survivors of Church-related abuse say “the devil will be in the detail” of the Church of England’s National Redress Scheme, which has just been published.
It shows that if approved, the denomination could award up to £660,000 to individual survivors in "rare and exceptional circumstances," with the lowest sum starting at £5,000. The church says the recommendation has been made by the Redress Project Board after months of detailed conversations and consultation with survivors of Church-related abuse. It would calculate individual financial awards across four stages.
At stage one, an application would be assessed according to the type of abuse experienced. Secondly, any aggravating factors would be considered. Thirdly, an application would be assessed regarding the impact the abuse has had on the applicant. Finally, at stage four, in rare and exceptional circumstances where other significant factors were unable to be accounted for adequately in the first three stages of the calculation, a discretionary uplift of 20 per cent could be applied.
The chair of the Redress Project Board, Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, who is Bishop of Winchester, said: “The recommended financial awards framework, developed with guidance and input from survivors and external experts, aims to address the range of suffering experienced, offering financial redress in a clear and transparent manner.
“No amount of money can ever undo the past. Our hope, nonetheless, is that this could be a significant step both towards the acknowledgment of wrongdoing, and, however incompletely, towards helping rebuild lives.”
The Redress Project Board says it has aimed to ensure that the levels of financial redress that could be offered aligned with or exceed those found in comparable schemes.
In addition to individual financial awards, the Redress Scheme will offer eligible applicants other forms of redress, such as emotional and therapeutic support and apology.
A member of the Project Board and the Redress Survivor Working Group, which is helping to design the Redress Scheme, said: “Survivors have worked extremely hard over a long period of time to try to ensure that the Redress Scheme will be as generous as possible whilst still being able to help as many applicants as it can. We are pleased that the scheme is now another step closer to becoming a reality.”
Survivors have long criticised the church for its delay in offering financial redress. Gilo, who is a leading advocate for those affected by abuse, as well as being a survivor himself, told Premier Christian News: “Much will depend on the timeliness of this scheme. There cannot be further delay. And as always with this institution, the devil will be in the detail. We will have to wait and see how genuine the scheme is in its design to make reparation…But ultimately, the Church and in particular, the Archbishops’ Council, have to take responsibility.”