The Church of England on Tuesday prepared to vote on overhauling its safeguarding system to make it independent, seeking to restore confidence following several failures in dealing with abuse. The Church's ruling body - the General Synod - was set to vote on two different safeguarding models at a meeting in London,

The General Synod has voted to transfer most of the Church of England's national safeguarding staff to a new independent body while keeping diocesan and cathedral safeguarding officers as church employees.

Leaflets being handed out to members on Tuesday branded the Church’s attitude and processes to date a ‘safeguarding failure’.