News Story

Two Church of England charities have been reprimanded by a watchdog over safeguarding failures which led to the resignation of a bishop amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

The Charity Commission said it is the first time it has issued an official warning against any Church of England diocese.

The Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance and the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance were said to have failed to properly handle safeguarding allegations against John Perumbalath, who was then the bishop of Liverpool and formerly bishop of Bradwell in the diocese of Chelmsford.

Both are registered charities which aim to promote the work of the Church of England in their respective dioceses.

Mr Perumbalath stepped down as bishop of Liverpool without any admission of fault or liability after Channel 4 News reported last year that one woman had accused him of kissing her without consent and groping her, and another accused him of sexual harassment.

It came at a tumultuous time for the Church of England over various safeguarding failures, which had just months earlier seen Justin Welby quit as archbishop of Canterbury over the handling of a separate case.

The commission said failings in handling allegations against Mr Perumbalath “amount to mismanagement in the administration of the two charities”.

The regulator said that in both instances, “due to lack of appropriate procedures and processes”, trustees in the two diocesan charities “who knew of the allegations failed to take action that would have allowed the trustee boards to fully consider any risks and make a decision on the appropriate action to take”.

The commission said there were “insufficient processes and procedures in place to ensure adequate oversight of safeguarding and protection of those who come into contact with the charity”.

The warning for the Chelmsford charity found there had been a “failure ongoing over a period of about two years” to report a serious incident to the commission relating to a complaint made in January 2023 about allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr Perumbalath when he was bishop of Bradwell.

Trustees of the Liverpool charity, it found, “failed to consider or investigate” a complaint against Mr Perumbalath and failed to “act in the charity’s best interests and to take reasonable steps to protect from harm people who come into contact with the charity”.

Commission chief executive David Holdsworth said: “In the two diocesan charities, lack of appropriate policies and procedures led to a failure to ensure that serious allegations against a senior figure were properly considered by the relevant trustee bodies. We will further engage with both charities as they continue to take steps to address our concerns.”