Safeguarding has changed enormously in recent years, and it's likely to keep changing in the future.

There are two main reasons for this.

• Changing risks
  The widespread use of the internet and social media has introduced new safeguarding risks that simply didn’t exist twenty years ago.  Artificial intelligence may change our society in even more profound ways.
   
• Changing culture
  In recent years the Church of England has been facing up to some of the mistakes that have been made in the past, and there is a growing commitment to learn from these mistakes.
   

Unlike the Ten Commandments – which were written in stone – safeguarding guidance needs to evolve in response to changing risks and culture.

This is why the National Safeguarding Team regularly reviews and updates its safeguarding guidance, and why Safeguarding Dashboards  need to change in response to updated safeguarding guidance.
 

The annual cycle

The aim of the following annual cycle is to make dashboard changes more manageable.

• Advance notice – as soon as possible
  We will give parishes advance notice that change is coming.  For example, if General Synod approves any changes to the Safeguarding Code of Practice, we will tell parishes as soon as possible.

• Changes to the dashboard - in January
  We will only make significant changes to the dashboard once a year - in early January.  There ought to be no surprise here, because parishes will have received advance notice during the previous year.
  Any new requirements will be highlighted by amber dashboard lights - and progress scores will not be affected during a grace period of at least six months.

• Dashboard lights turn red - from July onwards
  At the end of the grace period, any outstanding amber lights will turn red, and progress scores will drop.
   

Parish Survey

In August 2025, parish users were asked if they agreed with this annual cycle.  Over 1,700 parish users responded as follows:

There may be occasions when an urgent dashboard update needs to be applied immediately.  However, from January 2026 onwards, the above annual cycle will be used for most dashboard updates.