Parish Safeguarding Dashboards and Hubs

What are Parish Dashboards?

Safeguarding Dashboards were developed by Clearly Simpler Limited for use within the Church of England.  

Safeguarding in the Church of England has changed considerably in recent years and is likely to continue changing in the foreseeable future. New policies and procedures are making churches safer, but they have also brought a significant increase in the amount of administration for Parish Safeguarding Officers, incumbents and PCCs. 

Safeguarding Dashboards is addressing this challenge by making safeguarding administration simpler for everyone.

Who are they for?

Parish Dashboards are available free of charge to Church of England churches in our Diocese and here in Chester Diocese all Parishes are required to use them.

What are they for?

For a PSO and incumbent, the Dashboard is the place to record progress in meeting safeguarding requirements in the Parish and identifying areas of further development for working towards the national safeguarding standards in your Parish. (NB they are not a place to record any personal data of any individuals)

A safeguarding action plan (printable from the Dashboard) can be provided to your PCC meetings, enabling a PSO, incumbent and PCC to be confident in areas that they have met safeguarding requirements and having a clear action plan for areas of continuing to development towards meeting national safeguarding standards.

For the Diocese, the Dashboards are used as part of our identification of areas of support for Parishes, quality assurance process and parish annual inspection visits.

How do I get access to our Parish Dashboard?

Access to Safeguarding Dashboards is by invitation only. If you are a new PSO or incumbent and need access to update your Parish, please email your request to safeguarding@chester.anglican.org.

Where do I get technical help with using the Dashboard?

Detailed information, technical assistance and frequently asked questions about the Dashboard are provided by Clearly Simpler, details found at Support for parishes - Safeguarding Dashboards

What are Safeguarding Hubs?

Developed by the provider, The Hub is a suite of tools in another app to assist Parishes in safer recruitment and people management of staff and volunteers.

It is available free of charge to Chester Diocese Parishes, but is optional to use.

A Safeguarding Hub has a suite of tools to help a parish with safeguarding.

What do they assist with?

The first three tools enable a Parish to:

• Keep track of DBS checks and safeguarding training of staff and volunteers.

• Create role descriptions and person specifications for roles.

• Track the safer recruitment of new volunteers.

How do I get access to our Parish Hub?

Access to Safeguarding Dashboards is by invitation only. If you are a new PSO or incumbent and need access to update your Parish, please email your request to safeguarding@chester.anglican.org.

Data protection

When in use, a Parish Hub will contain personal, confidential data, and therefore is subject of GDPR requirements, which must be met by the Parish. More information can be found here. The Diocese is unable to see the content of each Parishes Hub but simply sees statistical information about the use of the hubs.

Where do I get technical help with using the Hub?

Detailed information, technical assistance and frequently asked questions about the Dashboard are provided by Clearly Simpler, details found at I need help with using my safeguarding hub - Safeguarding Hubs