Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

Code of Practice: scrutiny and commencement
5C
1
The code under section 5A does not come into operation unless and until—
a
the Clerk to the General Synod, on the instructions of the House of Bishops, has caused the code to be published on the Church of England website and has sent a copy of the code to each member of the General Synod, and
b
the code has been approved by the General Synod.
2
If, before the end of the period of three weeks beginning with the date on which the Clerk to the General Synod has complied with subsection (1)(a), 25 members of the General Synod have not given notice in writing to the Clerk that they wish the code to be debated, the code is to be treated for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) as having been approved by the General Synod at the end of that period.
3
If, before the end of that period, 25 members of the General Synod have given notice of the kind mentioned in subsection (2)—
a
the Clerk to the General Synod must inform the Business Committee, and
b
the Business Committee must secure that a debate on a motion for approval of the code is held at the next group of sessions.
4
In subsection (3), “the Business Committee” means the Committee of the General Synod appointed in accordance with section 10 of the National Institutions Measure 1998.
5
A reference in this section to the code under section 5A includes a reference to a revision of the code
; but subsection (1)(b) does not apply in the case of—
a
proposed revisions to requirements imposed by the Code on relevant persons, if the House of Bishops considers that those proposed revisions are insubstantial, or
b
proposed revisions to guidance given by the Code to relevant persons on compliance with requirements imposed by the Code on them.
Ss. 5A-5C inserted (1.3.2022) by Safeguarding (Code of Practice) Measure 2021 (No. 3), ss. 1(1), 3(3); S.I. 2022/118, art. 2
S. 5C(5)(a)(b) and words inserted (25.1.2024) by Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2024 (No. 1), ss. 3, 22(2)(c)