The Church of England has fired a panel of experts who provided independent oversight of how it dealt with abuse.
The Archbishops’ Council confirmed that it was “terminating the contracts” of the three board members: interim chairwoman Meg Munn, Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves.
The latter two recently claimed that the Church had been obstructive and interfered with their work.
The Church said relations between them and the senior bishops had been “broken off”.
In a statement, he referred to a “widely reported” dispute between two members of the Independent Safeguarding Board (ISB) and the Church.
Ms Sanghera and Mr Reeves claimed in April that the Church had refused to share data with them and denied them their own computers, according to the Telegraph.
they told the newspaper there had been “clear interference” with his work and he described working with church officials as “an uphill battle”.
They also opposed the appointment of Ms. Munn, who also holds a position within the Church.
In its statement, the Church thanked Ms. Munn for her work and asked her to continue in an interim role.
Speaking after his dismissal, Reeves said: “This is a deeply disappointing decision for those who want genuinely independent scrutiny of protection in the Church of England.”
Writing on Twitter, he saying the panel “had one overriding objective: to work independently and free from undue influence.”
He continued: “That shouldn’t be a problem for any institution with strong governance, a focus on survivors, and adequate motivation.”
Ms. Sanghera wrote on social media: “This is absolutely appalling. We have spoken with truth and conviction, we are going ahead with what we were hired to do. Now this?”
In a joint statement, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said: “We bitterly regret that we have come to this point and that the Council of Archbishops has not made this decision lightly.
“We know this is a serious setback and we’re not scared of that, we’re sorry.”
They said there was “no prospect of resolving the disagreement and that it is getting in the way of the vital work of serving victims and survivors.”
The Church said: “The Council recognizes that this news will be troubling and disturbing to victims, survivors and others.”
The Independent Protection Board (ISB) was created in 2021, following a scathing report the previous year from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
The ISB describes its mission as “holding the Church to account, publicly if necessary, for any failures that prevent good safeguarding from occurring.”
The review criticized the “significant consequences of a lack of strategic oversight and management of the response for survivors with chronic and enduring needs”.