The Church of England has said that changes are being made to improve a financial support scheme for clergy abuse survivors following heavy criticism. 

A review by the Independent Safeguarding Board said that survivors using the Church of England's Interim Support Scheme (ISS) were at risk of "repeated re-traumatisation". 

The review highlighted the experience of one man named only as 'Mr X' who was left feeling suicidal after accessing the scheme. 

The ISB said that the Church needed to take a "trauma-informed approach" and act with "urgency" in his case.

In a statement, the ISB said that the Church of England had failed to implement recommendation 7 within the expected timescale.

The recommendation addressed Mr X's situation specifically and asked that the Church of England's National Safeguarding Team (NST) convene a meeting within four weeks of the review, dated March 2023, to address his support needs.

"This action is now significantly overdue," the ISB said. 

The statement continued, "The Church of England's approach to implementing this recommendation needs to be consistent with the urgency of the case and the need for a trauma-informed approach.

"The ISB is aware of ongoing communication between the Church of England and Mr X/his advocate, and we will continue to monitor progress and seek a satisfactory outcome."

Responding to the criticism, the Church of England's Director of Safeguarding, Alexander Kubeyinje, said that work had already started on some of the recommendations prior to the review's publication.

He said that the ISS had been kept "under constant review with a view to improving the service that we provide".

"There are already plans to increase staffing, in order to shorten waiting times, improve accessibility and stream line the process of applying," he said.

"On recommendation 7, we have been making every effort to set up a case management group meeting.

"I have been working with colleagues across the Church, including ongoing communication with Mr X and his advocate, to try to resolve this and will continue with these efforts."