The Church of England on Tuesday prepared to vote on overhauling its safeguarding system to make it independent, seeking to restore confidence following several failures in dealing with abuse. The Church's ruling body - the General Synod - was set to vote on two different safeguarding models at a meeting in London,

The Church of England has voted to increase oversight of safeguarding measures - but stopped short of creating an independent body.

There was a sense in the chamber that the Church of England has finally recognised the seriousness of the harm that has been done to those whose cries for help have been ignored.

The Church of England on Tuesday will take the first step towards overhauling its safeguarding system to make it independent of the religious institution, seeking to restore confidence following several failures on dealing with abuse.

The meeting comes a month after the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby stepped down as head of the world's Anglicans

The General Synod has voted to transfer most of the Church of England's national safeguarding staff to a new independent body while keeping diocesan and cathedral safeguarding officers as church employees.

The Church of England on Tuesday stopped short of backing a fully independent safeguarding model to deal with abuse cases, voting instead for an alternative option that critics say does not go far enough to quell public alarm over several past scandals.

The Church of England's governing body has rejected a fully independent safeguarding model for dealing with abuse cases. Synod members instead adopted an alternative model, which was described as a "way forward in the short term" ahead of a move to full independence in the future.

The Church of England's elected governing body began a week-long meeting in London on Monday, after an "unprecedented crisis" triggered by a number of sexual abuse scandals.