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 must choose to make its safeguarding processes independent to “restore trust” among abuse survivors, its parliament has heard ahead of a significant vote on the issue. General Synod members are choosing a new model for how abuse allegations are handled,

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.