The Charity Commission has handed an official warning to two Church of England dioceses for failing to properly respond to serious safeguarding allegations.

The charities watchdog said the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance and the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance had failed to ensure serious allegations against a former bishop, John Perumbalath, were "properly considered by the relevant trustee bodies". Preumbalath stepped down as Bishop of Liverpool in January 2025 following allegations of sexual assault and harassment, which he has always denied.

In its first-ever official warning to Church of England dioceses, the Charity Commission said Liverpool and Chelmsford, where Perumbalath had previously served as Bishop of Bradwell, had lacked appropriate policies and procedures to ensure adequate oversight of safeguarding and protection of those who come into contact with the charity. It said the dioceses’  trustees "who knew of the allegations failed to take action that would have allowed the trustee boards to fully consider any risks and make a decision on the appropriate action to take".

The Commission said it amounted to administrative “mismanagement”.

In a statement, the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance apologised for "the shortcomings identified" by the Charity Commission. It added that it had “already made changes to strengthen reporting and governance processes, and we commit to ongoing learning, accountability and continuous improvement".

But the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance has pushed back against the Charity Commission’s findings that there had been a “failure ongoing over a period of about two years” to report a serious incident relating to allegations of misconduct by Perumbalath.

In a statement, the Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, and the Chelmsford diocesan safeguarding officer, Amanda Knight, said they believed the case had been appropriately handled and that the response had been “robust and survivor led”. They added: “We respectfully disagree with some of the Charity Commission’s conclusions and are disappointed by the decision to issue an Official Warning, which we believe was disproportionate.”

Commission chief executive David Holdsworth said: "In the two diocesan charities, lack of appropriate policies and procedures led to a failure to ensure that serious allegations against a senior figure were properly considered by the relevant trustee bodies. We will further engage with both charities as they continue to take steps to address our concerns."