by Ian Paul, Psephizo
If you are ordained in the Church of England, there is a file about you. It sits in your bishop’s office, usually in a blue card folder. It will follow you from diocese to diocese for the whole of your ministry, and it will be kept for 75 years after you die.
So, if you are a cleric, a few questions for you:
- Have you ever seen your blue file?
- Do you know what is in it?
- Has anyone ever told you when something was added to it?
- Have you ever been asked for your side of the story before a note about you went in?
- Were you given a privacy notice when you arrived in your diocese, and did you read it?
- Were you asked for your views when the rules governing the file were rewritten?
I suspect that for most clergy the answer to every one of these is no. And the rules have just been rewritten. In June 2026 the House of Bishops approved a new Clergy File Policy (version 4.3), with Policy Guidance, practical guidance and ten appendices of templates. Together they run to more than 60 pages, and they are now on the Church of England website.
I have been reading it carefully. Every cleric should know what it says, because it governs what is said about them, who gets to read it, and for how long.
What is in it