On 21st November 2013 Sir Tony Baldry MP answered written questions on the accessibility of churches and chancel liability
Access to Church Premises
Mr Sheerman: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners what steps he is taking to improve the accessibility of church premises to the broader community.
Sir Tony Baldry: The Church of England is promoting better accessibility to churches through the “Open and Sustainable Churches” campaign and also by inviting the community to share church buildings for a wide range of complementary community uses. There have also been recent changes to the faculty application process which have enabled community shops and post offices to be set up in part of the building. The Church is committed to continuing to simplify the faculty process and intend to launch an online application process in the near future.
Chancel Liability
Andrea Leadsom: To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners what recent assessment he has made of the effects of chancel liability.
Sir Tony Baldry: This is a complex subject. Chancel repair liability is similar to a covenant that runs with the land and is a matter not for the Second Church Estates Commissioner and the Church of England but for the Ministry of Justice and the Land Registry as set out in the Church Repairs Act 1932 and the subsequent changes made under the Land Registration Act 2002 and Land Registration Rules 2003. I refer my hon. Friend and the whole House to the debate in Westminster Hall on 17 October 2012,Official Report, columns 130-38WH, where the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant) explained these issues very clearly.
Via: Parliament UK
The Church of England in Parliament 
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