Tag: Church Commissioners

Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Schools, Carbon Emissions, Land Use, Ceremonies, and Service Attendance

On 12th April 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Church Schools: Hendon

Dr Matthew Offord MP (Con, Hendon): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether he has made an assessment of the contribution of church schools in Hendon constituency.

Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): Though the National Church Institutions are not responsible for the operation of individual schools, the Diocese of London has volunteered the following information, which I hope is useful.

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Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill: Bishop of Manchester expresses concerns over changes to charity financing

On 27th March 2024, the Bishop of Manchester spoke at the second reading of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, welcoming the legislation whilst expressing concern over its impact on those freeholders that are charities:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I begin by declaring my interests. I am no longer a church commissioner, as my time finished at the end of last year, but I am paid and—if the Lord spares me—will be pensioned by the Church Commissioners in due course. The commissioners are freeholders, not least of the Hyde Park Estate, which has been in continuous Church ownership and care since around the 11th century, when it belonged to the monks of Westminster Abbey. I guess, if I am going to echo a word that we have used several times today, that makes it genuinely feudal. I also own one leasehold flat in the West Midlands, as set out in the Members’ register.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Clergy – Universal Credit

On 26th March 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Rachael Maskell MP (Lab, York Central): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Commissioners have had discussions with the Department of Work and Pensions on the potential impact of the migration of claimants of Child Tax Credit to Universal Credit on the financial position of members of the clergy.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Finance

On 28th February 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Church of England: Finance

Mr Gregory Campbell MP (DUP, East Londonderry): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church plans to commission an independent review of funds allocated by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Churches in Nigeria, Silent Discos, Asylum, Independent Safeguarding Board, CofE Staff, and Church Finances

On 26th February 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Churches: Nigeria

Sir Edward Leigh MP (Con, Gainsborough): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church has had discussions with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the attack on the St Francis Xavier Church in Owo, Nigeria in 2022; and whether the Church is providing aid for the victims of that attack.

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Church Commissioners Questions: Theft from Church Buildings, Asylum Seekers, Same Sex Relationships, and Churches on the World Watch List

On 22nd February 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following answers to MPs in the House of Commons:

Theft: Security of Church Buildings

Greg Smith MP (Con, Buckingham) asked: Whether the commissioners have issued recent guidance to church parishes on securing buildings to prevent theft.

Bob Blackman MP (Con, Harrow East) asked: Whether the Commissioners have issued recent guidance to church parishes on securing buildings to help prevent theft.

Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): Before I reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham, may I pass on my condolences, and I am sure those of the whole House, to the family and friends of Alan Wilson, the Bishop of Buckingham, who died suddenly last Saturday?

There is comprehensive advice to all parishes on the Church of England website about how to keep buildings secure, which we regularly update. All buildings used for religious worship are also eligible for the Home Office’s hate crime protection scheme.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Independent Safeguarding Board, Charity Commission Reports, Church Security

On 8th February 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Independent Safeguarding Board

Mr Ben Bradshaw MP (Lab, Exeter): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners:

  • how many and what proportion of the case reviews that the Independent Safeguarding Board agreed to undertake have been commissioned by the interim commissioner of independent reviews.
  • whether the commissioners have had recent discussions with (a) the Archbishops’ Council and (b) other stakeholders on the commissioning of case reviews that the Independent Safeguarding Board agreed to undertake; what the timescale is for case reviews commissioned by the interim commissioner of independent reviews; and what steps are being taken to ensure the adequacy of such reviews.
  • whether the commissioners have had discussions with the Archbishops’ Council on the potential impact of recommendations from case reviews commissioned by the interim commissioner of independent reviews on earlier cases.
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Bishop of Chichester introduces Church of England pensions and miscellaneous provisions legislation

On 23rd January 2024, the Bishop of Chichester spoke in support of two motions to direct that the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure and the Church of England Pensions (Application of Capital Funds) Measure be  presented for Royal Assent. The Bishop of Manchester also spoke in support of one motion.

Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure

Motion to Direct

Moved by –

The Lord Bishop of Chichester: That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure be presented to His Majesty for the Royal Assent.

My Lords, this is the latest in a series of miscellaneous provisions measures. It makes provision for a range of matters concerning the Church of England that do not merit separate, freestanding legislation. It includes provisions relating to the General Synod, ecclesiastical offices, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, Church property, elections to representative bodies, the functions of the Church Commissioners, appointments to the Church of England pensions board and the conduct of various types of meeting. I do not propose to take noble Lords through each of its 22 clauses in turn, but I thought I should draw attention to some of the more significant provisions.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Paula Vennells

On 15th January 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Chris Loder MP (Con, West Dorset): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what role Paula Vennells had in advising the Commissioners after 2019; and which committees she attended.

Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): In the spring of 2019 the House of Bishops discussed why some of the recommendations of the Church Buildings Review, which was approved by the General Synod in November 2015, had not been implemented. Paula Vennells was subsequently asked by the Archbishops to undertake a lessons learnt review. During the course of the review its remit was expanded to look at the wider working together of the National Church Institutions (NCIs), including issues around organisational governance, leadership and culture. The report, ‘Church Buildings Review- Lessons Learnt’, was completed in October 2019 and Paula Vennells attended a meeting of the House of Bishops in December 2019 at which it was presented.

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Church Commissioners Questions: Choral Music, Rough Sleeping, Multimedia Platforms, Church Buildings, Christians in Cuba, and the Anglican Hospital in Gaza

On 11th January 2024, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following answers to MPs in the House of Commons:

Choral Music: Cathedrals

Michael Fabricant MP (Con, Lichfield) asked: Whether the Commissioners are taking steps to support choral music in cathedrals.

Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): The Church Commissioners provided £1 million to support music in cathedrals during the pandemic. That sum was match funded by the Cathedral Music Trust. The commissioners are extremely grateful to the trust for doing what it did to help ensure that worship in our cathedrals remains of the highest calibre.

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