Bishop of St Albans asks about guidelines for protesters on Public Order Bill

On 10th May 2023, the Bishop of St Albans asked whether the police or government would give guidelines to those who wish to protest regarding the scope of the public order act, following arrests under the act during the Coronation of King Charles:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, I am sure that we all support the police for doing a magnificent job. One of the problems we are grappling with is that we have only read reports in the media, and of course the police may know things that we do not. However, by all accounts, someone who had been planning for months, working with the police, was arrested and simply did not realise that the luggage straps they were using to create their banners would fall foul of the legislation. Therefore, trying to be constructive, will either the police or the Government give some guidelines, to people who genuinely want to have a protest, about what is likely to fall within the scope of the Act, so that they can demonstrate peaceably?

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Church Commissioner Questions: Holy Land, Nigeria, Local Authority Grants, Parish Ministry, Trees, Coronation

On 28th April 2023 MPs asked questions of Andrew Selous MP, Second Church Estates Commissioner.

Holy Land: Desecration of Religious Sites

Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)

1. What discussions the Church of England has had with international counterparts on the desecration of religious sites in the Holy Land. (904699)

Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)

4. What discussions the Church of England has had with international counterparts on the desecration of religious sites in the Holy Land. (904702)

The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous): In the first three months of this year, seven cases of serious vandalism and antisocial behaviour against churches have been recorded in Israel. That is a sharp increase on the previous year. The Church of England continues to work with the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, the heads of other Churches, other faith leaders and the Jordanian Government, as custodian of the holy sites, to maintain the peace.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Buildings, Heritage Protection, LGBT+ People, Religious Freedom, Funding for Rural Churches, and the Coronation of King Charles III

Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answerto questions from MPs on 31st January 2023:

Ben Bradshaw MP (Lab): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what the cost of legal support provided by (a) dioceses and (b) the Church Commissioners to incumbents and PCCs of parishes affected by pastoral reorganisation making a representation at an oral hearing of the Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee was in each of the last five years.

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Church Commissioner Questions: Parish Ministry, Coronation, Rural Clergy, and Support over the Winter

On 17th November 2022, MPs put questions in the House of Commons to the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP:

Parish Ministry

Jerome Mayhew MP (Broadlands, Con):

2. What recent discussions he has had with the Church on strengthening its parish ministry.

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