Parliamentary Questions & Answers

The Church Commissioners are accountable to Parliament. The General Synod is a devolved administration whose legislation (Measures) have to be approved by Parliament. One manifestation of this constitutional arrangement is that Parliamentary Questions can be asked of the Church Commissioners. This is done through the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Marsha de Cordova MP, member for Battersea. Any MP can ask her a written or oral question and she will obtain a response from the Church Commissioners, which in turn she passes back to the questioning MP. Oral questions are only heard a very few at a time and about once per month. Written questions generally get a response within 10 days.

All Parliamentary Questions and answers are published by Parliament and therefore in the public domain. Questions and answers pertinent to Save The Parish will also be published here on our website. Asking a question about concerns you might have about the future of your parish is a good way to get your MP involved. As a constituent, your MP should support you in asking questions of the Church Commissioners. But you do not have to use your own MP. If you know of a supportive MP from another constituency you can ask them to submit your question.

Save The Parish will be very grateful for your help in the asking of information-seeking Parliamentary Questions, as using this mechanism encourages MPs to recognise Parliament’s role as the ultimate authority over the Church of England and to engage with the issues affecting local parishes.

The rules on asking a written Parliamentary Question are strict (and designed to elicit facts):

It may not present information;
It may not make an argument;
It cannot seek an opinion; and
It must ask a question, the answer to which cannot be had from elsewhere in the public domain.

Top tip: As you can see from the style of questions and answers below, the Church Commissioners appear unwilling to give much information in response to a question. Persistence is needed to ‘drill down‘ with tighter and tighter wording each time you ask. Try to make the link between the responsibility of the Church Commissioners and the nature of your question. They like to ‘hide behind’ the independence of the dioceses, but many of the policies and resources flow from the Church Commissioners, via the Archbishops’ Council (of which they are a part).

Thank you and good luck.

23rd May 2024 – Danny Kruger MP to Andrew Selous MP, Second Estates Commissioner:
“… I’m very grateful for that very encouraging information and may I pay tribute to my honourable friend for the work that he has done during this Parliament on behalf of the Church Commissioners; and he has been unfailingly assiduous and courteous, almost holy, in his conduct of his work on behalf of the Church.

Does he share my concern about the forced amalgamation of parishes that many dioceses across the country are undertaking… vibrant and viable local churches in dioceses like Liverpool and elsewhere are being offered the invidious choice of either surrendering their autonomy to become part of new mega-parishes or giving up access to resources from the centre – resources which they themselves contribute to the centre. As he says and implies, surely the whole value of the Church of England is in the local parish system, not in its regional bureaucracies, and can he tell the House how the Church of England will continue to ensure the integrity of our parish system?”

Answer: Andrew Selous MP, Second Estates Commissioner:

“I’m grateful to my honourable friend and he is right to highlight to the House that there are pressures indeed in in some areas and he’s also right to point out that that parish network across the whole of England across every one of our constituencies in England is extremely precious and we must do everything we can to preserve it and I can tell him that at every opportunity I make that point, I know that many Members of Parliament like my honourable friend make that point regularly and that message has been heard at the top of the Church, which is why we are putting the vast majority of our funding back down into parishes and of course we’re also encouraging parishes to do what they can to raise money at the local level but he’s absolutely right in the point he makes.”

Watch the question being asked here

Last updated: 07/06/2024

UIN 200860, tabled on 13 October 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 198286 and to recommendation 5 in Appendix 1 of Sir Robert Chote’s review, whether the dioceses’ annual returns on Lowest Income Communities Funding funding for 2022 will be published.

Answer: A summary analysis of dioceses’ returns on their use of the Lowest Income Communities Funding in 2022 will be published next year in the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board’s 2023 annual report to the Archbishops’ Council, which will be made publicly available as a General Synod (Misc) paper and on the Church of England website.

A summary analysis of dioceses’ returns on their use of the Lowest Income Communities Funding in 2021 was published in the Strategic Investment Board’s 2022 annual report to the Archbishops’ Council, which was published as a General Synod (Misc) paper and is available on the Church of England website at: final-version-2022-sib-annual-report-for-synod.pdf (churchofengland.org)(opens in a new tab) (page 14 refers to the relevant information).

PQ (UIN 198286), tabled on 7 September 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, since the independent report by Sir Robert Chote on Strategic Development Funding and Low Income Communities (LINC) Funding observed that “Some dioceses treat LINC income more as part of general resources”, what new governance arrangements have been put in place to ensure LINC distributed to dioceses by the Archbishops’ Council is accounted for appropriately and transparently.

Answer: 19 September 2023

The Independent Review of Lowest Income Communities Funding and Strategic Development Funding led by Sir Robert Chote was published in March 2022 and can be read here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/irls-final-report-2.pdf(opens in a new tab)

In respect of improving governance arrangements of Lowest Income Communities Funding (LInC) the Review recommended:

Recommendation 2 – “Refocusing annual returns … towards more strategic reporting”.
Recommendation 3 – asked staff to “identify and promote best practice … perhaps convening a learning symposium”.
Recommendation 5 – asked staff to “communicate more clearly the extent to which LInC funding is sustaining ministry”.

The action taken so far by the Archbishops’ Council’s Vision and Strategy team in response to those recommendations has been to:

Raise the profile of LInC funding within ongoing strategic conversations between its staff and diocesan teams, as part of dioceses’ strategic development processes, with the aim of improving its effectiveness.
Ask dioceses to give information about the intended outcomes from their planned use of LInC funding, together with how they will be measured, as part of their annual return on LInC funding for 2022.
Plan a learning event to bring together diocesan representatives to share and develop their approaches on the use of LInC funding, aiming to improve the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of LInC funding.

The Independent Review also made further suggestions in Recommendation 1: “encouraging dioceses to use LInC funding more for clergy transitions” and in Recommendation 4: “maintaining current levels of LInC funding”. While not related directly to governance, these may also feature in the learning event and in ongoing conversations with dioceses.

From the start of 2023, the new Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (SMMIB), a committee of the Archbishops’ Council, has replaced the previous Strategic Investment Board and Strategic Ministry Board. It distributes and monitors funds made available by the Church Commissioners and Archbishops’ Council via LInC, SDF, and other similar funds.

The Boards of the Archbishops’ Council and the Church Commissioners are regularly updated by the SMMIB about funding decisions and projects supported by these funds. Members of the Archbishops’ Council and Church Commissioners Boards are part of the SMMIB and help monitor funding decisions and spending. The SMMIB will also provide an annual report to the General Synod.

More information about the role the SMMIB plays can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/new-board-oversee-unprecedented-church-england-investment-mission-and

PQ (UIN 194316) 17 July 2023:
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the announcement by the Archbishop of York of an independent inquiry into the decision to close down the Independent Safeguarding Board, if he will publish a copy of the inquiry’s findings once available.

Answer: The Archbishop of York has committed that the findings of this review will be made public.

PQ (189476) 14 June 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many parishes in the Diocese of Truro have a vacancy for (a) an incumbency and (b) a priest-in-charge; and how many (i) incumbent and (ii) priest-in-charge vacancies there have been in Truro Diocese in each of the last five years.

Answer: Parish priest appointments are a matter for diocesan bishops. Data about the number of vacancies for incumbents and priests-in-charge per annum are not held centrally by the National Church Institutions.

PQ (186011) 22 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what the average length was of vacancies for a parish (a) incumbent and (b) priest-in-charge in each of the last five years.

Answer: Parish priest appointments are a matter for diocesan bishops. Data about the number of vacancies for incumbents and priests-in-charge per annum in parishes across the 42 dioceses of the Church of England are not held centrally by the National Church Institutions. It would incur a disproportionate cost to assemble and present the information requested

PQ (186010) 22 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many parishes have a vacancy for (a) an incumbency and (b) a priest-in-charge in each diocese; and how many (i) incumbent and (ii) priest-in-charge vacancies there have been in each diocese in each of the last five years.

PQ (185812) 18 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, which Church of England legislation, Measures and Canons provide a description of the functions and responsibilities of Oversight Ministers and Co-Area Deans; and what the functions are of the Launde Minster Community Oversight Minister, Revd Jonathan Dowman, commissioned on 30 April 2023 by the Bishop of Leicester.

Answer: Clergy of the Church of England who are officeholders generally hold their roles and responsibilities according to their current appointment and Statements of Particulars, with the duties of bishops, priests and deacons being set out in the Ordinal and the Canons. The responsibilities of area deans more particularly include those set out in legislation, but their specific roles are defined at the local level. Some diocesan roles, such as Co-Area Dean or Oversight Ministers, are not defined in legislation but may refer to a particular role in a diocese.

The engagement of diocesan clergy and staff is not a matter for the National Church Institutions. It would be best to contact the offices of the Bishop of Leicester, the Archdeacon of Leicester or the Archdeacon of Loughborough, who will be able to give more details about what is envisaged for these roles. Contact details can be found on the diocesan website here: https://www.leicester.anglican.org/whos-who

PQ (185810) 18 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what information the Commissioners hold on whether the Minster Community model reduces (a) church attendance and (b) parish giving.

Answer: The Church Commissioners have not received any formal parish reorganisation proposals or impact assessments relating to the Minster Communities model. Enquiries about the Minster Communities model should be directed to the offices of the Bishop of Leicester, the Archdeacon of Leicester or the Archdeacon of Loughborough. Contact details can be found on the diocesan website here: https://www.leicester.anglican.org/whos-who

PQ (185809) 18 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Commissioners are taking steps to help ensure that ordained priests are not expected to officiate in parish churches of a different tradition in a way which (a) they and (b) the parishioners are not comfortable with.

Answer: Management of a diocese and the ordering of parishes is a matter for the diocesan bishop and their senior staff, not the National Church Institutions. Clergy, retired clergy and lay ministers regularly offer cover across dioceses during vacancies, an incumbent’s illness, or for other pastoral reasons. The diocesan bishop and local archdeacon are responsible for overseeing this process.

PQ (185808) 18 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many ordained priests are available to perform the Occasional Offices in Leicestershire parish churches.

Answer: From the records held by the National Church institutions and the diocese, at the present time the Diocese of Leicester has the following ordained clergy and lay ministers:

134 clergy
43 curates
117 lay ministers (including Readers, Evangelists, Pastoral Assistants, etc.)
122 Permission to Officiate (often retired clergy)

PQ (185807) 18 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many ordained stipendiary priests are proposed to serve each Minster Community in Leicestershire; how frequent the Commissioners expect the provision for Holy Communion in each church to be; and how many such priests have been identified as ready to (a) serve in Minster Communities and (b) provide Holy Communion, not by extension.

Answer: Management of a diocese and ordering of parishes is not a matter for the National Church Institutions (NCIs), but for the diocesan bishop and their senior staff in discussion with the diocesan mission and pastoral committees and liaison with parishes. The NCIs are aware that in October 2021, 72% of the Leicester Diocesan Synod members voted in favour of the Minster Community model.

Enquiries about the Minster Communities plan should be directed to the offices of the Bishop of Leicester, the Archdeacon of Leicester or the Archdeacon of Loughborough. Contact details can be found on the diocesan website here: https://www.leicester.anglican.org/whos-who

PQ (185806) 18 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many Minster Communities are proposed in Leicestershire; and how many parishes are proposed in each.

Answer: Management of a diocese and the ordering of parishes is a matter for the diocesan bishop and their senior staff, not the National Church Institutions (NCIs).

The NCIs are aware that in October 2021, 72% of members of the Leicester Diocesan Synod voted in favour of the Minster Community model. The Church Commissioners, as the appeal body for any formal parish reorganisation, are unable to comment further as it may prejudice future decisions of the Mission, Pastoral, and Church Property Committee should Leicester Diocese decide to bring forward formal parish reorganisation proposals.

PQ (184564) 11 May 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Answer of 22 December 2022 to Question 102787 on the Energy Costs Grant, whether the Commissioners have now gathered feedback to examine (a) how much of the Grant dioceses have allocated, (b) by what mechanism dioceses have distributed that funding and (c) what proportion of the Grant was used to supplement the Ministry Hardship Fund.

Answer: All dioceses took up the Energy Costs Grant, and none has returned unspent sums. The National Church Institutions intend to gather detailed feedback from dioceses in the Autumn on how dioceses distributed grants to their parishes and what proportion was used to supplement the Ministry Hardship Fund. (Editor’s note – previous answer said information would be available in the Spring)

PQ (155005) 28 February 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Office for National Statistics classifications for land use in rural and urban areas, how many and what proportion of parishes are classified as rural; and how many and what proportion of newly ordained stipendiary curates have commenced curacy training in a parish classified as rural in each of the last five years. (155005)

Answer: Andrew Selous

The most up to date Office of National Statistics dataset relating to urban and rural communities is expected to be published in the summer. Until this has been mapped and applied to the data held by the National Church Institutions (NCIs), it is not possible to provide the information requested.

The NCIs do not request statistical information about stipendiary curates as part of their routine annual survey of parishes. The most recent data available on the number of stipendiary curates can be found in the one off special project published in 2015 called ‘Released for mission, growing the rural church’, which is available here: https://www.churchofengland.org/news-and-media/news-and-statements/released-mission-growing-rural-church

For more than a decade the Church Commissioners have financially supported dioceses to increase the number of ordinands they can afford to send for training. Funding has recently been allocated to dioceses through the Ministry Division of the NCIs to ensure ordinands can be supported in posts of first responsibility. This month the Church Commissioners announced a further grant (through the Strategic Mission & Ministry Investment Board of the Archbishops’ Council) of £5.6 million to continue to support curates as they move into their next posts. This will benefit both urban and rural parishes. More information can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/clergy-posts-funded-through-ps56-million-national-church-england

PQ 119879 31 January 2023
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.

Answer: Dioceses are required to retain the services of a Diocesan Registrar who will provide free advice to incumbents and PCCs on Mission and Pastoral Measure processes as part of their contract with the diocese. Information is not held centrally about the financial cost or take up of that advice. The Church Commissioners have not provided legal support to incumbents or PCCs attending hearings of the Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee over the last 5 years. The Church Commissioners are not able to provide legal advice to PCCs, incumbents or Diocesan Boards of Finance.

PQ 119878 31 January 2023
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what the cost of legal support to the Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee for their consideration of pastoral reorganisation schemes was in each of the last five years.

Answer: The National Church institutions (NCIs), of which the Church Commissioners are one of the institutional bodies, are supported by the central legal office of the NCIs, which is available to all departments, boards and committees to give advice when it is needed. This is an in-house service. No time sheets are kept of how many hours are spent on specific projects or for particular NCI departments and so it is not possible to provide the information requested.

PQ 94673
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, which (a) body or (b) person asked the Church Commissioners to review the Mission and Pastoral Measure.

Answer: In 2019 the Legislative Reform Committee of the Archbishops’ Council was tasked with considering reviews of primary legislation. In July 2020 the Archbishops’ Council approved a recommendation from the Committee that the Mission and Pastoral Measure be reviewed, and this was endorsed by the House of Bishops at their meeting in July 2020. The Church Commissioners were then asked by the Archbishops’ Council to lead on a review, as they have the governance and management responsibility for the legislation.

PQ 94674: To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the General Synod asked the Church Commissioners to continue work on the review of the Mission and Pastoral Measure and bring forward draft proposals for debate in February 2023.

The Mission, Pastoral & Church Property Committee of the Church Commissioners tabled a paper for debate at the July 2021 Synod. The motion and vote was:

‘That this Synod a) welcome the consultation paper Mission in Revision: A Review of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 (GS 2222); b) commend it for discussion; and c) invite the Archbishops’ Council, the Legislative Reform Committee and the Church Commissioners to bring forward draft legislation for consideration by the Synod no later than July 2022.’

In a counted vote of the whole Synod the voting was as follows:
• In favour – 278
• Against – 2
• Abstentions – 7

The original timetable was extended as the Commissioners decided that further consultation was needed before any proposals came to Synod. It is hoped that the Business Committee of the General Synod will schedule the Mission and Pastoral Measure as an item at the July 2023 meeting and that the Synod will be presented with either an update or more specific proposals, depending on progress.

PQ 94675
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions he has had with the General Synod on the steps it will take to agree the Vision and Strategy for the Church of England in the 2020s.

I have had no discussions with the Business Committee of the General Synod about the Vision and Strategy.

The Vision and Strategy was debated in July 2022, when the Synod voted in favour of the following motion:

‘That this Synod:
(a) welcome the spending plans by the Church Commissioners and Archbishops’ Council, set out in GS 2262, for financial distributions over 2023 to 2025 and indicative distributions for the subsequent six years;

(b) welcome the investment in ministry in parishes, chaplaincies, schools, cathedrals and other forms of church in support of the Church’s vision and strategy as set out in Annex A of GS 2262; and

(c) welcome the focused investment to support previously agreed commitments to a 2030 net zero carbon target and to address racial justice.’

Footnote by Save The Parish: In the General Synod Standing Orders section on ‘Reports’ – SO 105(5)states that if the motion [That the Synod do take note of this report] is carried, that fact is not to be taken as committing the Synod to the acceptance of any matter in the report. Therefore Motion (b), above, does not constitute General Synod acceptance of the Vision and Strategy.

PQs 902270 & 902294
What recent discussions he has had with the Church on strengthening its parish ministry.

Answer: Parish ministry is at the heart of the mission of the Church. The Church Commissioners will distribute £1.2 billion between 2023 and 2025 to support our mission and ministry—a 30% increase on the current three-year period—and the lion’s share of this funding will be used to revitalise parish ministry.

PQ 26686
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Church of England Report, Released for mission, growing the rural church, published in 2015, which identifies that 17.6 per cent of the English population live in rural areas and 40 per cent of churchgoers attend parishes in rural areas, and with reference to the Parish Finance Statistics 2020 which shows £471 million of parish giving for the whole of the Church of England in 2020, what proportion of that parish giving came from rural parishes.

Answer: A revised analysis based on ONS rural/urban land-use classifications and the latest (2019) mid-year population updates, gives a slightly different set of parishes classified as rural, totalling 24% of the English population. Analysis of church attendance has been complicated in recent years because of the effects of COVID and restrictions on in-person worship, but it is estimated that 37% of attendance is in these parishes. Analysis of the £471million giving reported in 2020 Parish Finance Statistics indicates that 44% came from these parishes in rural areas. Rural areas tend to be wealthier on average; of the population living in the most deprived 10% of parishes, 5% live in these rural areas, and 95% in urban areas.

PQ 26688
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to Section 1(1) of the National Institutions Measure 1998 and the statement on page six of the Archbishops’ Council Annual Report 2022 that the Council was established under the National Institutions Measure 1998 to provide focus for leadership and executive responsibility and a forum for strategic thinking and planning, whether the Church Commissioners have made an assessment of the authority of the Archbishops’ Council in respect of the exercise of its executive functions.

Answer: The Church Commissioners have not made such an assessment.

PQ582
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to Figure 10 of the report entitled Independent Review of Lowest Income Communities funding and Strategic Development Funding published by Sir Robert Chote and others in February 2022, how many of the national total of 25,923 new disciples the Church of England expects to be in Truro Diocese; and how many of the 5,019 new disciples have been recorded by the Strategic Development Unit.

Answer: The question relates to the ‘Transforming Mission’ project in the Diocese of Truro. Strategic Development Funding was granted initially in 2017 for Transforming Mission in Falmouth and further grants were awarded in 2019 to extend the project to Truro, Camborne, St Austell, and Liskeard. Transforming Mission represents a significant investment in parish ministry in the county of Cornwall, benefitting many deprived parishes. While the project has been hit hard by Covid, with disruption meaning detailed and up-to-date data is not available, early signs are that there has been a positive recovery and return to church since the pandemic; although more time will be needed to fully realise its planned outcomes compared to if the pandemic had not happened.

Transforming Mission in Falmouth has shown encouraging results, with growth in the existing parish congregation and a new congregation, and increased engagement with the community and university in Falmouth. In Camborne, at the time of the funding award in 2019 the parishes were in regular contact with 20 children and young people per month. By May 2022 this had increased to 460 children and young people, and 230 parents and carers in regular contact with the parishes.

PQ26687
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Answer of 28 March 2022 to Question 145801, on Church of England, and the official document, Governance: simple, fruitful and sustainable, published by the Diocese of Truro in April 2021, which states that in a multi-parish benefice a pastoral scheme may unite several parishes to become a single parish with one PCC, whether the Church Commissioners have made an assessment of the consistency of that scheme with the definition of a parish.

Answer: The document Governance: simple, fruitful and sustainable summarises the Diocese of Truro’s approach to mission and pastoral planning and is consistent with the requirements of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011, which provides the legal framework for the local organisation of worship, mission and ministry. Under the terms of the Mission and Pastoral Measure several parishes can be united to become a single parish with a single PCC, or variations of that model.

PQ26681
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Low Income Communities Funding, if the Commissioners will ask the Bishop of Truro to pass on the benefits from that funding to mission in Truro’s lowest income communities, such as by reducing their parish share, as opposed to leaving it to underwrite the diocesan deficit.

Answer: The award, monitoring and evaluation of Lowest Income Communities Funding is the responsibility of the Archbishops’ Council, as delegated to its Strategic Investment Board. The primary business of the diocese is to fund mission in parishes, chiefly through funding the provision of stipendiary clergy, and so the primary driver of a deficit or surplus is the difference in cost between ministry funded and funds received from parishes and other sources towards these ministry costs.

The Diocese of Truro expects that by 2023 all or nearly all of the funding received from the Lowest Income Communities Fund will have been passed onto funding ministry and mission in the diocese’s lowest income communities, and not underwriting the diocesan deficit.

PQ 26685
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to their decision to award the Diocese of Leeds £3,094,588 of Strategic Development Funding (SDF), and figure 10 of the Independent Review of Lowest Income Communities funding and Strategic Development Funding by Sir Robert Chote and others, how many of the (a) anticipated and (b) recorded numbers of new disciples came from the project Strengthening Mission Across the City of Leeds between 2017 and 2021.

Answer: The Church Commissioners do not award funding to specific dioceses; this is the role of the Archbishops’ Council, as delegated to the Strategic Investment Board.

The Independent Review notes on page 27 para 3.32, beneath Figure 10, that “the Strategy and Development Unit do not regard the estimates of new disciples witnessed and expected for individual projects that underpin the aggregates as a robust basis to compare their actual and expected performance, which of course suggests that one should be wary of combining them into an aggregate figure.”

The figure used in the report is 175 new disciples out of an anticipated 1125 by 2024, but is based on older data. More up-to-date figures from the end of 2020 show that the project as a whole is ahead of its interim goals for attendance by the end of 2021, and early data shows further growth into 2022. As with all churches, the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are still to be worked out. The Chote Review of Lowest Income Communities funding and Strategic Development Funding can be found at: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-03/IRLS%20-%20final%20report%20%282%29.pdf

PQ153706
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2022 to Question 141113, and with reference to the finding of the report Growing Deeper that where there is an increase in stipendiary clergy, there is a greater likelihood of growth, a decrease in stipendiary clergy is more likely, on average, to lead to decline, what impact is expected on the size of the worshipping community (as defined in Statistics for Mission) in the Diocese of Leicester, as a result of implementing Shaped by God Together, in which each Minister Community may have only one ordained oversight minister; and what the five-year budget forecast is of giving across the Leicester Diocese as a result of the implementation of Shaped by God Together.

Answer: The plan referred to has been developed by the diocese of Leicester, which is responsible for the mission of the Church of England in that diocese. All dioceses are seeking to grow their worshipping communities and wherever possible to create financially sustainable churches, in order to sustain the mission of the Church across the entire country.

PQ153707
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2022 to Question 141113, and with reference to the finding of the report Growing Deeper that where there is an increase in stipendiary clergy, there is a greater likelihood of growth, a decrease in stipendiary clergy is more likely, on average, to lead to decline, what impact is expected on the size of the worshipping community (as defined in Statistics for Mission) in the Diocese of Lincoln, as a result of implementing A Time to Change Together, in which across the new Deanery Partnerships the total number of stipendiary ministers will fall; and what the five-year budget forecast is of giving across the Lincoln Diocese as a result of implementation of A Time to Change Together.

Answer: The plan referred to has been developed by the Diocese of Lincoln, which is responsible for the mission of the Church of England in that diocese. All dioceses are seeking to grow their worshipping communities and wherever possible to create financially sustainable churches, in order to sustain the mission of the Church across the entire country.

PQ153708
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2022 to Question 141113, and with reference to the finding of the report Growing Deeper that where there is an increase in stipendiary clergy, there is a greater likelihood of growth, a decrease in stipendiary clergy is more likely, on average, to lead to decline, what impact is expected on the size of the worshipping community (as defined in Statistics for Mission) in the Diocese of Liverpool, as a result of implementing Fit for Mission, in which teams will cover bigger areas; and what the five-year budget forecast is of giving across the Liverpool Diocese as a result of implementation of Fit for Mission.

Answer: The plan referred to has been developed by the Diocese of Liverpool, which is responsible for the mission of the Church of England in that diocese. All dioceses are seeking to grow their worshipping communities and wherever possible to create financially sustainable churches, in order to sustain the mission of the Church across the entire country.

PQ3457
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, what Church Commissioners’ funding has been awarded to that project since its inception in 2014.

Answer: The Diocese of Liverpool was awarded £900,000 of Strategic Development Funding in 2014 for its Transforming Wigan project.

A full list of projects awarded Strategic Development Funding is available on the Church of England website.

PQ3458
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, what quantitative outcomes were envisaged as a result of the Church Commissioners’ funding of that project.

Answer: At its outset, the project had a wide range of different metrics providing an indication of the scale and direction of change sought. These can be seen on the Project Bid Document available on the Transforming Wigan website: 1602081544.pdf (d3hgrlq6yacptf.cloudfront.net)(opens in a new tab) (though dioceses are not required to publish these documents). These covered increased engagement with young people, establishing new expressions of church, training for clergy and lay people, and increased financial sustainability.

Some of these goals have been significantly over-achieved, others have proved more challenging. Over time, the programme has evolved based on learning about what is working and where a change in approach has been needed, including reflecting the impact of Covid-19. An independent evaluation will be commissioned when the programme is finished, to capture learning and impact.

PQ3459
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, in the interests of transparency in the use of charitable funding and learning lessons, if the Church Commissioners will publish (a) all requests for Church Commissioners’ finance for the project, (b) the responses to each request, (c) progress reports made and (d) comments by the Strategic Investment Board on those reports.

Answer: The diocese has asked for funding for the Transforming Wigan project once, in 2014, and was awarded £900,000 of SDF at that time.

Funding has also been awarded to projects to improve the strategic capacity (£168,000), multiply congregations in deprived areas (£1m) and to invest in younger generations (£4.6m) across the whole Diocese of Liverpool, which also have elements which support ministry in Wigan.

All SDF projects are announced when they are funded, are reported to the General Synod in the SIB annual report, and a full list is available on the Church of England’s website. All projects go through a robust process of a 2-stage application with full project plan, annual reporting, continuing engagement between the diocese and the national church, and a final independent evaluation. The diocese has chosen to publish their application on the Transforming Wigan website 1602081544.pdf (d3hgrlq6yacptf.cloudfront.net)(opens in a new tab) but in general this robust process is dependent on being able to have open, honest and confidential conversations, both at Board level and with dioceses.

Transparency and learning have been mentioned in the Independent Review of LInC and SDF as areas where the funding programme can do more, and the Strategic Investment Board is working on proposals to improve both learning and transparency without compromising the quality and robustness of its accountability. Overall, the Strategic Investment Board has confidence in the Transforming Wigan programme and its engagement with young people, founding of new church communities, and training of clergy and lay leaders.

PQ149136
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, if the Church of England will provide figures for the worshipping community in each of the (a) 29 former parishes and (b) 7 new parishes in the deanery of Wigan in the Diocese of Liverpool in each year from 2016 to 2021.

Answer: While financial accounts of parishes are publicly available on the Charity Commission’s website, it is not the policy of the National Church Institutions to publish the data on attendance and finances that they request from individual parishes, because the right to publish is not given by parishes when they provide the data to the national Church.

PQ149137
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, if the Church of England will provide figures for parish giving in each of the (a) 29 former parishes and (b) 7 new parishes in the Deanery of Wigan in the Diocese of Liverpool in each year from 2016 to 2021.

PQ149138
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the pastoral reorganisation of Wigan in the Diocese of Liverpool, Scheme 08072019, if the Diocese will provide figures for the (a) requested and (b) donated Parish Share in each of the 29 former parishes and the 7 new parishes in each year from 2016 to 2021.

PQ148043
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Transforming Wigan project in the Diocese of Liverpool, (a) how much Strategic Development Fund funding has been awarded in each of the seven years of the project and (b) what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that funding.

Answer: The Transforming Wigan project was awarded £900,000 of Strategic Development Funding in 2014, which was drawn down in full by the end of 2019. As with all Strategic Development Funding projects, the project was subject to ongoing monitoring and evaluation by the Strategic Investment Board. The programme has generated significant learning, as well as generating outcomes around starting new church communities, engaging young people, developing new leaders, financial sustainability, and community support.

PQ 26682
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to paragraph 76 of the Diocese of Liverpool’s Transforming Wigan bid document and the 500 per cent increase in the number of young people involved in church, as reflected in average weekly attendance figures, in the performance reporting on SDF projects, what figure has been reported against that target to the Archbishops’ Council Strategic Development Unit.

Answer: The latest monitoring report for the ‘Transforming Wigan’ project dates from April 2020. The project team reported that this was the most challenging part of the project. An initial attempt to develop a Network Youth Strategy was brought to an end as it did not provide the growth required or connect well with the whole. The Wigan team undertook a significant review to re-engage and develop a more embedded youth strategy, building on learning what worked well. The next phase of work was to be built around pioneer chaplaincy, an internship scheme for engaging young people in mission, and a Brighter School of Discipleship. From the information available to the National Church Institutions there have been over 2,000 direct contacts with young people in schools through this work.

PQ 26683
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Diocese of Liverpool’s Transforming Wigan bid document, and the expectation expressed in paragraph 76 of that document that there would be a real-terms increase in annual giving of £500,000, what figure has been reported against that target to the Archbishops’ Council Strategic Development Unit in performance reporting on Strategic Development Fund projects.

Answer: Based on learning from the project, the focus of this objective was changed to focus on the long term sustainability of the deanery – to clear the parish share backlog of the deanery with the diocese, to establish an annual balanced budget that is fully funded by the deanery, and to develop a deanery giving scheme focused on the mission, engaging more people in the parish, and increasing overall giving year-on-year. This was on track at the end of 2019, at which point Wigan had cleared its historic backlog. Since then, Covid has had a significant impact, and the deanery is seeking to rebuild its financial position. A final evaluation of the project has been commissioned and should be provided internally to the Strategic Investment Board by the end of the year. More information about the Transforming Wigan project is available from the Diocese of Liverpool here: https://liverpool.anglican.org/about-us/liverpool-dbf/sdf-projects/transforming-wigan/

PQ 26684
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Diocese of Liverpool’s Transforming Wigan bid document, and the list of expectations expressed in paragraph 76 of that document, according to performance reporting on Strategic Development Fund projects, (a) which of those expectations were achieved in full by the end of 2021 and (b) which have not been achieved in full.

Answer: Over time there have been adjustments to the programme to reflect learning and the experience on the ground. The latest internal project review with the national church dates from April 2020, and at this point a majority of these objectives were seen as on track. An end-of-project independent evaluation has been commissioned and will be presented to the Strategic Investment Board later this year. More information about the project is available from the Diocese of Liverpool here: https://liverpool.anglican.org/about-us/liverpool-dbf/sdf-projects/transforming-wigan/

PQ137966
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many clergy of incumbent status have been dispossessed in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) diocese and (b) year by year; and how many schemes, including dispossession of office, are being prepared.

Answer: Under the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 clergy may be dispossessed of their office when changes are made to the administrative geography for worship, ministry, and mission, such as parish or benefice boundaries. The table below summarises the number of dispossessions for 2017-2021 by diocese, based on the date when they legally came into effect. There are currently 5 schemes where the process has been started, but where we do not yet know the outcome.

Year	Diocese	clergy dispossession
2017		0
2018	Gloucester	1
2019		0
2020	Portsmouth	6
2021	St Albans	2

PQ141113
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Church of England’s report, entitled From Anecdote to Evidence, what planning assumptions have been made in dioceses where large parish structures are being implemented in relation to the consequent fall in congregation numbers and drop in giving.

Answer: In the area of parish structures, the From Anecdote to Evidence report has been superseded by more recent research reports called Growing Deeper and Stronger as One. Both reports can be viewed at: Findings and reports | The Church of England(opens in a new tab)

This research has shown that there is no statistically significant relationship between the number of churches within a benefice (the benefice structure) and numerical growth or decline, once clergy numbers, geography, population change and initial church size are taken into account.

The specific planning assumptions are for individual dioceses and not the Church Commissioners.

PQ141114
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the announcements of the cities of Leicester, Lincoln and Liverpool on plans to implement large parish structures in February 2022, what arrangements will be put in place to compensate for the loss in local pastoral care.

Answer: Local strategies are for individual dioceses to work out, not the Church Commissioners.

In each of these cases, the change in structures are to enable effective ministry, including pastoral care, to be present in communities given the challenges in the overall numbers of clergy and the financial challenge facing the Church, especially post-Covid. In each of the cases there is an anticipation of better pastoral care than under the status quo.

PQ141115
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what estimate he has made of the potential net financial saving of areas that plan to implement large parish structures.

Answer: Local strategies are for individual dioceses to work out, not the Church Commissioners.

The dioceses of the Church of England are not-for-profit organisations, and so all funds are reinvested in the work of the Church, and the proposed changes are about how to use these funds in the best possible way to serve the whole of England.

PQ141116
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what alternative approaches to savings were considered at the same time as large parish structures and why were these alternatives rejected.

Answer: Local strategies are for individual dioceses to work out, not the Church Commissioners.

These large parish structures are not primarily about achieving financial savings, but ensuring that there is effective ministry and service to the community, given the financial and other constraints that the Church faces. Where funding has been awarded by the Church Commissioners, there has been a requirement to consider the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches and these have been scrutinised by funding award panels.

PQ145801
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what plans the Church of England has to change the definition of a parish; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 on the definition of a parish.

Answer: There are no plans to change the legal definition of a parish.

The Mission and Pastoral Measure carries forward from previous legislation a well-established legal definition of a parish in section 105: Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 (legislation.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)

The Church Representation Rules also contain a definition in rule 82: Church Representation Rules online – part 8 | The Church of England

PQ148039
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2022 to Question 141116 on Church of England: Finance, where funding has been awarded by the Church Commissioners to facilitate bringing about large parish structures, what (a) advantages and (b) disadvantages were identified during scrutiny by funding awarding panels.

Answer: Funding is not given to dioceses solely for the purpose of facilitating large parish structures, but this may be a part of a wider plan that is funded by Strategic Transformation Funding, and scrutinised by the Strategic Investment Board, a subcommittee of the Archbishops’ Council.

The aims of the funding are to support major change programmes that fit with a diocese’s strategic plans and make a significant difference to their mission and financial strength. Alongside this they must help develop flourishing mission and ministry over a 5-10 year period, demonstrate a sustainable financial and people plan, and design a clear pathway to a thriving and sustainable future, with a clear plan for growth.

The assessment criteria are based around ‘Strategic Impact’ (e.g. is there a hope-filled vision embracing all contexts and traditions, a robust analysis, analysis between options, evidence or convincing logic in the approach, defining roles of clergy and lay ministers, alignment with evidence) and ‘Programme Delivery Confidence’ (e.g. is there a detailed financial plan, capability and capacity for change, a detailed measurement framework, and support for the wider cultural and emotional aspects). It would not be appropriate to reveal the internal conversations of the Strategic Investment Board, but all projects would be required to meet these criteria to access funding.

It is for individual dioceses to make decisions about the appropriate numbers of incumbent stipendiary ministers for that diocese, and also to make financial planning assumptions appropriate to their context.

PQ148040
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2022 to Question 141115 on Church of England: Finance, what metrics the Church of England used to measure effective ministry in dioceses planning large parish structures; and what steps the Church of England plans to take to measure effectiveness of new ministry arrangements.

PQ148041
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2022 to Question 141114 on Church of England: Finance, what steps the Church of England has taken to assess the effect of removing incumbent stipendiary ministers in the Leicester, Lincoln and Liverpool dioceses on the quality of pastoral care.

Answer: Funding is not given to dioceses solely for the purpose of facilitating large parish structures, but this may be a part of a wider plan that is funded by Strategic

Transformation Funding, and scrutinised by the Strategic Investment Board, a subcommittee of the Archbishops’ Council.

PQ148042
To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2022 to Question 141113 on Church of England: Finance, and with reference to the Going Deeper: Church attendance statistics and clergy deployment research, published in August 2016, what financial planning assumptions have been made in the dioceses of (a) Leicester, (b) Lincoln and (c) Liverpool on parish giving over the next five years.

PQ UIN 9090
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.

Answer 15 January 2024: 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.

In February 2020 Paula Vennells was invited to attend the Church Commissioners Board of Governors for a discussion of the Lessons Learnt report, but she was unable to attend and the report was considered in her absence. The Lessons Learnt report was considered by the Archbishops’ Council in March 2020, again in the absence of Paula Vennells, who was invited but unable to attend.

In March 2020 the Archbishops established a Coordinating Group, to continue the work of the Triennium Funding Working Group, and to coordinate certain strands of national work for the Church during the Covid 19 pandemic. Paula Vennells was invited to join the Coordinating Group and to lead on the part focusing on Governance. She attended three meetings of the Group, in April, May and June 2020 and sent apologies to two further meetings in June and July, before withdrawing from the work. The Coordinating Group became what is now the Emerging Church Steering Group. A Governance Review group under the Chairmanship of the Bishop of Leeds proceeded from August 2020, without the involvement of Paula Vennells.

The Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG) is convened and funded by the three National Investment Bodies, to whom it provides ethical investment advice. Paula Vennells was appointed to the EIAG by its Nominations Committee and was a member between March 2019 and April 2021. She attended two meetings, in March and October 2019, and sent apologies for meetings thereafter until she took leave of absence from the Group from June 2020, lasting until her resignation in April 2021. More information about the EIAG can be found here: Ethical Investment Advisory Group | The Church of England

PQ UIN 19811
To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, how much (a) the Church Commissioners distributed to and (b) was certificated by the Archbishops’ Council under section 2(6) of the National Institutions Measure 1998 in each year since 1998; and how much was granted by the Church Commissioners pursuant to section 1 of the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2018 to the Archbishops’ Council in each year since 2018.\

Answered 3 February 2025

Section 1 of the Miscellaneous Provisions Measure 2018 (“the 2018 power”) came into force on 1 March 2019 and has only been used for grants made since the start of 2020. Between the Archbishops’ Council’s inception at the start of 1999 and the end of 2019 all grants from the Commissioners to the Council were made under section 2(1) of the National Institutions Measure 1998 (“the 1998 power”).

Since the start of 2020 some grant streams clearly fit under the 1998 power (e.g. Lowest Income Communities Funding) and others have been made using the 2018 power (e.g. support for the Parish Giving Scheme and the energy cost support provided to parishes through dioceses in 2022).

Other grant streams (e.g. the Diocesan Investment Programme) fall within the broader provisions of the 2018 power, but some or all aspects of individual grants may also fall within the 1998 power. It has not been possible to ascertain which proportion of each such grant falls within the scope of the 1998 power. The table below states the total of grants that were entirely within the scope of the 1998 power (which would also have been possible under the much broader 2018 power), those made under the 2018 power only, and those which were partially covered by the 1998 Measure and entirely covered by the 2018 Measure (which are not mutually exclusive).

Church Commissioners’ grants to Archbishops’ Council	2020	2021	2022	2023
	£m	£m	£m	£m
1998 Measure	49.6	43.5	37.9	33.5
2018 Measure	17.2	20.1	38.3	38.0
Partially covered under 1998 Measure Entirely covered by 2018 Measure (not mutually exclusive)	28.0	25.7	52.0	81.4
Total	94.8	89.3	128.2	152.9

Source: Church Commissioners annual report and accounts exclusive of discount applied to multi-year grants.

The Archbishops’ Council provide the Commissioners with an annual certificate under section 2(6) of the National Institutions Measure 1998. There are some differences between the amounts in the annual certificate and the amounts in the Commissioners’ accounts due to differing rounding, accounting policies and the discount factors applied to multiyear grants.

PQ UIN 13531
To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what the (a) charitable object and (b) nominal current value is of each (i) trust and (ii) other fund held by the Church Commissioners; and what document defines each such charitable object.

Answered 22 November 2024

The Church Commissioners’ are a statutory body corporate and its charitable purposes are set out in a range of statutory provisions. There is no single instrument which specifies each of the purposes for which the Church Commissioners may apply their funds.

The Church Commissioners’ was incorporated by the Church Commissioners Measure 1947 which makes provision for the Commissioners to hold a general fund from which it discharges the expenses and obligations which fall to the Church Commissioners’ in the due discharge of their functions. Consistent with usual practice in the sector the Church Commissioners’ undertakes some of its investment activity through subsidiary entities.

The Church Commissioners’ net asset value is calculated annually, and detailed in the charity’s annual report which is available in the library of the House of Commons, and the most recent report is available here.

PQ UIN 69761
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, how many churches have closed in each year since 1997.

Answered on 1 September 2025

Starting at 1990, the figures per decade are as follows:
1990–1999: 274
2000–2009: 243
2010–2019: 210

In the current decade:
2020: 15
2021: 26
2022: 11
2023: 17
2024: 15

Over this period the Pastoral and Closed Churches Committee of the Church Commissioners has received formal closure schemes for 811 churches in total.

To put this in context, the Church of England has stewardship of approximately 15,700 consecrated buildings. Church closures are occurring at their lowest rate since the 1970s, when 760 closures took place across the decade. The figure for the 1980s was 485. Since the 1990s annual closures have remained steady at approximately 20–25 per year, with no increase following the pandemic.

The Church also opens around 10 new churches annually, and has seen significant growth in worshipping communities in homes, schools, cafés, and digital spaces. Since 2020, dioceses have launched or are developing 3,500 new worshipping communities, contributing to the Church’s goal of 10,000 by 2030 under its Vision and Strategy.

Closure does not mean withdrawal. Every community remains covered by a Church of England parish, with continued access to worship, baptisms, marriages, and funerals. In many cases, ministry is reconfigured locally to maintain pastoral care.

The Church operates under the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011, which allows buildings no longer needed for pastoral use to be closed and repurposed. Closures are typically initiated by local parishes, often due to demographic shifts or challenges in sustaining leadership.

Further information can be found in the Church Commissioners’ annual reports, which are available on the Church of England website or in the House of Commons Library.

Last updated: 23/02/2026