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1697792

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Christianity: Ceremonies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many confirmations there were in each year since 1994.
tabling member constituency	Harborough
tabling member printed	Neil O'Brien
uin	19960
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>The table below shows the number of confirmations conducted in the Church of England each year since 1994. <br> <br> As the Established Church, every member of the public, whatever their belief, living within a parish in England has the right to access baptism, marriage and burial services of the Church of England as long as performing that service is lawful under Canon Law. <br> <br> The detailed data on the number of baptism and confirmation services is published in the annual data ‘Statistics for Mission’.</p><p>Post 2009 figures can be found here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/statisticsformission2022_tables.xlsx" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/statisticsformission2022_tables.xlsx</a></p><p>Pre-2009 figures can be found here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/about/data-services/resources-publications-and-data#na" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/about/data-services/resources-publications-and-data#na</a></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number of confirmations</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1994</p></td><td><p>48,024</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1995</p></td><td><p>43,667</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1996</p></td><td><p>42,768</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1997</p></td><td><p>40,881</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1998</p></td><td><p>39,926</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1999</p></td><td><p>37,469</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2000</p></td><td><p>36,387</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2001</p></td><td><p>33,367</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2002</p></td><td><p>33,425</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2003</p></td><td><p>31,797</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2004</p></td><td><p>30,425</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2005</p></td><td><p>29,833</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006</p></td><td><p>29,380</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007</p></td><td><p>27,926</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008</p></td><td><p>26,972</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009</p></td><td><p>25,028</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>22,349</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>22,242</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>22,540</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>19,883</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>18,028</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>16,723</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>15,917</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>15,253</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>14,475</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>13,355</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>2,165</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>6,388</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>10,855</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 12/04/2024 13:14:53 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien

1697793

registered interest
date	21/03/2024
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Church Services: Attendance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what average weekly attendance was in each year since 1994.
tabling member constituency	Harborough
tabling member printed	Neil O'Brien
uin	19961
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>The National Church Institutions first started collecting attendance data centrally in the autumn of 2000; as a result, it is not possible to publish data for the period 1994-1999. A methodological change also took place between 2000 and 2003 which means statistics for those years are not directly comparable with the data now collected. The data displayed below shows the longest period of comparable figures available, from 2003-2022.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Adult average weekly attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Child average weekly attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>All age average weekly attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Adult average Sunday attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Child average Sunday attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>All age average Sunday attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Adult average school service attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Child average school service attendance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>All age average school service attendance</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2003</strong></p></td><td><p>905,000</p></td><td><p>218,000</p></td><td><p>1,126,000</p></td><td><p>802,000</p></td><td><p>154,000</p></td><td><p>959,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2004</strong></p></td><td><p>896,000</p></td><td><p>220,000</p></td><td><p>1,119,000</p></td><td><p>789,000</p></td><td><p>151,000</p></td><td><p>942,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2005</strong></p></td><td><p>898,000</p></td><td><p>218,000</p></td><td><p>1,119,000</p></td><td><p>791,000</p></td><td><p>147,000</p></td><td><p>941,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2006</strong></p></td><td><p>894,000</p></td><td><p>217,000</p></td><td><p>1,115,000</p></td><td><p>786,000</p></td><td><p>145,000</p></td><td><p>935,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007</strong></p></td><td><p>888,000</p></td><td><p>205,000</p></td><td><p>1,097,000</p></td><td><p>779,000</p></td><td><p>137,000</p></td><td><p>919,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008</strong></p></td><td><p>877,000</p></td><td><p>215,000</p></td><td><p>1,094,000</p></td><td><p>768,000</p></td><td><p>139,000</p></td><td><p>910,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p>867,000</p></td><td><p>211,000</p></td><td><p>1,082,000</p></td><td><p>758,000</p></td><td><p>134,000</p></td><td><p>895,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p>851,000</p></td><td><p>208,000</p></td><td><p>1,062,000</p></td><td><p>741,000</p></td><td><p>130,000</p></td><td><p>874,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p>840,000</p></td><td><p>207,000</p></td><td><p>1,050,000</p></td><td><p>728,000</p></td><td><p>127,000</p></td><td><p>858,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>843,000</p></td><td><p>202,000</p></td><td><p>1,049,000</p></td><td><p>733,000</p></td><td><p>128,000</p></td><td><p>864,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>836,000</p></td><td><p>157,000</p></td><td><p>994,000</p></td><td><p>721,000</p></td><td><p>124,000</p></td><td><p>845,000</p></td><td><p>23,000</p></td><td><p>103,000</p></td><td><p>126,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2014</strong></p></td><td><p>831,000</p></td><td><p>144,000</p></td><td><p>975,000</p></td><td><p>711,000</p></td><td><p>119,000</p></td><td><p>830,000</p></td><td><p>35,000</p></td><td><p>113,000</p></td><td><p>148,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2015</strong></p></td><td><p>819,000</p></td><td><p>140,000</p></td><td><p>959,000</p></td><td><p>698,000</p></td><td><p>115,000</p></td><td><p>813,000</p></td><td><p>40,000</p></td><td><p>131,000</p></td><td><p>171,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2016</strong></p></td><td><p>791,000</p></td><td><p>132,000</p></td><td><p>922,000</p></td><td><p>671,000</p></td><td><p>108,000</p></td><td><p>780,000</p></td><td><p>42,000</p></td><td><p>139,000</p></td><td><p>182,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2017</strong></p></td><td><p>767,000</p></td><td><p>127,000</p></td><td><p>895,000</p></td><td><p>653,000</p></td><td><p>104,000</p></td><td><p>757,000</p></td><td><p>46,000</p></td><td><p>152,000</p></td><td><p>198,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2018</strong></p></td><td><p>752,000</p></td><td><p>120,000</p></td><td><p>872,000</p></td><td><p>635,000</p></td><td><p>96,000</p></td><td><p>730,000</p></td><td><p>40,000</p></td><td><p>137,000</p></td><td><p>177,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2019</strong></p></td><td><p>734,000</p></td><td><p>120,000</p></td><td><p>854,000</p></td><td><p>613,000</p></td><td><p>94,000</p></td><td><p>707,000</p></td><td><p>41,000</p></td><td><p>141,000</p></td><td><p>182,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2020</strong></p></td><td><p>317,000</p></td><td><p>28,000</p></td><td><p>345,000</p></td><td><p>273,000</p></td><td><p>24,000</p></td><td><p>298,000</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td><td><p>n/a</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2021</strong></p></td><td><p>531,000</p></td><td><p>75,000</p></td><td><p>605,000</p></td><td><p>447,000</p></td><td><p>62,000</p></td><td><p>509,000</p></td><td><p>18,000</p></td><td><p>71,000</p></td><td><p>89,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2022</strong></p></td><td><p>567,000</p></td><td><p>87,000</p></td><td><p>654,000</p></td><td><p>477,000</p></td><td><p>70,000</p></td><td><p>547,000</p></td><td><p>36,000</p></td><td><p>128,000</p></td><td><p>164,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Attendance figures are collected from churches for the first 4 Sundays of October and in the following Monday-Saturday midweek periods - this exercise is referred to as the &quot;October count”. Figures include attendance at baptisms, as these usually take place in service, but not attendance at weddings and funerals. Attendance at services for schools is NOT included in the average weekly and average Sunday attendance figures but is reported separately.</p><p>In 2013, the question was changed to specifically ask about attendance at school services. Prior to 2013, it was apparent that some churches included such attendance in their reported figures while others did not. The change in question during this year resulted in a large change in the average weekly attendance from 2012 to 2013 and a more consistent practice across the church as a whole.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 12/04/2024 13:23:00 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien

1697566

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Church Schools: Hendon
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	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.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	19599
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>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.</p><p>There are two Church of England schools in the Hendon Constituency.</p><p>St Mary’s and St John’s educates more than 1,600 pupils. One quarter are on free school meals, which is higher than the Local Authority average. Pupils are making above-average progress at an 8-level attainment of 0.39 compared with the national average of -0.03.</p><p>St Paul’s School Mill Hill educates 210 pupils. One fifth of pupils are in receipt of Free School Meals, in line with the Local Authority average. Pupils attainment is above-average; 84% attained the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths last summer compared to the national average of 60%.</p><p>I commend the teachers and leadership teams in both schools for these achievements.</p><p>The Church of England educates over one million children in its 4,700 schools across England. Church Schools are committed to the flourishing of children and deliver a rounded education that remains in high demand with parents. They serve all those in the community, whatever their faith or belief.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 12/04/2024 13:10:53 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1697590

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Church of England: Carbon Emissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to help achieve net zero.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	19601
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>The Church Commissioners are committed to reducing the carbon intensity of their portfolio by 2025 and, as a member of the Asset Owners Alliance, reaching ‘Net Zero’ in the investment portfolio by 2050.</p><p>The General Synod has set a target for the Church of England to become Net Zero by 2030. The National Church Institutions are supporting every diocese with a grant to grow capacity and employ staff to manage the work of achieving this net zero ambition. The Church Commissioners have committed funding of £30m for 2023-25 and £190m total for a 9-year programme from 2023-31. <br> <br>Stage one will explore the best ways to decarbonise the diverse range of buildings and navigate planning and governance structures. The project will assess cathedrals and clergy housing, with demonstration churches that can act as showpieces of what is possible. There will be a special grant available from dioceses to enable churches to fund improvements to their energy efficiency.</p><p>A second workstream supports schools in accessing public sector decarbonisation funds, and another stream of grants will match local fundraising in churches for net-zero carbon projects through the Buildings for Mission scheme</p><p>This will provide a clear picture of the kinds of projects that are effective in reducing emissions, ready for a scaled-up investment in the second 3-year period</p><p>Recent success stories include York Minster and the Chapel at Kings College, Cambridge, which have joined many other major churches and cathedrals across the country in installing new solar panels and renewable technologies, reducing their running costs and making them more sustainable buildings.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 12/04/2024 13:18:14 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1697591

registered interest
date	20/03/2024
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Church of England: Land Use
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether a recent assessment has been made of the environmental improvements being advanced through the church's holding of agricultural land.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	19602
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>The Church Commissioners undertake rolling assessments of environmental improvements being made to the farmland portfolio by tenants, which is used to update the baseline study undertaken five years ago. Data has so far been provided on over 25,000 acres of Commissioners’ land holdings and contains details of environmental changes, such as transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices. The Commissioners are pleased to announce a partnership with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), which will further develop this work.</p><p>The Church Commissioners’ rural estates team continues to engage with our new and existing agricultural tenants through regular individual farm visits, the sharing of ground-sourced data, including carbon audits, and the gathering of information from third parties. On recent assessment revealed that on a single Commissioners’ farm in Kent, over 45 species of bird were recorded during a single visit in December 2023.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 12/04/2024 13:24:49 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1693446

registered interest
date	04/03/2024
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Clergy: Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	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.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	16862
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry Development Team of the Archbishops’ Council estimates that around 1,800 clergy families are currently in receipt of child tax credits. As has been reported, some of these may stand to lose up to £10,000 a year as a result of the planned migration to Universal Credit.</p><p>Representations have been made to the Department of Work and Pensions about the impact on clergy who have savings or property for retirement, of the ineligibility for Universal Credit for those with assets or savings over the £16,000 threshold. A key concern is that this will not only affect living standards for clergy families reliant on stipendiary income but will have an adverse effect on all people in tied accommodation seeking to make adequate provisions for their retirement.</p><p>The Ministry Development Team also estimates that around 400 of the 1,800 clergy families receiving child tax credits have more than two children and are therefore also likely to be affected by the two-child cap on Universal Credit.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 26/03/2024 11:28:36 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1691338

registered interest
date	23/02/2024
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Church of England: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	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.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	15413
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2024 answer text <p>In March 2022, an Independent Review of Lowest Income Communities Funding and Strategic Development Funding was published. This review was chaired by Sir Robert Chote, who presented the review to the General Synod in July 2022. At that group of sessions, the General Synod passed a motion requesting the commissioning of a follow-up independent review to be completed before the July 2024 group of sessions. This review will be commissioned as requested in the motion.</p><p>The original Chote review, with the response, can be found here: <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.churchofengland.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2022-06%2Fgs-2261-review-of-sdf-and-linc-funding.pdf&amp;data=05%7C02%7Crichard.chapman%40churchofengland.org%7C36708d7edb7542596f2408dc37cd5a37%7C95e2463b3ab047b49ac1587c77ee84f0%7C0%7C0%7C638446603167712010%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=oSMvzlCiwHBOGdcjXGPO0EAqB7A3KCNdYR6WuOfPhdE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/gs-2261-review-of-sdf-and-linc-funding.pdf</a></p><p>The motion passed by General Synod in July 2022 can be found here (Item 70 on page 14): <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.churchofengland.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2022-09%2Fbusiness-done-consolidated.pdf&amp;data=05%7C02%7Crichard.chapman%40churchofengland.org%7C36708d7edb7542596f2408dc37cd5a37%7C95e2463b3ab047b49ac1587c77ee84f0%7C0%7C0%7C638446603167717965%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=pVb5naUPVYv2x%2BOPGfsZBU6l3VpJ0VTgg%2BfEL%2BA7EVo%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/business-done-consolidated.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 28/02/2024 21:48:55 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell