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1196972

registered interest
date	19/05/2020
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what the Commissioners' timetable is for enabling churches to reopen safely for funeral services after the covid-19 lockdown.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	902797
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>The Church Commissioners do not have responsibility for setting a timetable for the reopening of church buildings for funeral services. Current guidance from the House of Bishops is not to conduct funeral services in church buildings because of widely expressed concerns about parishes having capacity to conduct such funerals safely, including being able to clean churches thoroughly between services to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus. This is guidance, not instruction.</p><p> </p><p>We are acutely aware of the anguish of those not able to have or attend a funeral in their parish church in the current circumstances. Where it is requested a priest will be present to conduct a funeral service, either at a crematorium or at the churchyard. The House of Bishops meets regularly to review its guidance which will be updated in line with changing circumstances, and published on the Church of England website.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 19/05/2020 17:05:20 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1196973

registered interest
date	19/05/2020
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what the Commissioners' timetable is for churches to reopen for baptisms, weddings and funerals following the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	902798
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>The Church Commissioners do not have responsibility for setting a timetable for the reopening of church buildings for funeral services. Baptisms and weddings cannot at present be celebrated inside church buildings, and the relevant Cabinet Office and MHCLG guidance can be seen here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close-guidance#contents" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close-guidance#contents</a></p><p>Current guidance from the House of Bishops is not to conduct funeral services in church buildings because of widely expressed concerns about parishes having capacity to conduct such funerals safely, including being able to clean churches thoroughly between services to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus. This is guidance, not instruction. We are acutely aware of the anguish of those not able to celebrate significant life events such as baptisms, weddings and funerals in their parish church in the current circumstances. The House of Bishops meets regularly to review its guidance which will be updated in line with changing circumstances, and published on the Church of England website.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 19/05/2020 17:06:18 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1196974

registered interest
date	19/05/2020
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Church of England has made of the potential effect on public health of reopening churches.
tabling member constituency	Chatham and Aylesford
tabling member printed	Tracey Crouch
uin	902801
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/05/2020 answer text <p>The House of Bishops meets regularly to review its own guidance to clergy in light of Government and public health advice.</p><p>On 5th May the House of Bishops issued new guidance, which can be seen at: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/house-bishops-backs-phased-approach-revising-access-church-buildings" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/house-bishops-backs-phased-approach-revising-access-church-buildings</a></p><p>While church buildings remain closed for public worship in line with Government advice, the Bishops agreed in principle to a phased approach to lifting restrictions, in time and in parallel with the Government's approach, with three broad stages. The first, effective immediately, allows clergy limited access to church buildings for activities such as streaming of services or private prayer, so long as the necessary hygiene and social distancing precautions are taken; the decision being made by individual clergy after discussion with their diocesan bishop. The second and third will see access for some rites and ceremonies, and for worship services with limited congregations meeting, when Government restrictions are eased to allow it.</p><p>Senior staff of the National Church Institutions have joined two of the Government’s ‘unlocking’ work streams, within the Department for Culture Media and Sport and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 19/05/2020 17:08:02 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	3950 label Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch

1184662

registered interest
date	12/03/2020
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: Marriage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, in what circumstances a Church of Scotland minister is able to conduct a wedding in the Church of England.
tabling member constituency	New Forest West
tabling member printed	Sir Desmond Swayne
uin	28560
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2020 answer text <p>The clergy of other denominations cannot conduct Church of England marriages, though they may be able to participate to a limited extent in Church of England weddings by, for example, reading lessons, or leading prayers by agreement with the local incumbent or priest who is officiating.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 18/03/2020 17:12:17 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne

1180185

registered interest
date	24/02/2020
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Bats
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what (a) policy changes and (b) steps the Church of England is taking in relation to the 2019 survey of bats in churches undertaken with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund,
tabling member constituency	Christchurch
tabling member printed	Sir Christopher Chope
uin	19751
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2020 answer text <p>The £3.8m funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund that was secured in 2018, enabled not just one survey, but a five-year Bats in Churches partnership project made up of the Church of England, Natural England, Historic England, the Bat Conservation Trust, and the Churches Conservation Trust.</p><p>The project is working with ecologists, church architects, heritage experts and church communities to support and develop bespoke solutions for around 120 churches struggling with unsustainable bat roosts across the country. Churches that are part of the project are continuously monitored to ensure there is no damage to the bat populations. Additionally, a nationwide volunteer-led four-year survey, the ‘Bats in Churches Study’ is to be launched this summer and will give an in-depth picture of how bats are using Church of England churches and the attitudes of churchgoers towards them.</p><p>The Bats in Churches project is now in its second year and can report the delivery of three successful mitigation works in some of the worst affected churches, in Braunston-in-Rutland, Tattershall and Swanton Morley. These three schemes have enabled congregations and the wider community to co-exist harmoniously alongside the bats and for church heritage to be respected.</p><p>Other projects nearing completion include:</p><ul><li>St Pega’s Church Peakirk, following a lead theft that has enabled bat mitigation to be incorporated into the re-roofing repair work.</li><li>St John the Baptist Church in Cold Overton is similarly incorporating bat mitigation into its repairs.</li></ul><p>Support for churches sheltering bats is available from the Bats in Churches project who are running events to build networks of volunteers, links to bat and heritage groups and specialist cleaning workshops and advice.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 28/02/2020 10:56:16 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	242 label Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope

1156262

registered interest
date	24/10/2019
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Theft
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of major property thefts from Churches in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	4943
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>The Church of England does not hold data on thefts centrally, but it is kept by local police forces, Historic England and the insurance industry.</p><p>The most prominent form of property theft from churches is that of metal (mainly lead from roofs) and of historic building materials such as flagstones. These are items with a high resale value and which, once removed, can be difficult to identify as coming from a particular place. Because of the largely historic nature of the buildings targeted these thefts are counted as heritage crime. This issue does not just affect churches; it is so widespread that it is the subject of a joint project and Memorandum of Understanding signed by the National Police Chiefs' Council, the Crown Prosecution Service, Historic England and a growing number of local authorities, community safety partnerships and National Park Authorities. It is an agreement to work in partnership with each other to prevent and solve crimes against historic places.</p><p>The Church of England is an active partner in identifying and tackling heritage crime, especially metal theft. The church is part of Operation Crucible, the police-led initiative investigating metal theft, and it has become clear over recent years that this form of criminal behaviour is now being undertaken by organised gangs. The earlier changes to the law did initially lead to a drop in reported incidences, but recently the issue has again become more widespread. The Church of England submitted evidence to the review of the Scrap Metal Dealers Act in 2017 asking the Government to tighten up the Act to better reflect the changing behaviour of both the scrap metal trade and the organised criminal activity.</p><p>Due to the highly mobile nature of this form of organised criminal activity and without increased resource, it is hard to see how police and heritage crime officers will be able to address the increase in thefts we are seeing across the country. Thefts are moving gradually west and north along the major transport routes. This year the Church has had the first reports of metal and stone theft in the Bath &amp; Wells Diocese and in the Yorkshire Dioceses. Tightening up of the law, therefore, needs to be accompanied by increased police resources and greater political will.</p><p>Parish churches are maintained by volunteers on behalf of the local community. Aside from the financial impact of these thefts, the impact on communities is significant. The social and community impact of the crime, as well as the criminal damage to listed buildings, needs to be addressed at sentencing, as even the theft of small amounts of lead or stone cost has a huge impact on local people. These buildings represent our country’s local and national heritage. Due to the highly mobile nature of criminal gangs, it is essential that police and local churches work together to ensure that heritage crime does not become a decreasing priority for police forces.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 05/11/2019 15:30:10 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman previous answer version 3752 answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1140803

registered interest
date	22/07/2019
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Grants
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps are being taken to promote the new four year Grant Programme through the Churches Trust.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	280172
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2019 answer text <p>The Church of England’s Church Buildings Council regularly communicates with all grant-making bodies and information about the grants available to parishes is communicated through the Diocesan Advisory Committees.</p><p>The Church of England offers general advice to its parishes about restoration, repair and grants on the Church Care section of its website: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/more/church-resources/churchcare" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/more/church-resources/churchcare</a></p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 25/07/2019 16:24:32 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1139907

registered interest
date	17/07/2019
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Gambling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to tackle problem gambling.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	278399
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Gambling-related harm impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Of particular concern is the 55,000 children classified as problem gamblers in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>The Church of England and the bishops in the House of Lords have regularly raised this issue with the Government, charities and the industry itself.</p><p> </p><p>The Bishop of St Albans successfully campaigned with others to reduce the stake on fixed-odds betting terminals in Great Britain and tabled an amendment to the Northern Ireland Executive (Formation) Bill 2019 to ask the Government to report on the case for legislative and regulatory alignment between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government accepted this amendment.</p><p> </p><p>The Bishop of St Albans also sponsored a motion for debate in the General Synod of the Church of England, which was passed at the February 2019 session. He also successfully balloted for the House of Lords to establish the Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. The Committee Inquiry is underway and is expected to report between March and April 2020.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 22/07/2019 15:27:50 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1138229

registered interest
date	10/07/2019
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	George Bell
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2019 to Question 227049 on George Bell, whether the £29,800 represents the full payment for all costs incurred by the church in its initial judgement on Bishop George Bell; and what proportion of that sum was used for costs for (a) lawyers and (b) damages.
tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
tabling member printed	Frank Field
uin	275686
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>The former First Church Estates Commissioner gave the answer to the General Synod in July 2016, this can be found on page 58 of the Reports and Proceedings of the General Synod: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/July%202016%20Report%20of%20Proceedings%20w.index_.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/July%202016%20Report%20of%20Proceedings%20w.index_.pdf</a>. <br>As the former First Church Estates Commissioner confirmed in his replies on that occasion, it is not the usual practice of the Church Commissioners to report on legal expenditure.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 18/07/2019 12:12:18 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman previous answer version 128819 answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1132009

registered interest
date	13/06/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, which projects the Church of England funded to help transform communities as part of the Thy Kingdom Come events.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	264348
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/06/2019 answer text <p>Thy Kingdom Come is an ecumenical prayer movement started by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2017, which has grown into an annual global movement of prayer. It is supported by His Holiness the Pope and in 2018 over 65 different denominations and traditions held events across 114 countries. Major beacon events took place in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. More information can be found here: <a href="https://www.thykingdomcome.global/" target="_blank">https://www.thykingdomcome.global/</a></p><p>Events take the form of large public gatherings, community prayer walks, meals and picnics in churches or parks. They bring together people from different traditions and denominations across all parts of the local community.</p><p>In Northern Ireland, both Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland Archbishops of Armagh issued a joint statement to support events taking place in St Anne’s Cathedral Belfast, St Macartin’s Cathedral Enniskillen, and St Mark’s Church Armagh. Their message can be read here: <a href="https://www.ireland.anglican.org/news/8866/joint-message-from-archbishop-eamon" target="_blank">https://www.ireland.anglican.org/news/8866/joint-message-from-archbishop-eamon</a></p><p>In County Londonderry, there were three events which saw churches of different denominations gather for prayer. Those that gathered came together and prayed for their local communities, schools, businesses and community projects, and that the Church be a point of unity and light.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 18/06/2019 14:31:37 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell