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1079348

	registered interest
	date	28/02/2019
	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, what authority set down in the statutes of the Commissioners enabled the payment of £29,800 to meet damages and costs relating to the case of Bishop George Bell; and what steps the Commissioners took to scrutinise that settlement before they made over those funds.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	227049
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2019 answer text <p>The Church Commissioners have a discretion under the Episcopal Endowments and Stipends Measure 1943, assessed on a case by case basis, to pay the costs of a bishop’s office, including costs in connection with legal claims. Requests to the Church Commissioners for assistance with legal costs are subject to scrutiny by the First Church Estates Commissioner and the QC Commissioner, assisted by staff, to ensure that costs are reasonable in the circumstances.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 12/03/2019 15:48:27 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

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

454779

	registered interest
	date	24/02/2016
	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, whether the settlement the Church Commissioners made to the complainant against George Bell was made directly in relation to allegations against Bell, or on the basis that a complaint made under a subsequent Bishop, was not handled in a way which would be expected today.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	28341
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2016 answer text <p>A formal claim for compensation was submitted in April 2014 and was settled in the autumn of 2015. The settlement followed a thorough pre-litigation process during which investigations took place.</p><p>Following the settlement of the claim the Bishop of Chichester, the Rt Revd Martin Warner issued a formal apology. The statement can be read on the Church of England’s website at the following address: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2015/10/statement-on-the-rt-revd-george-bell-%281883-1958%29.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2015/10/statement-on-the-rt-revd-george-bell-%281883-1958%29.aspx</a></p><p>The statement from Bishop Warner went on to say that “the response from the Diocese of Chichester in 1995, when the survivor first came forward, fell a long way short, not just of what is expected now, but of what we now appreciate you should have had a right to expect then.&quot;</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 29/02/2016 16:22:30 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

454780

	registered interest
	date	24/02/2016
	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, whether any of the Estates Commissioners saw the charge sheet on which George Bell was found guilty of child abuse on the balance of probabilities.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	28342
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2016 answer text <p>The language of “guilt” and “charge sheets” refers to criminal cases. The claim against Bishop Bell was a civil claim. The civil courts do not use charge sheets and as a result there has not been a charge sheet for the Estates Commissioners to see then or now.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 29/02/2016 16:23:38 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

454781

	registered interest
	date	24/02/2016
	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, how many people involved in investigating allegations of child abuse made against George Bell consulted his papers and diaries in Lambeth Palace Library in the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	28343
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2016 answer text <p><ins class="ministerial">In 2013 and 2015 three staff members viewed various sections of the bishop's personal papers held at</ins> Lambeth Palace Library <ins class="ministerial">on two separate occasions.</ins> <del class="ministerial">has no record in the last three years of any of the individuals involved in these investigations making an application to view the papers and diaries of George Bell that are held in the Library.</del></p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 29/02/2016 16:24:51 question first ministerially corrected 06/05/2016 09:26:14 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman previous answer version 47893 answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead