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643840

	registered interest
	date	24/11/2016
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Clergy: Females
	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 a Bishop of London has ordained a woman as a priest.
	tabling member constituency	Worthing West
	tabling member printed	Sir Peter Bottomley
	uin	54893
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2016 answer text <p>It has long been the practice of the Diocese of London for the Bishop to ordain all deacons, male and female, with Area Bishops ordaining priests in their local community.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 28/11/2016 16:22:05 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	117 label Biography information for Sir Peter Bottomley

644287

	registered interest
	date	25/11/2016
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Bishop of London
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, if the Church Commissioners will make it their policy that the next nominee for the Bishop of London will ordain both women and men as priests.
	tabling member constituency	Worthing West
	tabling member printed	Sir Peter Bottomley
	uin	54965
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2016 answer text <p>The nomination to the See of London is a matter for the Crown Nominations Commission rather than the Church Commissioners. Nominations to episcopal sees are made within the context of the House of Bishops’ Declaration on Ministry of Bishops and Priests, which expressly recognises that those who, on grounds of theological conviction, are unable to receive the ministry of women bishops and priests continue to be within the spectrum and teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion, and affirms the importance of there continuing to be bishops within the Church of England to enable ministry to be provided to such persons. However, as part of the usual consultation process for nominations to diocesan sees, anyone wishing to comment on the needs of the vacant diocese or the wider church is invited to write to the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary and the Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments. Any such submissions will inform the Commission’s work.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 29/11/2016 16:46:12 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	117 label Biography information for Sir Peter Bottomley

521107

	registered interest
	date	24/05/2016
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Churches: Credit Unions
	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 credit unions have approached churches or church organisations as a result of the Archbishop of Canterbury's #TOYOURCREDIT initiative.
	tabling member constituency	Worcester
	tabling member printed	Mr Robin Walker
	uin	38145
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2016 answer text <p>Churches across England have responded to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call to support credit unions and other forms of responsible credit and savings. At least 31 out of 40 dioceses have been actively involved in supporting over 50 credit unions in various ways, such as:</p><ul><li>promoting the local credit union in their congregation and wider community</li><li>recruiting credit union volunteers</li><li>hosting training sessions</li><li>opening church premises as credit union access points</li><li>encouraging payroll savings schemes among local employers</li><li>helping to set up school savings clubs</li></ul><p> </p><p>Through the Church Credit Champions Network, one of the core initiatives of the Archbishop’s Task Group on Responsible Credit and Savings, the pilot scheme has engaged over 350 churches in London and Liverpool alone and trained more than 260 Credit Champions to date. Other creative diocesan responses include the Murston Community Bank in Canterbury diocese, Lichfield’s Funeral Project, Southwell &amp; Nottingham’s 100x100 scheme are all designed to raise local awareness of credit unions.</p><p> </p><p>The other core initiative, the LifeSavers programme, is working with eight credit unions across the country to set up savings clubs in primary schools, alongside an integrated programme of financial education. Following a successful pilot, the programme is being rolled out to 120 church and non-church primary schools over the next three academic years with financial support from Virgin Money. Additional funding from Government will help extend the coverage to many more primary schools through a dedicated LifeSavers website.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 26/05/2016 15:51:08 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker

444139

	registered interest
	date	12/01/2016
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Churches: South West
	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 grants the Church Commissioners have given to churches in (a) Devon and (b) Cornwall from the Roof Repair Fund in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Torridge and West Devon
	tabling member printed	Mr Geoffrey Cox
	uin	22084
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2016 answer text <p>The Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund grants are distributed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, on behalf of the Government. There has been one round of grants to date, announced in March 2015,</p><p>(a) 22 churches in Devon were offered grants totalling £1,199,700</p><p>(b) 7 churches in Cornwall were offered grants totalling £492,700.</p><p /> <p>A second round to distribute a further £25 million allocated by the Treasury is currently open, with applications closing on Friday, 26 February.</p><br /> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 15/01/2016 09:51:56 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	1508 label Biography information for Sir Geoffrey Cox

532425

	registered interest
	date	04/07/2016
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	World War I: Anniversaries
	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 Church of England has plans for educational projects to commemorate the First World War in addition to existing centenary events.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	41707
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2016 answer text <p>The Church of England has led many of the commemorative events for the First World War at a local and national level. It would not be possible to list all the activities taking place now and in the future to commemorate the sacrifice of those who fought in the First World War, but each diocese and parish is marking the centenary in its own way.</p><p>A number of dioceses have produced their own resources for use in schools, and in children and youth groups (an example from the Diocese of Derby is here: <a href="http://www.derby.anglican.org/en/resources/ww1/educational-resources/educational-resources-1.html" target="_blank">http://www.derby.anglican.org/en/resources/ww1/educational-resources/educational-resources-1.html</a> ). Church schools have made creative use of local and family history stories, and organised visits to battlefields and cemeteries, to bring the experiences of those who fought in the War vividly to life.</p><p>Parishes have also used churches and war memorials to highlight the service and sacrifice of local people in the First World War. Often working alongside the War Memorials Trust, parishes have taken part in the repair, restoration and cleaning of war memorials, with many recording the names and researching the service histories of those commemorated.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 07/07/2016 13:06:51 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

532426

	registered interest
	date	04/07/2016
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Human Trafficking
	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 by the Church of England to tackle human trafficking.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	41718
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/07/2016 answer text <p>In March 2014 the Archbishop of Canterbury, with Pope Francis and other global faith leaders, gave their backing to the Global Freedom Network (<a href="http://www.globalfreedomnetwork.org/" target="_blank">www.globalfreedomnetwork.org</a>), a ground breaking ecumenical initiative to combat modern slavery and human trafficking. The Archbishop is planning an international conference in 2017 with the Ecumenical Patriarch.</p><p> </p><p>The Bishop of Derby has also been at the forefront of work to tackle human trafficking and modern slavery for the Church of England. He has been part of the Santa Martha Process (which looks to improve collaboration between churches and police in the detection of instances of human trafficking) and has developed strategies in his diocese to combat human trafficking and modern slavery.</p><p> </p><p>The Church of England will launch The Clewer Initiative against Modern Day Slavery this autumn. It will provide English dioceses and parishes with strategies for the combating of modern slavery and guidance on how to assist in the provision of victim support and care. The initiative is intended to build on existing capacity and the assistance to dioceses and church networks will be carefully tailored to their specific contexts and needs.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 07/07/2016 13:08:51 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

457721

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2016
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Churches: Repairs and Maintenance
	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 she has made of the potential effect of the proposed changes to the Landfill Communities Fund on the restoration and repair of listed church properties and church buildings.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	29810
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/03/2016 answer text <p>The Church of England has engaged with the recent consultation from the Treasury over the future of the Landfill Communities Fund. Local churches are able to apply to the fund to support restoration, extension and repair projects.</p><p>Local parishes have benefitted from this generosity since its creation in 1996. Over its lifetime the scheme has enabled churches across the country to benefit from an approximate £75 million worth of repairs. As part of its submission the Church of England asked the Treasury to consider reducing the administrative burdens on applicants to the fund.</p><p>The Church has since received assurances that the scheme will continue and we await with interest further detailed announcements from the Treasury regarding the operation of the fund.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 10/03/2016 16:45:34 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

416164

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2015
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Churches: Blackburn
	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 Church of England churches in the Diocese of Blackburn have been subject to metal theft from roofs in each year since 2012; and which such churches were redundant churches.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Mr Mark Hendrick
	uin	8387
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2015 answer text <p>With regards to open churches the number of churches in the Blackburn Diocese which have suffered from metal theft can be found on the chart below. The chart shows the volume of claims have dropped dramatically since 2011 when the Scrap Metal Dealers Act was enforced there are still a small number of persistent gangs operating across the country who continue to damage and vandalise these local community assets. The total number of thefts does not tell the whole story as the cost to the individual parish which has suffered the damage is often considerable to repair, replace and take preventative steps against future thefts.</p><table><tbody><tr><td>Year Claim Made</td><td>2011</td><td>2012</td><td>2013</td><td>2014</td><td><p>Total</p></td></tr><tr><td>Dicoese of Blackburn</td><td>73</td><td>27</td><td>14</td><td>13</td><td>127</td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Churches listed below have registered 50 thefts in the specified period and are the worst effected, in addition to the list below 49 other churches have registered 77 claims in this period.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Listed</strong></p><p> </p><p>1 Lytham St Cuthbert – Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>2 Colne St Bartholomew – Grade1</p><p> </p><p>3 Chorley St George – Grade 11*</p><p> </p><p>4 Chorley St Peter – Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>5 Charnock Richard Christ Church – Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>6 Cockerham St Michael – Grade 11*</p><p> </p><p>7 Hoole St Michael – Grade 11*</p><p> </p><p>8 Bamber Bridge St Saviour – Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>9 Grimsargh St Michael – Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>10 Walton-le-Dale St Leonard – Grade 11*</p><p> </p><p>11 Church Kirk St James – Grade 11*</p><p> </p><p>12 Accrington St John Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>13 Over Kellet St Cuthbert Grade 11*</p><p> </p><p>14 Leyland St James Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>15 Mellor St Mary Grade II</p><p> </p><p>16 Douglas in Parbold Christ Church Grade 11</p><p> </p><p>17 Kirkham St Michael Grade 11*</p><p> </p><p>18 Woodplumpton St Anne – Grade11*</p><p> </p><p>19 Chorley St Laurence – Grade 11 *</p><p> </p><p>20 Bolton le Sands Holy Trinity – Grade11*</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Unlisted</strong></p><p> </p><p>21 Blackburn St Luke with St Philip</p><p> </p><p>22 Layton St Mark</p><p> </p><p>23 Thornton le Fylde Christ Church</p><p> </p><p>24 Fleetwood St Nicholas</p><p>25 Little Thornton St John</p><p>Closed churches are the responsibility for the care and maintenance of a closed church rests with the Diocesan Board of Finance during the time that a use is being sought following closure. There are currently very few closed churches in the Diocese of Blackburn and we are not aware that there has been lead roof theft from any closed church in Blackburn Diocese in the years from 2012. We are aware of one earlier theft of lead from the roof of a former church building in the Great Harwood area of Accrington. This building has since been demolished and the site sold for residential development.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 10/09/2015 13:34:47 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

416766

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2015
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Churches: Blackburn
	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 non-redundant Church of England churches in the Diocese of Blackburn (a) have and (b) do not have food bank collection points.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Mr Mark Hendrick
	uin	8578
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2015 answer text <p><br></p><p>The Diocese of Blackburn works closely with ‘Together Lancashire’, a church-linked social action network run by Church Urban Fund. According to ‘together Lancashire’ there are currently around 36 food banks in the diocese of Blackburn, of which 6 are Trussell Trust foodbanks (Blacburn, Fylde, Ribble Valley, Morecombe Bay, Skelmserdale and Ormskirk). These food banks handed out an estimated 35,000 food parcels in 2014.</p><p><br></p><p>Nearly all these initiatives are church-led (though not necessarily Church of England) projects. A directory and map of food banks in Lancashire (including the unitary authorities of Blackpool and Blackburn &amp; Darwen) is available at: <a href="http://www.cuf.org.uk/node/618257" target="_blank">http://www.cuf.org.uk/node/618257</a></p><p><br></p><p>Separately, a Church in Action survey of Church of England clergy, which was published in January 2015, included a series of questions about church support for food banks. 1,812 church leaders took part in the survey. Of the 39 responses from Blackburn diocese:</p><p><br></p><ul><ul><li><p>31 churches (80%) were involved in some way in supporting a local food bank</p></li><li><p>6 offered church premises for the food bank</p></li><li><p>11 were helping to manage a food bank</p></li><li><p>14 were providing volunteers</p></li><li><p>29 were collecting food</p></li></ul></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 08/09/2015 16:16:51 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

416767

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2015
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Churches: North West
	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 Church of England churches in the Diocese of (a) Blackburn, (b) Manchester, (c) Liverpool and (d) Carlisle were sold in 2014; and how many such churches were sold to (i) other named protestant churches, (ii) named orthodox churches, (iii) other named Christian organisations, (iv) named non-Christian organisations, (v) organisations planning to use them for housing and (vi) organisations planning to use them for other named community uses.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Mr Mark Hendrick
	uin	8994
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2015 answer text <p>From the records held centrally by the Church Commissioners, Closed Churches Division of the four dioceses mentioned only two closed churches were sold in 2014, both in the Diocese of Manchester, Primarily for use for nursery, playschool and other educational purposes, but not to named institutions. <br></p><p> </p><p>Very few Church of England church buildings are closed for regular public worship in any year and where such buildings are closed, the duty placed on the Diocese and the Church Commissioners is to seek a suitable use for the building.</p><p> </p><p>In 2014, in addition to the two closed church buildings mentioned above a further 14 closed Church of England buildings were sold and 3 leased across England: 5 for community purposes; 3 for use as a monument; 5 for residential use; and 4 for worship by other Christian bodies.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Mrs Caroline Spelman question first answered 09/09/2015 15:23:15 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick