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917122

	registered interest
	date	04/06/2018
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Jeremy Pemberton
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, how much the Church of England spent on the employment tribunal involving Jeremy Pemberton; and if she will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	149586
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2018 answer text <p><em><em>It is not the practice of the Church Commissioners to disclose expenditure on the costs of legal proceedings of this kind (they are not required to do so under s.5 Episcopal Endowments and Stipends Measure 1943). The Church Commissioners have decided not to pursue the claimant for the costs they incurred as a result of his unsuccessful tribunal and subsequent appeals.</em></em></p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 06/06/2018 15:11:40 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

748475

	registered interest
	date	05/07/2017
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Churches: Camping Sites
	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 discussions the Commissioners have had with Church of England representatives on expanding the availability of champing in England's churches.
	tabling member constituency	Hendon
	tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
	uin	3276
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2017 answer text <p><strong>‘</strong>Champing’, or overnight camping in a church, is a new form of holiday pioneered by the Churches Conservation Trust. It currently uses only closed churches, 12 of which across the UK are available for visitors to stay the night in, between April and September. The Church of England is however working in partnership with the Churches Conservation Trust to bring the Champing model into operation for open churches, to offer high end accommodation that enables congregations to generate income, whilst also maintaining space for worship and community use.</p><p>The Church of England has developed a model for a high quality and revisable timber structure, which can be placed in open churches to provide a lettable insulated space, which in turn can generate income needed to maintain the building, thereby releasing money for mission. Designed to support rural parishes this model is being piloted in the Diocese of Hereford thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and AllChurches Trust. More information is at: <a href="https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.champing.co.uk%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7Ccaroline.spelman.mp%40parliament.uk%7Cce2d399c7fb44acf61a608d4c786a2c4%7C1ce6dd9eb3374088be5e8dbbec04b34a%7C0%7C0%7C636352828440490556&amp;sdata=EC71jPHUwRiZbms%2BjBeKwn65m7w1hBPppp3zl%2FUTJkU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">http://www.champing.co.uk/</a></p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 10/07/2017 11:38:57 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

658430

	registered interest
	date	14/12/2016
	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, (a) what steps the Diocese of Blackburn has taken to work with Caring for God's Acre to map flora and fauna on its Estate, (b) which churches in the Diocese of Blackburn have recorded flora and fauna in churchyards, (c) what notable finds of flora and fauna have been recorded and (d) what plans the Diocese of Blackburn has to take part in the Cherishing Churchyards Week from 3 June to 11 June 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Mr Mark Hendrick
	uin	57603
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2017 answer text <p>A) The Blackburn Diocese Environment Group are currently in the process of deciding what the future role of the Diocesan Environmental Project Officer will look like. The Diocese of Blackburn has discussed working with ‘Caring for God’s Acre’ and with the current limited resources, the Diocesan Environment Group hopes to undertake a ‘Living Churchyards’ scheme. They are currently exploring the potential of partnership with the local Wildlife Trust and any project will need funding or sponsorship to get underway. The Diocese of Blackburn is fully committed to supporting enquiries into parish energy consumption and to the international ‘Just Water’ campaign.</p><p>B &amp; C) The Diocese does not hold central records of which Churches have recorded notable flora and fauna in their churchyards, this is more likely to be held locally within parishes, the local Wildlife Trusts and Natural England. If funding can be found for the ‘Living Churchyards’ project a more strategic plan can be produced.</p><p>D) The Blackburn Diocese Environment Group plans to encourage individual parishes that have the capacity to participate in Cherishing Churchyards 2017, and hopes to take a more coordinated approach in 2018. Across the Blackburn Diocese work is often undertaken in partnership and so the Diocese would want any project to also involve the land of other faith communities.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 10/01/2017 14:17:32 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

999689

	registered interest
	date	01/11/2018
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Clergy: Carers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Right Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, how women in ministry are being supported with eldercare and parental care.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	187075
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2018 answer text <p>All ministers on common tenure – whether women or men - have the right to request time off work or adjustments to be made to the duties of their office in order to care for a dependant. As clergy office holders do not have defined hours of work, they already have greater flexibility than most employees over how they carry out their duties, which can often enable them to carry out their duties whilst caring for dependants without the need to request time off or adjustments.</p><p>As office holders, clergy are responsible for arranging their own cover while they are absent for any reason, (although the area dean or a member of the Bishop’s staff may assist clergy to arrange such cover where necessary). Support for caring for dependants and assistance with cover is not provided for centrally, as arrangements for this are best made locally – whether within the parish, or arranged with the assistance of the area dean or archdeacon. The Church Commissioners do not, therefore, have details of the level of support provided locally.</p><p>Women clergy are also supported at diocesan level by Deans of Women’s Ministry whose role is to promote the full inclusion of women in their diocese at every level of church life. As well as supporting female clergy with caring responsibilities, they are advocates for the ministry of women clergy in the diocese, listen to ordained women, identify the gifts, skills and potential among women clergy, and encourage these to be developed, used and fulfilled.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 05/11/2018 16:54:58 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

827259

	registered interest
	date	22/01/2018
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Fracking
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Rt. Hon. Member for Meriden representing the Church Commissioners what the policy of the Church of England is on fracking on land owned by the Church of England.
	tabling member constituency	West Lancashire
	tabling member printed	Rosie Cooper
	uin	123905
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2018 answer text <p>All oil and gas deposits in the UK are owned by the Crown. There are no plans for the Church Commissioners to use its land or mineral rights for the purpose of fracking.</p><p>As a policy, The Church Commissioners do not seek applications for seismic drilling/exploration and fracking. Allowing seismic testing/exploratory drilling does not imply approval of fracking, litigation risks arise for landowners should they wish to oppose a request to carry out geophysical surveys on their land. The Church Commissioners seek to minimise this risk.</p><p>The Church Commissioners are responsible landowners and landlords and we seek to protect both our interests and those of our tenants. The Church does not have an official position on fracking and recognises it’s a controversial and evolving issue and people within the church hold a range of views. The Church of England issued a Briefing Paper on Shale Gas and Fracking in December 2016 which can be found here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/shale-gas-and-fracking.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/shale-gas-and-fracking.pdf </a><br></p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 25/01/2018 09:28:11 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	1538 label Biography information for Rosie Cooper

1063842

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2019
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Christianity: Oppression
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Right Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what humanitarian support the Church of England provides to people overseas that are persecuted for their Christian beliefs.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	222847
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2019 answer text <p>Anglican mission agencies work with and alongside Churches and partners across the Anglican Communion as they live out God’s mission in often hostile environments. This work is complemented by the web of diocesan companion links that twin Church of England dioceses with other parts of the Communion. These relationships are valuable instruments by which the Church of England provides practical support to those that are facing restriction and hostility as a result of their faith.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 21/02/2019 11:37:35 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

795294

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2017
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Christianity
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Honourable Member for Meridan, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to support Christians in the UK who face difficulties in following their faith in the (a) workplace and the (b) public forum.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	115715
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2017 answer text <p>At its July 2012 session the General Synod of the Church of England passed the following motion:</p><p>“That this Synod express its conviction that it is the calling of Christians to order and govern our lives in accordance with the teaching of Holy Scripture, and to manifest our faith in public life as well as in private, giving expression to our beliefs in the written and spoken word, and in practical acts of service to the local community and to the nation.‟</p><p>Bishops of the Church of England frequently speak about the need to ensure freedom of expression for Christians and for those of other faiths and none in the public square. In their joint letter before the last General Election, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York wrote:</p><p>“Contemporary politics needs to re-evaluate the importance of religious belief. The assumptions of secularism are not a reliable guide to the way the world works, nor will they enable us to understand the place of faith in other people’s lives. Parishes and Chaplaincies of the Church of England serve people of all faiths and none. Their contribution and that of other denominations and faiths to the well-being of the nation is immense – schools, food banks, social support, childcare among many others – and is freely offered. But the role of faith in society is not just measured in terms of service delivery...The new Parliament, if it is to take religious freedom seriously, must treat as an essential task the improvement of religious literacy.”</p><p>The full text can be read here: <a href="https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchurchinparliament.org%2F2017%2F05%2F09%2Fgeneral-election-2017-archbishops-issue-election-letter%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7Ccaroline.spelman.mp%40parliament.uk%7Cf043429f8fd9451b370408d537460623%7C1ce6dd9eb3374088be5e8dbbec04b34a%7C0%7C0%7C636475696241825720&amp;sdata=OroVW92iBPZ0GqneZSZfTddQsmJ1FDDGslmLN1EJQnY%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://churchinparliament.org/2017/05/09/general-election-2017-archbishops-issue-election-letter/</a></p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 29/11/2017 16:39:44 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

722426

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2017
	answering body	Church Commissioners
	answering dept id	9
	answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
	answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
	hansard heading	Homelessness
	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 support local projects tackling homelessness.
	tabling member constituency	Torbay
	tabling member printed	Kevin Foster
	uin	71313
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2017 answer text <p>At parish and diocesan level the Church is closely involved in providing support to homeless people through night shelters and other activities, and raising funds and awareness. Recently in the House of Lords bishops supported the Homelessness Reduction Bill.</p><p>In the Torbay area the Vicar on the Streets initiative undertaken by Revd Gary Deighton of St George's Church, Goodrington, and the Winter Night Shelter run by local churches have both made a real difference to the issues of homelessness. The clergy and parishioners of Goodrington and Torbay have raised nearly five thousand pounds over the period of Lent to support the Shekinah Mission, which works across Devon to provide a safe space for people to develop their skills, regain their self-worth and go on to live independent and fulfilling lives.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 24/04/2017 10:03:04 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster

765193

	registered interest
	date	06/10/2017
	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: LGBT People
	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 has taken as a result of the Anglican Primates' statement of January 2016 on homophobic prejudice and violence and the rejection of criminal sanctions against same-sex attracted people.
	tabling member constituency	Exeter
	tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
	uin	105619
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/10/2017 answer text <p>At their meeting in Canterbury in October 2017 the Anglican Primates reaffirmed their commitment to the statement made in 2016, specifically the Communion’s sorrow for previous failures to support LGBTI people and its condemnation of homophobic prejudice and violence. The full statement can be read here: <a href="http://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/311326/communiqu%C3%A9-primates-meeting-2017.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/311326/communiqu%C3%A9-primates-meeting-2017.pdf</a> <br>The Primates also welcomed news that the Church of England has embarked on a major study of the cultural, scientific, scriptural and theological aspects of human sexuality.</p><p> </p><p>In 2014 the Church started working closely with a variety of external organisations to develop a resource for its schools called ‘Valuing all God’s Children’, to combat homophobic bullying. The Education Division of the Church of England is currently updating this resource to include support for Trans and Bi students. The updated version of ‘Valuing All God’s Children’ should be published later this year. At the July General Synod a motion was passed calling for a ban on the practice of Conversion Therapy aimed at altering sexual orientation.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 10/10/2017 16:05:49 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

748474

	registered interest
	date	05/07/2017
	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 Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Commissioners have had with Church of England representatives on encouraging clergy to install bat boxes to provide alternative accommodation for these mammals.
	tabling member constituency	Hendon
	tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
	uin	3275
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2017 answer text <p>Bat roosting remains a significant and costly issue for around 100 churches, where large roosts mean constant cleaning, damage to significant artefacts and delays to repair work, all of which reduce the use of the building by the congregation and community. Our experience is that bat boxes are not always the best solution, since there is no guarantee that the bats will use them.</p><p>The Church of England has recently secured Heritage Lottery funding as part of a partnership led by Natural England for a project to mitigate the impact of bats in churches. This work will include looking at ways that bats can be moved to more suitable locations when the roost has an adverse effect on the congregation. More details of the project can be found at: <a href="https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.batsandchurches.org.uk%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7Ccaroline.spelman.mp%40parliament.uk%7Cce2d399c7fb44acf61a608d4c786a2c4%7C1ce6dd9eb3374088be5e8dbbec04b34a%7C0%7C0%7C636352828440490556&amp;sdata=nB8DRan2yfmUY2JOhTRkJHRuAKwISw7xGnNjYiRZ%2Fi4%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">http://www.batsandchurches.org.uk/</a></p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 10/07/2017 11:38:20 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
	tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord