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715574

registered interest
date	30/03/2017
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Peterborough
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 she has had with the Diocese of Peterborough on the proposals for alterations to St Botolph's Church in Longthorpe, Peterborough; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Peterborough
tabling member printed	Mr Stewart Jackson
uin	70163
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2017 answer text <p>St Botolph’s in Longthorpe is a 700 year old church. The interior is by no means original, having been altered and changed over the centuries. All parishes that wish to alter their church interiors are required to seek advice and permission from a variety of bodies before a reordering can take place. Parishes undertaking such large scale reordering schemes do not therefore do so lightly. The usual reasons are that the interior no longer serves the needs of the parish and worshiping community. This appears to have been the case at St Botolph’s where members of the congregation need wheelchair access.</p><p>The Church Buildings Council of the Church of England were asked to advise the local Diocesan Advisory Committee in Peterborough when the scheme was initially proposed in 2015 and were supportive of the change. The alterations proposed make reasonable adjustments to the building, which will facilitate the smoother operation of services, funerals and weddings. They will also enable the priest to face the congregation during services, provide wheelchair access and offer a larger children’s area.</p><p>When considering potential alterations, the Church and the Diocesan Consistory Courts must balance the needs of the congregation and parish against any architectural merit the existing furniture or layout may have. When a reordering is done well it often brings with it very positive opportunities for community and congregation to offer new facilities, events and activities, which ultimately bring the Church back to its original purpose to be a space for all in the local community.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 18/04/2017 12:17:27 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1551 label Biography information for Lord Jackson of Peterborough

710473

registered interest
date	13/03/2017
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: Peterborough
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 progress has been made by the Church Commissioners in facilitating new housing and school facilities at (a) Phase 2 Paston Reserve, Peterborough and (b) Norwood, Peterborough; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Peterborough
tabling member printed	Mr Stewart Jackson
uin	67529
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2017 answer text <p>Officers from within the Church Commissioners’ Property Investment and Parliamentary Affairs departments met most recently with the Rt. Hon. Member for Peterborough on 18th January 2017. The Church Commissioners have an agreement in relation to land at Paston which means that they and their collaborators must jointly agree upon the terms of any sale to a third-party. Those collaborators include Taylor Wimpey Developments Ltd, Bedfordia Developments Ltd and Old Road Securities Plc.</p><p>The Church Commissioners continue to actively encourage their partners to conclude the necessary due diligence as soon as possible in order to allow the sale to a third-party house builder to take place. Land for a new primary and secondary school can be released once the land sale to a housebuilder has taken place. Officers of the Church Commissioners remain available to update the Rt. Hon. Member for Peterborough as to the progress of those negotiations at any stage.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 16/03/2017 14:58:43 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1551 label Biography information for Lord Jackson of Peterborough

709285

registered interest
date	08/03/2017
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Cathedrals: Peterborough
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 progress has been made on addressing the financial difficulties at Peterborough Cathedral; and if she will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Peterborough
tabling member printed	Mr Stewart Jackson
uin	67095
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/03/2017 answer text <p>In addition to the answer given on 13 October 2016 to question <a href="https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchurchinparliament.org%2F2016%2F10%2F13%2Fchurch-commissioner-question-peterborough-cathedral%2F&amp;data=01%7C01%7Candrew.brown%40churchofengland.org%7C4f0f3753a86545fcf95b08d467bc9066%7C95e2463b3ab047b49ac1587c77ee84f0%7C0&amp;sdata=b97HMUIkpaSHfbHQjypadEUYk23Q%2F1DHerUyF8wuEmg%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">47672</a>, on 6<sup>th</sup> January 2017 the Bishop of Peterborough issued a visitation charge to the Cathedral Chapter and published his directions to improve governance at the Cathedral. <br>These include:</p><ul><li>A greater degree of accountability for the Chapter</li><li>More involvement of the diocese, especially concerning financial oversight</li><li>The Bishop has the right to attend Chapter meetings, receive meeting minutes and regular financial reporting</li><li>Chapter members will receive increased training to prepare them for their role</li></ul><p>The full charge from the Bishop can be found <a href="http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/userfiles/bishops-charge.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/userfiles/bishops-charge.pdf</a></p><p>One of the Cathedral Chapter's actions to address its financial difficulties has been to implement an orderly and phased property sales programme. Several properties are now under offer which will enable Chapter to reduce its borrowings and associated interest payments imminently.</p><p>A new Cathedral Management Team has been established to direct business activities and the Cathedral also plans to hold more events to raise income.</p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 13/03/2017 17:54:56 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1551 label Biography information for Lord Jackson of Peterborough

707153

registered interest
date	27/02/2017
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 steps the Commissioners are taking to assist urban parishes with capital funding for urgent restorative building work.
tabling member constituency	Peterborough
tabling member printed	Mr Stewart Jackson
uin	909029
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/03/2017 answer text <p>The Church of England highly values the work of the Heritage Lottery Fund in running the Grants for Places of Worship Scheme, a fund which puts £30m a year into UK listed places of worship, of all faiths and denominations. This dedicated scheme takes account of the specific needs of places of worship that are primarily run by volunteers who cannot afford to employ the skills of professional grant-application writers.</p><p> </p><p>The Church has also worked closely with the National Heritage Memorial Fund during the recent Church Roofs Fund scheme that has invested £55m in over 400 places of worship, 300 of which were Anglican churches. This scheme has successfully kept the roof on churches where it was urgently needed in order to keep the building open for its community. This scheme has now ended and we are working with the National Heritage Memorial Fund to evaluate the impact of the scheme across the country.</p><p> </p><p>Given the profound contribution churches make to the social and economic life of the nation it is right that this is recognised in this way, especially as the scheme ensures outcomes from repairs including benefits to local people.</p><p> </p><p>The Church Buildings Council last year awarded just over £600,000 to churches for urgent repairs to buildings and objects including stained glass, sculpture and monuments. This is part of a long-term partnership with the Wolfson Foundation, Pilgrim Trust and Radcliffe Trust. The partnership between Wolfson Foundation, Pilgrim and Radcliffe Trusts has enabled a simple application process and fast response time, making it a relatively small but very valuable resource for struggling parishes. We are actively seeking to secure the future of this fund and increase its grant-giving capacity through the work of our new associated charity, the Anglican Parish Churches Fund.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Meriden answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman question first answered 02/03/2017 12:34:40 answering member 312 label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman
tabling member	1551 label Biography information for Lord Jackson of Peterborough