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1156262
registered interest false more like this
date less than 2019-10-24more like thismore than 2019-10-24
answering body
Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept id 9 more like this
answering dept short name Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept sort name Church Commissioners more like this
hansard heading Churches: Theft more like this
house id 1 remove filter
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
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. more like this
tabling member constituency East Londonderry more like this
tabling member printed
Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
uin 4943 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2019-11-05more like thismore than 2019-11-05
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 more like this
answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman remove filter
question first answered
less than 2019-11-05T15:30:10.933Zmore like thismore than 2019-11-05T15:30:10.933Z
answering member
312
label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman more like this
previous answer version
3752
answering member constituency Meriden more like this
answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman more like this
answering member
312
label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman more like this
tabling member
1409
label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
1140803
registered interest false more like this
date less than 2019-07-22more like thismore than 2019-07-22
answering body
Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept id 9 more like this
answering dept short name Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept sort name Church Commissioners more like this
hansard heading Churches: Grants more like this
house id 1 remove filter
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
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. more like this
tabling member constituency East Londonderry more like this
tabling member printed
Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
uin 280172 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2019-07-25more like thismore than 2019-07-25
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> more like this
answering member constituency Meriden more like this
answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman remove filter
question first answered
less than 2019-07-25T16:24:32.21Zmore like thismore than 2019-07-25T16:24:32.21Z
answering member
312
label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman more like this
tabling member
1409
label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
1139907
registered interest false more like this
date less than 2019-07-17more like thismore than 2019-07-17
answering body
Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept id 9 more like this
answering dept short name Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept sort name Church Commissioners more like this
hansard heading Gambling more like this
house id 1 remove filter
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
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. more like this
tabling member constituency East Londonderry more like this
tabling member printed
Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
uin 278399 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2019-07-22more like thismore than 2019-07-22
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 more like this
answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman remove filter
question first answered
less than 2019-07-22T15:27:50.57Zmore like thismore than 2019-07-22T15:27:50.57Z
answering member
312
label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman more like this
tabling member
1409
label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
1132009
registered interest false more like this
date less than 2019-06-13more like thismore than 2019-06-13
answering body
Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept id 9 more like this
answering dept short name Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept sort name Church Commissioners more like this
hansard heading Church of England more like this
house id 1 remove filter
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
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. more like this
tabling member constituency East Londonderry more like this
tabling member printed
Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
uin 264348 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2019-06-18more like thismore than 2019-06-18
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 more like this
answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman remove filter
question first answered
less than 2019-06-18T14:31:37.797Zmore like thismore than 2019-06-18T14:31:37.797Z
answering member
312
label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman more like this
tabling member
1409
label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
1022861
registered interest false more like this
date less than 2018-12-10more like thisremove minimum value filter
answering body
Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept id 9 more like this
answering dept short name Church Commissioners more like this
answering dept sort name Church Commissioners more like this
hansard heading Christians against Poverty more like this
house id 1 remove filter
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
question text To ask the Right Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of contributions to churches helping run Christians Against Poverty Centres in the 2018-19 financial year. more like this
tabling member constituency East Londonderry more like this
tabling member printed
Mr Gregory Campbell more like this
uin 200571 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2018-12-13more like thismore than 2018-12-13
answer text <p>Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a charity independent of the Church of England. CAP run over 1,000 debt advice centres across the country supporting individuals and families in need. The work of CAP has recently been evaluated by the LSE and its report concluded that the benefit of CAP's work to society was over £31.5million per year, in return for an annual expenditure of £8.7 million.</p><p> </p><p>More information about the report can be found here: <a href="https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcapuk.org%2Fconnect%2Fpolicy-and-government%2Fnever-just-a-number&amp;data=02%7C01%7Csimon.stanley%40churchofengland.org%7C34f7d4a8394741b18ed008d66111b7ea%7C95e2463b3ab047b49ac1587c77ee84f0%7C0%7C0%7C636803126060672730&amp;sdata=v4q25FzDvzbjizPT%2FuhLGbCUyvCLqMSJB5zXx8HFftM%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://capuk.org/connect/policy-and-government/never-just-a-number</a></p><p> </p><p>The parishes of the Church of England often partner with organisations such as Christians Against Poverty to provide a range of services to support their local communities. The Church of England recently surveyed its parishes and discovered that 80% of congregations are involved in one or more forms of social action. Data gathered from 13,000 churches shows that the biggest area of work is in food banks - with 60%, or nearly 8,000 churches - involved in either running or supporting food banks through volunteers, donations and providing venues.</p><p> </p>
answering member constituency Meriden more like this
answering member printed Dame Caroline Spelman remove filter
question first answered
less than 2018-12-13T15:50:17.093Zmore like thismore than 2018-12-13T15:50:17.093Z
answering member
312
label Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman more like this
tabling member
1409
label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell more like this