Increasing diversity among the clergy is a priority for the Church of England. Nationally the Church has set a target that it will increase the overall number of people recommended for training by 50% over a five-year period. The Church is well on the way to deliver this and has already seen a 22% increase in those entering training since 2016. The Ministry Division of the Archbishops\u2019 Council has developed programmes to support those who are being called to the priesthood from as wide a range of communities and backgrounds as possible. Members of the Crown Nominations Commission who are involved in the recruitment and discernment process for the most senior appointments also undergo unconscious bias training.<\/p>
During 2018 the Church recommended 316 women for training, which was 54% of the total. This represents the highest proportion of women entering training that the Church has seen in the last ten years.<\/p>
The most recent data from 2017 shows that around 6% of those entering training self-identify as being from a minority ethnic background. The Church responded by recruiting a National ME Vocations Officer to address this underrepresentation of minority ethnic clergy and through the \u201cTurning up the Volume\u201d programme is supporting future senior leaders. The Ordained Vocations Mentor Directory was also created to help support those at any stage on the journey towards ordained vocations who would like a mentor.<\/p>
The Church of England does not record or keep data on the sexual orientation of candidates.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/312", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Meriden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dame Caroline Spelman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-10-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/964564/answer/previousversion/77537", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/312", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Meriden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dame Caroline Spelman"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-10-15T15:24:42.397Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "9"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-09-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Churches: Equality"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps are being taken to promote greater diversity by (a) gender (b) ethnicity and (c) sexual orientation in leadership positions within the Church.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4264", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen Doughty"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Cardiff South and Penarth"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen Doughty"} ], "uin" : "169369"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/984597", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/984597/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Lease renewals within the Close at Salisbury are a matter for the Chapter of Salisbury Cathedral and the Church Commissioners do not therefore have a policy on this matter. The Chapter at Salisbury Cathedral sought the Church Commissioners consent under the Cathedrals Measure 1999 for a proposal to be offered to qualifying tenants. The Church Commissioners acknowledge that the Dean and Chapter have undertaken all due diligence in respect of this proposal but were unable to approve it without a quantified assessment of its impact on the Cathedral\u2019s mission. Since that date the Third Estates Commissioner has met with the Dean and representatives of Chapter in September and has written to the Chapter recognising the difficulties in making this assessment.<\/p>
Following these discussions, we understand that the Chapter at Salisbury is intending to review the matter.<\/p>
"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/312", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Meriden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dame Caroline Spelman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-10-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-10-15T13:24:51.73Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "9"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-10-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Cathedrals: Salisbury"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what the policy of the Commissioners is on renewal of leaseholds within the precincts of Salisbury Cathedral; and if she will make a statement.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/55", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "New Forest West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Sir Desmond Swayne"} ], "uin" : "177148"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"} }