The Equality Act 2010 contains provisions that allow religious organisations to apply a limited range of religious occupational requirements to comply with the doctrines of the religion or to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious beliefs of a significant number of the religion\u2019s followers. The ability to apply religious occupational requirements arises where the employment is \u201cfor the purposes of an organised religion\u201d and is not specific to the Church of England.<\/p>
The Church of England has regular discussions with other religious and faith bodies, with HM Government, and with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on matters of mutual interest. From time to time these will include reflections on the importance for religious freedom of the provisions that protect faith and belief in the Equality Act.<\/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" : "2019-07-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1138979/answer/previousversion/129637", "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" : "2019-07-18T10:47:39.463Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "9"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-15", "_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 discussions the (a) Church of England and (b) Church in Wales have had with (i) other religious and faith bodies, (ii) the Government and (iii) the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the exemption of those bodies from equality legislation for appointments and provision of services.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4623", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tonia Antoniazzi"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gower"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Tonia Antoniazzi"} ], "uin" : "277265"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/964564", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/964564/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
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"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }