The Education Office of the Church of England is in regular dialogue with the Department for Education and is a member of the \u2018Faith Providers\u2019 group, which meets frequently with the Department to discuss a range of issues connected with schools of a religious character. One of the issues that the Office has raised in those discussions is the concern that Religious Education is not included within the EBacc.<\/p>
The Education Office has also submitted written and oral evidence to the Commission on Religious Education and, following the publication of its interim report, has discussed its findings with the Commissioners. The Education Office is part of a programme run by the Theos Think Tank, bringing together leading players in RE with officials from the Department for Education and also the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss a range of issues including RE.<\/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" : "2018-01-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-01-25T16:35:23.453Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "9"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-01-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Religion: Education"} , "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 Church of England has had with the Department for Education on ensuring that religious studies remains a priority in schools.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3987", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rehman Chishti"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gillingham and Rainham"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Rehman Chishti"} ], "uin" : "903525"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/827259", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Church Commissioners"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/827259/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
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>
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>
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\u2019s 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: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/shale-gas-and-fracking.pdf <\/a>
<\/p>"}
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