With regards to open churches the number of churches in the Blackburn Diocese which have suffered from metal theft can be found on the chart below. The chart shows the volume of claims have dropped dramatically since 2011 when the Scrap Metal Dealers Act was enforced there are still a small number of persistent gangs operating across the country who continue to damage and vandalise these local community assets. The total number of thefts does not tell the whole story as the cost to the individual parish which has suffered the damage is often considerable to repair, replace and take preventative steps against future thefts.<\/p>
| Year Claim Made<\/td> | 2011<\/td> | 2012<\/td> | 2013<\/td> | 2014<\/td> | Total<\/p><\/td><\/tr> |
| Dicoese of Blackburn<\/td> | 73<\/td> | 27<\/td> | 14<\/td> | 13<\/td> | 127<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> The Churches listed below have registered 50 thefts in the specified period and are the worst effected, in addition to the list below 49 other churches have registered 77 claims in this period.<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> Listed<\/strong><\/p> <\/p> 1 Lytham St Cuthbert \u2013 Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 2 Colne St Bartholomew \u2013 Grade1<\/p> <\/p> 3 Chorley St George \u2013 Grade 11*<\/p> <\/p> 4 Chorley St Peter \u2013 Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 5 Charnock Richard Christ Church \u2013 Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 6 Cockerham St Michael \u2013 Grade 11*<\/p> <\/p> 7 Hoole St Michael \u2013 Grade 11*<\/p> <\/p> 8 Bamber Bridge St Saviour \u2013 Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 9 Grimsargh St Michael \u2013 Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 10 Walton-le-Dale St Leonard \u2013 Grade 11*<\/p> <\/p> 11 Church Kirk St James \u2013 Grade 11*<\/p> <\/p> 12 Accrington St John Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 13 Over Kellet St Cuthbert Grade 11*<\/p> <\/p> 14 Leyland St James Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 15 Mellor St Mary Grade II<\/p> <\/p> 16 Douglas in Parbold Christ Church Grade 11<\/p> <\/p> 17 Kirkham St Michael Grade 11*<\/p> <\/p> 18 Woodplumpton St Anne \u2013 Grade11*<\/p> <\/p> 19 Chorley St Laurence \u2013 Grade 11 *<\/p> <\/p> 20 Bolton le Sands Holy Trinity \u2013 Grade11*<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> Unlisted<\/strong><\/p> <\/p> 21 Blackburn St Luke with St Philip<\/p> <\/p> 22 Layton St Mark<\/p> <\/p> 23 Thornton le Fylde Christ Church<\/p> <\/p> 24 Fleetwood St Nicholas<\/p> 25 Little Thornton St John<\/p> Closed churches are the responsibility for the care and maintenance of a closed church rests with the Diocesan Board of Finance during the time that a use is being sought following closure. There are currently very few closed churches in the Diocese of Blackburn and we are not aware that there has been lead roof theft from any closed church in Blackburn Diocese in the years from 2012. We are aware of one earlier theft of lead from the roof of a former church building in the Great Harwood area of Accrington. This building has since been demolished and the site sold for residential development.<\/p> <\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/312", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Caroline Spelman"}
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, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Meriden"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mrs Caroline Spelman"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-09-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-09-10T13:34:47.3Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
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, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Church Commissioners"}
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, "date" : {"_value" : "2015-09-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Churches: Blackburn"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, which Church of England churches in the Diocese of Blackburn have been subject to metal theft from roofs in each year since 2012; and which such churches were redundant churches.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
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, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Preston"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Mark Hendrick"}
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