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1356827

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Clergy: Suicide
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how many clergy have taken their own lives in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	West Dorset
tabling member printed	Chris Loder
uin	51846
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>Records are not held centrally on the causes of death of clergy. The Church of England provides resources for those experiencing stress and signposts to other resources from charities and organisations able to help. Some more information is available here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/clergy-resources/national-clergy-hr/supporting-clergy-health-and-wellbeing#na" target="_blank">Supporting clergy health and wellbeing | The Church of England</a> As chief pastors in their dioceses, diocesan bishops ensure pastoral care is available to clergy and is provided when needed. <br> <br>The Church of England is committed to supporting those individuals and organisations working to help those at risk of self-harm and suicide. At a parish level many clergy play a key role themselves in providing counselling, comfort and support to those at risk. All suicides are tragedies, and whilst causes will vary, the death of any member of the clergy through suicide will be a matter of profound concern and deep sadness for all in the church, their community and all who have a responsibility for their pastoral care.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 23/09/2021 16:34:56 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4751 label Biography information for Chris Loder

1355281

registered interest
date	14/09/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Marriage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, if the Commissioners will make representations to Church leaders on allowing people to marry in any church of their choosing.
tabling member constituency	Hendon
tabling member printed	Dr Matthew Offord
uin	49099
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2021 answer text <p>Since 2008 a couple can marry in a Church of England church of any parish where either of them resides or is on the church electoral roll, or any parish where either was baptised, prepared for confirmation, or had formerly lived or worshipped. They also qualify if the parents of either of them have lived in the parish of that church, or have worshipped there, or the parents or grandparents of either of them were married there. <br> <br>Being married in a church not only reflects the faith commitment of the couple but their connection to the communities to which they are linked, whether through present circumstances or family histories. This policy of ‘qualifying connections’ allows couples great flexibility in choosing their wedding venues while also maintaining those important community links. <br> <br>There are many positive effects of attending a church in order to get married there and the website yourchurchwedding.org encourages couples to ‘just ask’ to find out how they can get married in church.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 16/09/2021 16:22:55 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4006 label Biography information for Dr Matthew Offord

1355160

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Bishops
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the Catholic Relief Act 1829, what assessment the Commissioners have made of the Prime Minister's ability to advise the Sovereign on the appointment of Anglican Bishops.
tabling member constituency	Walsall South
tabling member printed	Valerie Vaz
uin	48216
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2021 answer text <p><del class="ministerial">The Church Commissioners have not made any such assessment. </del><ins class="ministerial">The application of the Catholic Relief Act 1829 to the Sovereign’s advisers is a matter for the Government, not for the Church Commissioners.</ins></p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 16/09/2021 16:24:45 question first ministerially corrected 20/09/2021 14:24:30 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous previous answer version 21997 answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4076 label Biography information for Valerie Vaz

1355161

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Bishops
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Commissioners have made of the potential merits of repealing legislation which prevents a Prime Minister who is a Catholic from advising the Sovereign on appointing Anglican Bishops.
tabling member constituency	Walsall South
tabling member printed	Valerie Vaz
uin	48217
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/09/2021 answer text <p>The Church Commissioners have not made any such assessment.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 16/09/2021 16:32:48 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4076 label Biography information for Valerie Vaz

1354305

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Repairs and Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what most recent financial estimates the Church of England holds on the outstanding cost of fabric repairs to its parish churches.
tabling member constituency	Rother Valley
tabling member printed	Alexander Stafford
uin	45956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2021 answer text <p>Fluctuating material costs and the availability of specialist workers affect cost estimates significantly, so it is difficult to give a precise figure.</p><p>It is estimated, based on available architectural inspections and costed works, that the outstanding capital cost of all repairs over the next five years is close to £1bn for our 16,000 parish churches, or around £200m a year.</p><p>At best parishes currently raise and spend approximately half of that annually, so there remains a significant and growing maintenance deficit on these beautiful and treasured buildings.</p><p>England’s Anglican cathedrals were surveyed in 2019 to establish their repair and maintenance liabilities and from that it is estimated that these 42 buildings require £140m in the next five years in maintenance and repair. This estimate does not include precinct properties.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 13/09/2021 17:08:29 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4866 label Biography information for Alexander Stafford

1354306

registered interest
date	09/09/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Repairs and Maintenance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how much the Church of England spent on the maintenance and repair of its parish churches in the financial year 2019-20.
tabling member constituency	Rother Valley
tabling member printed	Alexander Stafford
uin	45957
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/09/2021 answer text <p>A comprehensive record of maintenance and repair spend is not held centrally, as all parishes operate as independent entities. However it is estimated that parish communities spent at least £130m a year pre-pandemic on church building projects, including repair and maintenance, conservation of collections such as manuscripts, silver and textiles, improvements to accessibility and environmental sustainability, and inclusion of community facilities such as toilets and kitchens. Specialist building firms, craftspeople, archaeologists, conservators and others rely on churches to provide them with work and a training ground for passing their skills on to apprentices and trainees.</p><p>The vast majority of this money is raised locally and we are grateful to national bodies such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Churches Trust, Wolfson Foundation and Pilgrim Trust, who continue to provide essential grants. The overall maintenance deficit continues to grow since the ending of the dedicated places of worship repair scheme in 2017.</p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 13/09/2021 17:14:39 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4866 label Biography information for Alexander Stafford

1345803

registered interest
date	12/07/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Housing and Public Buildings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, with reference to the article by the Revd Marcus Walker, Rector of the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, London, entitled, Is this the last chance to save the Church of England, published in the Spectator on 10 July 2021, what assessment the Church has made of the implications for its policies of the (a) findings of Revd Walker and (b) potential merits of proposals to create 10,000 new lay-led churches in the next 10 years in private homes and public halls.
tabling member constituency	Lichfield
tabling member printed	Michael Fabricant
uin	31286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/07/2021 answer text <p>The Reverend Dave Male, Director of Evangelism and Discipleship for the Church of England, addressed the inaccuracies in The Spectator and subsequent articles, in a statement issued on 8th July: “I am very aware that some recent commentary in media and social media purporting to set out the future direction of Church of England has caused real anxiety, hurt and pain to many. Some of this has been based on a fundamental confusion between the Church of England’s own emerging Vision and Strategy for the 2020s and beyond, which we will be discussing at the upcoming meeting of General Synod, and a separate initiative called Myriad to create 10,000 new lay-led churches - which is not a national Church of England project. It has been claimed in some places that there is a plan to dissolve the parish system, sideline or even replace trained clergy, especially paid clergy, or to get rid of our beautiful, historic church buildings. So I want to make it abundantly clear that the Church of England is committed, now as always, to the ministry of the whole people of God including to ordained ministry in our parishes.” The full statement can be read here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/news-releases/clergy-and-parishes-heart-church-england-now-and-future" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/news-releases/clergy-and-parishes-heart-church-england-now-and-future</a></p><p>In his presidential address and in the subsequent debate on Vision and Strategy at the July General Synod, the Archbishop of York said that the Church needed more, not fewer vocations to ordination and that the limiting factor was the lack of vocations, not the valuable work of serving clergy across the country, of all forms of ministry.</p><p>The Archbishop of York’s presidential address can be read at <a href="https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-news/presidential-address-general-synod-july-2021" target="_blank">https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-news/presidential-address-general-synod-july-2021</a> and his presentation on the Vision and Strategy is here: <a href="https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-news/vision-and-strategy-address-general-synod-july-2021" target="_blank">https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-news/vision-and-strategy-address-general-synod-july-2021</a></p><p>More information about Vision and Strategy itself can be found here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-and-governance/emerging-church-england/vision-church-england-2020s" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-and-governance/emerging-church-england/vision-church-england-2020s</a></p><p>Parishes remain at the heart of the Church of England's mission and ministry to the nation and the Church is delighted that growing numbers of people are answering the call to the priesthood. This year 591 clergy have committed themselves to ordained ministry within the Church, the largest number in over thirteen years. More information about vocations can be found here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/news-releases/recommendations-stipendiary-ordained-ministry-training-highest" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/news-releases/recommendations-stipendiary-ordained-ministry-training-highest</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 15/07/2021 13:51:13 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	280 label Biography information for Michael Fabricant

1345285

registered interest
date	08/07/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Singing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what provisions will be put in place for people who remain concerned about covid-19 infection as singing is reintroduced in churches.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	29844
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2021 answer text <p>The National Church Institutions as part of the DCMS and MHCLG Places of worship Task Force has produced fresh guidance for Parishes to help navigate the current situation. It reflects Government guidance as we move to step 4 of their roadmap as well as that from public health bodies and will continue to be updated as that evolves.</p><p>The guidance provided by the National Church Institutions it is hoped will inform local clergy and PCC’s in their decision-making. The circumstances in each parish may differ due to space, age and heath demographic, ability to ventilate the building or a variety of other concerns.</p><p>The full guidance can is available here: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance</a></p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 20/07/2021 12:27:15 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous previous answer version 13458 answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1344346

registered interest
date	06/07/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
hansard heading	Churches: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Church Commissioners have made of (a) the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on church parishes and (b) the support that dioceses will require to (i) recover and (ii) ease the legal and administrative burdens experienced by those parishes as a result of that outbreak.
tabling member constituency	North Devon
tabling member printed	Selaine Saxby
uin	28370
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2021 answer text <p>The Commissioners, in partnership with the Archbishops’ Council, provided £75m of immediate liquidity support and established a £35m Diocesan Sustainability Fund programme, plus a £20m Cathedral Sustainability Fund, following the decline in churches’ and cathedrals’ income from donations and visitors during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.</p><p>The Legislative Reform Committee of the General Synod and the Church Commissioners are consulting on simplifying legal and administrative burdens experienced by parishes. A review of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 is currently underway, and a green paper has been published, which will be debated at the General Synod at its July meeting. The green paper forms the basis of a consultation with dioceses, parishes and other stakeholders. The consultation will remain open until 15 September 2021. <br> <br> The Church Commissioners would welcome the views of all Members and their constituents on the questions set out in the paper, and I am placing a copy in the Library of the House of Commons for reference.</p><p>The Green Paper and supporting material are also available on the consultation website at: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/parish-reorganisation-and-church-property/review-mission-and-pastoral-measure-2011" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/parish-reorganisation-and-church-property/review-mission-and-pastoral-measure-2011</a></p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 08/07/2021 15:04:11 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4863 label Biography information for Selaine Saxby

1342247

registered interest
date	30/06/2021
answering body	Church Commissioners
answering dept id	9
answering dept short name	Church Commissioners
answering dept sort name	Church Commissioners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church has taken to support the covid-19 vaccination programme.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	24966
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2021 answer text <p>Support for the vaccine programme has been provided at the local and regional levels by clergy engaging pastorally in their communities, and the use of cathedrals and larger churches as vaccination centres. As part of the NHS-backed #GiveHope campaign, bishops and church leaders joined together in sharing video messages encouraging communities to seek accurate information on vaccines, hold local conversations, and to encourage one another to take up offers of vaccines: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/news-and-media/news-and-statements/bishops-and-church-leaders-target-covid-vaccination" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/news-and-media/news-and-statements/bishops-and-church-leaders-target-covid-vaccination</a></p><p>The Church has also been supporting VaccinAid, to encourage those who have been vaccinated to donate to enable other people around the world to have access to vaccines: <a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/news-and-media/news-releases/church-england-backs-vaccinaid-campaign-give-world-shot-help-defeat" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/news-and-media/news-releases/church-england-backs-vaccinaid-campaign-give-world-shot-help-defeat</a></p> answering member constituency South West Bedfordshire answering member printed Andrew Selous question first answered 08/07/2021 13:35:53 answering member 1453 label Biography information for Andrew Selous
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon