Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that there is greater public awareness regarding out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In order to increase survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest NHS England has worked in partnership with St John’s Ambulance and others to increase access to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training.
Local ambulance trusts, charities, including St John’s Ambulance and the British Heart Foundation, and private providers deliver CPR training and training on the use of defibrillators both in the community and in schools, under the Restart a Heart programme.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Church of England has made of the effectiveness of the Save the Parish led Consultation at St George’s House entitled ‘Parish Ministry: Addressing the Crisis in Stipendiary Clergy Numbers in the Church of England’.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
We are grateful to all those who seek to support the Church in its service to this nation, including 'Save the Parish' (StP) for their recent consultation and subsequent report. The Lord Bishop of Chester, who chairs the Church’s Ministry Board (MDB), attended the launch of the report.
The issues raised are under active consideration. Many of those raised by Save the Parish are already a focus of specific and ongoing work in the Church (for example, the ‘Called’ campaign, or the review of ordinand support). The Bishop of Chester has asked for ongoing conversation with Save the Parish to clarify some of the suggestions made in the report and remains grateful for their focus in highlighting some key issues.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, What assessment the Church of England has made of the potential impact of assisted dying legalisation on clergy’s cure of souls.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
No formal assessment has been made as the law has not been changed. The General Synod voted in July 2025 in favour of motion which reaffirmed its ongoing opposition to a change in the law, and that called on the Government to work to improve funding and access to desperately needed palliative care services.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she has taken to tackle illegal ‘ghost’ registration plates on motorcars.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to tackling number plate crime. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) works closely with police forces and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to improve the identification and enforcement.
Under its Road Safety Strategy, the Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences. It has consulted on introducing penalty points and vehicle seizure for those in charge of a vehicle displaying an incorrect, altered or false number plate. The consultation closed on 11 May and responses are being considered.
The DVLA is also considering how to make the Register of Number Plate Suppliers more robust and auditable, enabling tighter checks on suppliers and the plates they provide. This includes reviewing the scheme’s fees, structure, resources and funding.
Working with the British Standards Institution, the DVLA has developed targeted amendments to the British Standard for number plates. These would prohibit raised or “ghost” characteristics and require finished plates to be flat, directly addressing the products of greatest concern. Work is under way to bring these changes into law.
The Department has also funded a new National Roads Policing Coordination Centre to help police forces share intelligence, collaborate more effectively and use data and technology to target those using illegal number plates.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to support residential training colleges.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
Each Teological Education Institution (TEI) training clergy for the Church of England is an independent charity. the Church is greatful to them for their ongoing and vital contribution to the shaping and development of future clergy.
Steps taken by the National Church Insitutions over the last three years include:
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, how many residential training colleges have closed since 2000.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
One residential Tehological Education Institution (TEI) training clergy for the Church of England has closed in that period, which was St John's College in Nottingham which closed in 2019.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, What steps the Church of England is taking to increase the number of ordinands.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
The Ministry Development Board chaired by the Lord Bishop of Chester, has launched a national programme, called 'What is your part in God's Story', with targeted resources made available across the Church.
There has been a significant rise in candidates for ordination for each of the last two years, with numbers of ordinantions up by 34% this last Petertide (June).
An improved maintenance package for fulltime ordinands is begining this year and represents a significant extra investment by the Church to improve ordinand wellbeing.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what percentage of parishes formed part of a multi-parish benefice in every year since 2000.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
Data is held centrally for the years 2011 to 2025 only. Obtaining equivalent data for the period 2000 to 2010 would require extensive archival research and incur disproportionate cost.
The table below shows the proportion of parishes forming part of a multi-parish benefice over this period. Multi-parish benefices most commonly consist of two parishes, while a small minority of benefices may consist of more than five parishes
Rural parishes usually have lower residential populations than urban parishes, and rural areas are more likely to have multi-parish benefices and benefices consisting of more than five parishes. This tends to reflect the local communities' desire to maintain historic parish identities and, where possible, keep parish churches open for worship.
Data for 2014 is not available because the creation of the Diocese of Leeds (formerly the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales) on 1 April 2014 which involved substantial parish and diocesan boundary changes throughout the year, making annual figures for that year unavailable on a comparable basis.
| Year | % of parishes in a multi-parish benefice |
| 2025 | 64% |
| 2024 | 64% |
| 2023 | 64% |
| 2022 | 63% |
| 2021 | 63% |
| 2020 | 63% |
| 2019 | 63% |
| 2018 | 63% |
| 2017 | 62% |
| Year | % of parishes in a multi-parish benefice |
| 2016 | 62% |
| 2015 | 61% |
| 2014 | N/A |
| 2013 | 60% |
| 2012 | 59% |
| 2011 | 59% |
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, how much money the Diocese of London has spent on administrative staff in every year since 2000.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
The National Church Institutions are not responsible for the operations of the Diocese of London, which is a separate charitable body. The Hon Member for Romford should direct his question to the Chief Operating Officer of the London Diocesan Fund. Contact details can be found on the diocesan website.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department applied in determining which sports qualified for the exclusion at Autumn Budget 2025 of remote bets on horseracing from the 25% remote rate of General Betting Duty.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
At Budget 2025, the government announced a package of changes to gambling duties which will raise over £1 billion per year to support the public finances.
As part of this package, remote betting will see an increase from 15% to 25% from 1 April 2027. Remote bets on UK horseracing will be excluded from these changes and remain taxed at 15%, as operators already contribute 10% towards the statutory Horserace Betting Levy, resulting in an existing de-factor 25% rate for bets on UK horse races.