Draft Grants to the Churches Conservation Trust Order 2022

Chris Elmore Excerpts

Wednesday 9th March 2022 General Committees

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Elliott. I thank the Minister for his introduction to the draft statutory instrument. I am pleased to be able to respond on behalf of the Opposition. This is a broadly non-contentious order, which we do not intend to oppose. The order makes provision for a three-year statutory funding settlement, which will allow the Churches Conservation Trust to continue to care for and maintain its stock of 356 historic church buildings in England—a number that will almost certainly continue to rise. The CCT has indicated that it is pleased with the settlement. It does not amount to a real-terms cut, and it is right that the Government continue to fund its work, which is so important for our heritage.

In turn, through careful management, the trust is able to more than double the statutory funding it receives. That is good news for communities with disused church buildings. Instead of falling into disrepair or ruin, the trust ensures that those buildings, and all the architecture, archaeology and art they house, are kept open and in use by people of all faiths and none. The buildings under the CCT’s care attract almost 2 million visitors a year. They are widely enjoyed as cultural, social, tourism and educational resources, as well as being able to be used for occasional worship. As the Minister mentioned, the CCT even introduced the concept of champing to the world. We are satisfied that the funding laid out in the order will help it to continue all that great work.

I have a couple of questions for the Minister, because there is a broader context to the order, as he mentioned. There is a strong trend in the decline of parish church use in the UK, as across western Europe and America. The pandemic has accelerated the existing trend of declining congregation numbers, already driven by an ageing religious population and an increasingly secular society. There are real financial pressures on churches for their building maintenance. The Church Commissioners’ review paper of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 from last year, which included figures from a diocesan survey, suggested that up to 368 church buildings could be at risk of closure over the next five years. That will undoubtedly affect the number of churches that come under the care of the CCT, a number that, as I mentioned earlier, will continue to rise. What thought has the Minister given to the future needs of the trust, in terms of statutory funding? Will he stand ready to keep the figure under review if its work grows?

The Church Commissioners plan to bring forward a White Paper with proposals for legislative change from their review to the July 2022 session of General Synod. Any changes, if implemented, will have bearings on parish governance, pastoral reforms, financial models and the future of church buildings. What initial thought has the Minister given to how that might affect the CCT’s work? How do the Government plan to engage with the review and the wider debate on the future of parish churches? This is a specific and focused order which we do not oppose, but the wider context raises some important questions and I look forward to hearing from the Minister.