Question

To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what were the dates of any determinations made by the Church Commissioners in accordance with its duty under section 2(1) of the National Institutions Measure 1998 during the last ten years; what were the amounts of income determined on each occasion, what were the periods applicable to each determination, what were the amounts of income distributed to the Archbishops' Council during each period in accordance with this duty and what steps were taken to ensure that these income distributions were and are being applied in accordance with the statutory restriction at section 2(3) of that Measure.

Answered by Marsha De Cordova

The determinations of the Church Commissioners distributions are made in General Meetings. The dates of the relevant meetings are set out in the table below.

The allocation of funds available for distribution is made in a ‘money available resolution’ which is included in the Church Commissioners’ statutory annual report and accounts for each year. Copies of the annual report and supporting documents, which include the details of the total grant made to the Archbishops’ Council, are available in the UK Parliament Library and on the Church of England and Charity Commission websites

An analysis of the legal powers under which grants to the Archbishops’ Council were made up to the end of 2023 were provided in previous answers issued to the Hon Member for East Wiltshire, specifically written questions UIN 52344 and UIN 19811. Figures for 2024 and 2025 can be found in the annual certificates provided to the Church Commissioners by the Council which are available on the home page of the Archbishops’ Council’s website: 2024-certificate-signed.pdf and ^{AC(26)46_A6 2025 certificate signed.pdf}

Recent money available resolutions have analysed the planned expenditure into four categories: historical, transformational time-limited, core in-perpetuity distributions and strategic on-going additional distributions. The supporting papers prepared to aid the charity trustees in their decision making provides additional detail of how the funds are planned to be distributed across a range of expenditure categories all of which are in line with one or more of the powers under which the Church Commissioners are able to distribute funds.

Each year at one of its trustee meetings, the Church Commissioners consider the annual certificate provided by the Archbishops’ Council stating how the funds provided to the Council by the Commissioners have been distributed. This now covers funds provided under section 1 of the Miscellaneous Provisions Measure 2018 as well as under section 2(3) of the National Institutions Measure 1998. In addition to this, the Commissioners receive and discuss reports on specific areas such as safeguarding and the grants made to support parish mission and ministry.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which external providers have been awarded contracts to support or conduct work for the recently announced Review into the Organisation, Performance and Transformation of the Permanent Civil Service; and if he will list the (a) name of each supplier, (b) financial value, (c) precise scope of work, and (d) procurement route utilised for each contract.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds

The Review into the Organisation, Performance and Transformation of the Permanent Civil Service is being led by the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

This Government is committed to strengthening the delivery, accountability, innovation, and productivity of the Civil Service, and to safeguard its impartiality and core values, to enhance trust and confidence in the institutions of government.

The Review will draw on a wide range of expert advisers from academia, private, public, civil society, and international spheres. The Review will consider a range of evidence, including but not limited to document analysis and interviews with relevant individuals within and outside government, and will consider best practice globally.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) the adequacy of results issued by Pearson for this year’s Key Stage 2 SATs results, (b) that Pearson delivers future results on time and (c) that teachers have adequate access to appeals, in the context of the link between SATs results and Ofsted grading.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

SATs marking in 2026 has been completed and results have been delivered. Marking was subject to the department’s required quality assurance processes, including marker training, qualification exercises and ongoing quality checks. The standards maintenance process, which ensures results remain comparable with previous years, was completed on 2 July and can only be completed with sufficiently accurate and representative data.

Pearson have fully apologised for their failure to deliver the key stage 2 results on time and for the impact this has had on schools, pupils and parents. The department will use all the provisions in the contract to ensure that Pearson is held to account and we will explore all possible options for future delivery. The government has confirmed that there will be a full independent review into how such serious failings have occurred, with further details and terms of reference to be set out shortly.

Following feedback received from schools, Ministers have extended the deadline for applications for reviews of test results until 7 September 2026, allowing schools to submit requests during term time.

Exiting the European Union