Question

To ask the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what the (a) charitable object and (b) nominal current value is of each (i) trust and (ii) other fund held by the Church Commissioners; and what document defines each such charitable object.

The Church Commissioners' are a statutory body corporate and its charitable purposes are set out in a range of statutory provisions. There is no single instrument which specifies each of the purposes for which the Church Commissioners may apply their funds.

The Church Commissioners' was incorporated by the Church Commissioners Measure 1947 which makes provision for the Commissioners to hold a general fund from which it discharges the expenses and obligations which fall to the Church Commissioners' in the due discharge of their functions. Consistent with usual practice in the sector the Church Commissioners' undertakes some of its investment activity through subsidiary entities.

The Church Commissioners’ net asset value is calculated annually, and detailed in the charity’s annual report which is available in the library of the House of Commons, and the most recent report is available here.