Question

To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church plans to commission an independent review of funds allocated by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board.

In March 2022, an Independent Review of Lowest Income Communities Funding and Strategic Development Funding was published. This review was chaired by Sir Robert Chote, who presented the review to the General Synod in July 2022. At that group of sessions, the General Synod passed a motion requesting the commissioning of a follow-up independent review to be completed before the July 2024 group of sessions. This review will be commissioned as requested in the motion.

The original Chote review, with the response, can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/gs-2261-review-of-sdf-and-linc-funding.pdf

The motion passed by General Synod in July 2022 can be found here (Item 70 on page 14): https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/business-done-consolidated.pdf