Question

To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Church of England plans to enable funds, endowments and charitable bequests held by parish churches to be used to support Church of England schools.

Whether charitable funds may be used to support church schools will depend on the objects of the charitable trusts under which the funds are held. So far as the general funds of a parochial church council (that is, the unrestricted funds which it holds for any of its purposes) are concerned, the trustees may apply these for any aspect of the mission of the Church of England, whether that be pastoral, evangelistic, social or ecumenical.

A parochial church council could therefore, in principle, use its general funds to support a church school; but it would need to balance any such support against other calls on its funds, in particular the statutory duty to maintain the church building.