Question

To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what estimate the Church has made of the value of community ownership transfer for church asset disposals in England.

Such an estimate has not been made by the National Church Institutions. Consecrated Church of England church buildings that have been declared closed under the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 can only be disposed of under the provisions of that Measure. The provisions of the Localism Act do not apply (even where such buildings have been designated as an Asset of Community Value).

The Measure (and its predecessors) places upon the church authorities the responsibility to find the most suitable alternative use for such buildings, which enables us to dispose of them for less than market value, for uses that continue to serve the local community.

Diocese and parishes are separate legal entities and, in the large majority of cases, the management of their other assets falls outside the remit of the National Church Institutions (except to suggest best practice).