§ 31. Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, what is the current policy of the Church Commissioners in respect of redundant churches.
§ Mr. Michael Alison (Second Church Estates Commissioner, Representing the Church Comissioners)The Commissioners' policy is governed by the Pastoral Measure 1983, which provides for the future of a redundant church to be settled by a suitable alternative use, by preservation by the redundant churches fund, by care and maintenance by the Diocesan Board of Finance or by demolition. The measure lays emphasis on finding a suitable alternative use for the church, if at all possible, and that is what is most commonly achieved.
§ Mr. BanksI am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for that courteous reply. Does he share my concern about the fate of old organs—not, I hasten to add, those attached to old clerics but those fine musical instruments which are in many redundant churches and many churches generally and which do not get adequate protection? Is he aware that such historic organs as we have would be given protected status in most other European countries? Will he ask the Church Commissioners to conduct an inventory of all the organs in their areas of responsibility so that adequate protection can be extended to them?
§ Mr. AlisonI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the interest that he takes in not only redundant churches but the valuable fixtures in them. Under any redundancy scheme, the bishop of a diocese has the decision on the final disposal of valuable fixtures. He is advised by an expert committee with a standard code of practice. Church organs are recognised as valuable. They are nearly always preserved or sold for use in other churches or in other historic buildings.