§ 34. Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what estimate he has made of the number of clergy who will leave the Church of England on the issue of the ordination of women priests; and what estimate he has made of the costs. [1339]
§ Mr. AlisonThe commissioners' records relate only to clergy who have claimed assistance in accordance with the Ordination of Women (Financial Provisions) Measure. At 31 October 1995, a total of 329 clergy had resigned and the commissioners had made payments from their income totalling £8.2 million since 1994. It is difficult to forecast how many more will resign, but the rate has continued to slow. Were the total to rise to 400 resignations, the total gross cost on income is estimated to be about £20 million, spread over a period of up to 20 years.
§ Mr. GreenwayDoes my right hon. Friend agree that those are very high figures? Does not most of the money required to fund those payments come from laity? Does he envisage that there will be a cut-off point beyond which no payments will be made to clergy who leave the Church of England over the issue of women priests? Does he think that, anyway, there might be more resignations if there were women bishops, which many are prophesying?
§ Mr. AlisonMy hon. Friend is right to make the point that the laity have to bear the burden of the extra costs. However, they do so voluntarily because their representative body, the General Synod, by an overwhelming majority vote, introduced the very generous package of measures to help clergy to rehabilitate themselves. In fact, there is a built in cut-off point, in that most clergy receive payments over only a three-year period, with further one-off grants related to housing.