§ 19. Hugh Bayley (City of York) (Lab)If he will make a statement on the charitable status of the Church of England. [166161]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Mr. David Lammy)With permission, I shall answer Church Commissioners questions on behalf of the Second Church Estates Commissioner, my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Sir Stuart Bell).
The Church of England embraces many legal entities of various kinds that fulfil the legal requirements for charitable status. For example, the Church Commissioners are such a body.
§ Hugh BayleyIn view of the great problems of insolvency at Bradford cathedral, and the difficulty that those have caused for my constituents, who have not been paid a debt of more than £100,000, does my hon. Friend agree that all Church of England bodies, including cathedrals, should be regulated as strictly as registered charities? In order for that to take place, existing charity law needs to be amended, as I hope that it will be in the forthcoming charities Bill.
§ Mr. LammyThe Church of England is committed to seeing that all charities, including religious bodies, are adequately regulated My hon. Friend has indicated that the Government hope to produce a draft bill on charities legislation it this Session and I know that the Church of England and the Archbishops Council are in close dialogue with them on such matters. We hope to see progress in due course.
§ Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York) (Con)What would be the consequences of a church within the Church of England becoming insolvent and going bankrupt?
§ Mr. LammyThe hon. Lady will be aware of the different status of the various church bodies within the Church of England. The issue of cathedrals has caused interest in the House. The Cathedrals Measure 1999 means that cathedrals have greater transparency, accountability and compliance. That legislation came into place subsequent to some of the problems raised by my hon. Friend the Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley).