§ THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON moved to resolve, That in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, this House do direct that the Loans (Postponement of Repayment) Measure, 1942, be presented to His Majesty for the Royal Assent. The right reverend Prelate said: My Lords, this is a very brief Measure dealing with a single point, that indicated in the title, "loans (postponement of repayment)." Queen Anne's Bounty has power, under various Acts of Parliament, to make loans to incumbents for the building, alteration or improvement of parsonage houses and glebe buildings. In present conditions, many incumbents to whom these loans are made find very great difficulty in repaying them by annual instalments, which may be spread over anything from seven to twenty-five years. There is a great desire on the part of Queen Anne's Bounty, in suitable cases, to allow a postponement of the repayment, but Queen Anne's Bounty has no power at present to grant such a postponement. This Measure gives it that power for a limited period—that is to say, for the duration of the war and for two years afterwards. Under the Measure Queen Anne's Bounty may postpone repayments for a period not exceeding five years in suitable cases, that is to say, taking into account the amount of the income, the burdens already resting on the benefice, and the condition of the improvements which the loan was given to make.
§ That, I think, really exhausts the contents of the Measure, except that there is a clause regularizing certain postponements which Queen Anne's Bounty have already made in a few cases of extreme hardship in anticipation of the Measure 51 which is now before your Lordships. I do not think there is any other detail in it to which I need refer. I may add that the Measure applies also to loans made to Bishops, Deans, Canons and Cathedral Chapters. The object is a quite simple one—to give relief to incumbents who in certain cases are very hard pressed. If it can do any good it is needed now. The Church Assembly accordingly passed it through all its stages in the Summer Session. They did so with only one verbal Amendment, without a division, and with, I think, complete unanimity, and the Ecclesiastical Committee recommend that it be approved. I beg to move.
§ Moved to resolve, That in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, this House do direct that the Loans (Postponement of Repayment) Measure, 1942, be presented to His Majesty for the Royal Assent—(The Lord Bishop of London.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.