§ 2.38 p.m.
§ THE LORD BISHOP OF SOUTHWARK rose to move to resolve, That in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act, 1919, this House do direct that the Church of England Pensions Board (Powers) Measure, 1952, be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent. The right reverend Prelate said: My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. This Measure was approved by the Ecclesiastical Committee of Parliament on March 12, and their 1346 Report is accompanied by a statement setting out its significance and its scope. Perhaps I may be allowed a few moments to dwell on the human side of the matter, rather than the legalistic.
§ Prior to 1926, there was no proper pensions system in the Church of England. There was a small voluntary association to which men were asked to subscribe, which provided a pension of £1 a week at the age of sixty-five, but the method of providing for enrolled clergy was for the incumbent, on his retirement, to take one-third of the value of his living which, of course, inflicted a hardship upon his successor, who bemoaned the longevity of retired clergy. In 1926, a Measure was passed establishing a Pensions Board and instituting a new and compulsory contributory system for all clergy. They each paid 3 per cent. of their income, regardless of what that income was. The fund was kept solvent by large permanent annuities paid by the Church Commissioners and by the Church Assembly. A retiring priest drew a pension of £200 a year when he attained the age of seventy, and a much smaller sum if he retired earlier through disability. At that time, £200 a year was imagined to be a more or less adequate figure upon which a man and his wife might live in retirement when he reached the age of seventy. In view of the inflationary process which has continued since, the position has, of course, become difficult.
§ Ever since then, the Pensions Board has been introducing amending Measures in order to grapple with the difficulties which have arisen. One amending Measure enabled us to institute an Augmentation Fund, raised entirely from voluntary sources, from which it was possible to alleviate hard cases which came under the scope of the Measure. A little later, it was possible to introduce legislation giving powers to provide a greater pension for the widows and dependants of clergy. To that was added an Augmentation Fund, as in the case of the clergy, raised entirely from voluntary sources, out of which hard cases of widows and dependants could be met. The position remained extremely difficult, and at the end of the war another amending Measure enabled the Board to augment the income—not the pension, but the income—of a retired clergyman, subject to a means test, up to £350. In 1948, 1347 an entirely new scheme was started for younger clergy. That scheme was woven into the National Insurance scheme and will, in due course of time, provide a much more adequate pension for a man and his widow, and his children up to the age of sixteen. But that scheme will not fully materialise until 1988. In the intervening years, we have to face an extremely lean time.
§ All those advantages were consolidated in the Measure of 1948, when we were faced with an entirely new difficulty. At that period it was impossible for retiring clergy, out of their pitifully small pension, either to afford to pay for houses in which to retire or even to secure them if they could afford it. Therefore, the Pensions Board started an entirely new scheme by which it secured and ran homes for elderly clergy and their dependants. We obtained powers for that step from the 1948 Act, and that work has gone on steadily since, the homes being entirely supported, not of course out of the contributory fund of the clergy but out of the Augmentation Funds which are provided by entirely voluntary sources. That work has gone on steadily, and the Pensions Board now run their homes with accommodation for 154 elderly people. They also provide for nursing accommodation for retired clergy in their last senile period, but in the course of running these homes certain technical difficulties have arisen, and this present Measure seeks simply, first of all, to give powers to meet those technical difficulties which have occurred. Those are covered by the first three clauses of the Measure.
§ The next clause, Clause 4, is more important. It gives power for the Pensions Board to become a housing association, so that it can build houses for the clergy and have the advantage of any subsidies which may be obtained from the Government. The next two clauses are more interesting. In the course of running these homes, the Pensions Board have acquired a good deal of experience. Scattered throughout the country there are certain old-established charities which are running homes for clergy and other widows, and which in these days find themselves in rather deep water and, consequently, would very much like the Pensions Board either to take over their trusts or to help in their running. Clauses 5 and 6 give 1348 the Board power to act as trustees, and either to take over or assist trusts in the country which are running the same sort of clergy charities.
§ The last item to which I would call your Lordships' attention is Clause 7, which gives the Board power to run not only this clergy pension scheme but also to help in providing a systematic scheme for lay church workers. There are a large number of lay workers who are giving their help and their full time in working for the Church, and up to now nothing but very scrappy provision has been made for them. The Pensions Board asks power to add this work to its scope—that is, to run a similar pension self-supporting scheme for church workers. I should like to end by saying that I believe I am the only person in both Houses who can speak on behalf of this Pensions Board from personal experience. I have been associated with it for some twenty years. I have watched the extraordinary care which is taken to look after these aged clergy and widows, and it is on their behalf that 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 Church of England Pensions Board (Powers) Measure, 1952, be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.—(The Lord Bishop of South-wark.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.