§ The Lord Bishop of Manchesterrose to move, That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.
The right reverend Prelate said: My Lords, I realise that this is the last item of business to be dealt with before the Summer Recess, so I do not intend to keep noble Lords too long from their comforts and cruises and their buckets and spades.
The miscellaneous provisions Measures of the General Synod deal with uncontroversial items and relatively minor matters which would not ordinarily merit free-standing legislation. This particular Measure contains a number of important clauses dealing with the devolution to dioceses of functions of the Church Commissioners, following the passing of the National Institutions Measure. These provisions have been discussed and agreed with the dioceses. The provisions in question are dealt with in Clauses 1 to 11 and Schedules 1 to 6.
In financial terms, the Measure, at Clause 4 and Schedule 2, provides for the transfer of the diocesan stipends accounts and the associated income accounts to diocesan boards of finance. Clause 10 and Schedule 6 provide for the transfer of diocesan pastoral accounts to dioceses to formalise the devolved administrative arrangements already in place in respect of these accounts.
As far as concerns the commissioners' regulatory role, the draft Measure provides a vehicle for streamlining and lightening the commissioners' 762 regulatory role in areas such as parsonages, glebe and the Pastoral Measure. It is estimated that cost savings for the commissioners could amount to about £50,000 per annum if these proposals are implemented. None of these costs would fall on dioceses. Indeed, it is expected that there will be savings in dioceses as well, especially in terms of time spent on seeking the commissioners' approval for various transactions.
Similar proposals are suggested for glebe matters, where the commissioners' main role would be confined to considering transactions which do not meet agreed criteria and to carrying out the appellate function set out in paragraph 9 of Schedule 5. Again, cost savings for the commissioners are expected to amount to about £50,000 per annum, and none of these costs would fall on dioceses instead.
As to other miscellaneous matters, perhaps I should highlight Clause 12, which makes a useful provision for situations where the office of rural dean is vacant or where the rural dean is unable to carry out his or her functions. Subsection (4) gives power to the bishop to change the title of a rural dean's office to that of area dean. That makes more sense in a mainly urban diocese such as the one in which I currently serve.
Clause 15 brings the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure into line with other categories of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council by providing that an appeal may only be made with leave to appeal. The Privy Council Office has signified its agreement to the amendment.
In Clause 17, we have another uncontroversial but useful amendment. The clause amends the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986 to make it possible for the transfer of a right of patronage to be registered even when presentation to the benefice has been suspended under the Pastoral Measure 1983.
The Measure was found expedient by the Ecclesiastical Committee, which is composed of 15 Members of this House nominated by the Lord Chancellor and 15 Members of another place nominated by the Speaker. I hope and trust that it will streamline some of the procedures of the Church and, of course, save some money. I trust that the House will agree to the Motion.
Moved, That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.—(The Lord Bishop of Manchester.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.