§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of poverty amongst the clergy. [16896]
§ Mr. BellResponsibilities for clergy stipends have been transferred to the Ministry Division of the Archbishops' Council, which set up a review group to look at clergy stipends in 1999. As part of its work, the group conducted a survey of all clergy on the central payroll in 2000 in order to find out how clergy were managing financially. A copy of the survey results will be placed in the Library. The survey showed that one third of those households where the clergy stipend was the sole source of income either struggled to pay their bills or to provide extra things such as holidays.