§ Mr. Ian TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is now in a position to announce details of the proposed review of the arrangements for preserving redundant Church of England churches.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe redundant churches fund has now been in existence for 20 years. During that time it has done an excellent job in preserving and caring for some 250 historic churches no longer in pastoral use. The fund is jointly financed by the Church Commissioners and the Department of the Environment. Over the years the costs, to Church and state, have increased steadily, with the state meeting an increasing proportion (now standing at 70 per cent.) of those costs.
In moving the consideration in Standing Committee on 8 February last of the draft Grants to the Redundant 109W Churches Fund Order 1988, I announced that we had decided, in consultation with the Church Commissioners, to review the fund's current arrangements and to consider whether they were still appropriate for present and likely future needs.
I am pleased to announce that Mr. Richard Wilding, former head of the Office of Arts and Libraries, has agreed to carry out a review of the current arrangements for the operation and financing of the redundant churches fund.
The review will be carried out for the Department and the Church Commissioners. Mr. Wilding will start work in September this year and aims to report to the Secretary of State and to the Church Commissioners by April 1990. He would welcome views and comments, which should be sent to him at the offices of the Church Commissioners, 1 Millbank, London SW1.