§ 34. Miss HoeyTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what level of contribution the Church Commissioners will be making to the Church urban fund.
§ 35. Mr. BowisTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what grant is to be given by the Church Commissioners to the Church urban fund for 1991–92.
§ Mr. AlisonThe commissioners' board of governors has met to decide recommendations to the annual general meeting for further allocations of income. In the light of the financial problems caused by the recession, but with considerable reluctance, they were unable to recommend an immediate further grant to the Church urban fund. The board has, however, asked that the position be reviewed towards the end of the year. Meanwhile, I understand that the fund's trustees are being advised to maintain its current level of disbursements, from reserves: there should therefore be no effect on the work of the fund in the short term.
The first statutory call on the commissioners' income is for clergy pensions and stipends and grants are committed on an annually recurring basis for these purposes. Other grants, including those to the Church urban fund, have to be voted specifically on each occasion from any surplus funds available at the time. Grants totalling £4 million have been made to the Church urban fund in the past four years in this way.
The substantial administrative support, worth about £300,000 in 1990, which the commissioners give to the fund, will, in any event, continue.