§ 32. Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what advice the Church Commissioners have given to the diocese about the contribution to be made by the diocese towards stipends and pensions in each of the next five years.
§ Mr. AlisonThe commissioners have recently discussed with dioceses their projected support for stipends and expenditure on pensions up to 1997. In 1993, the commissioners met 37 per cent. of the total stipends bill, with the remaining 63 per cent. provided from parishes, fees and diocesan income. By 1997, that figure is likely to rise to 80 per cent. as a consequence of cuts in the commissioners support. The longer-term funding of pensions, which currently take up 44 per cent. of the commissioners' income, is being considered by the commissioners and pensions board in the light of actuarial advice and a range of possible options will be discussed with dioceses and others later this year.
§ 33. Mr. FlynnTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what changes have occurred in the past three years in the funds available to the Church Commissioners.
§ Mr. AlisonThe Church Commissioners manage the Church's centralised historic assets; it is a "closed fund" with no new contributions coming in. The commissioners' assets were valued at £2.4 billion at 31 December 1990, £2.3 billion in 1991 and £2.2 billion in 1992; their investment income was £164.5 million, £169.5 million and £168 million respectively. 1993 figures are not yet available.