§ 44. Miss McIntoshTo ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what the cost was to the Church Commissioners of church repairs in the last financial year. [54005]
§ Mr. BellThe cost of church repairs is borne by the individual church congregations and figures are not held centrally. However, as the House will already know from previous answers, following a survey the estimated cost of repairs to and maintenance of Anglican Churches in 1999 was £120 million. No more recent survey has been undertaken.
These figures do not include the huge hidden subsidy of voluntary support within parishes or of the expert guidance within the faculty jurisdiction system.
The Commissioners have some small liabilities for the chancels of around 800 parish churches. In 2000, this cost almost £700,000.