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Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure

rose to move, That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent. The right reverend Prelate said: My Lords, although this measure is the more technical of the two measures that I bring before the House this evening, I hope that I need not detain your Lordships long in introducing it since its purpose is the worthy but unexciting one of making modest and uncontentious changes to various aspects of ecclesiastical law; this is nuts and bolts material. The substantial, and some would say excessive, body of law that regulates the Church of England is complex and from time to time it needs, like secular law, to be corrected or brought up to date. As part of that process, the General Synod employs miscellaneous provisions measures to amend Church legislation in ways that do not merit freestanding legislation. This measure is the ninth and latest in the series of such measures. Given their nature, these miscellaneous provisions measures generally represent a somewhat amorphous mixture of technical material, united essentially only by the common characteristic of being uncontroversial— and this one is no exception. But, as with most such measures, there are some common themes in its content. In the case of this measure, they are in terms of improving processes, giving greater flexibility and clarifying or harmonising problematic provisions. A number of the changes this measure makes are designed to improve the procedures of the Church’s national institutions. Thus, for example, it will amend the General Synod’s constitution to allow the introduction of electronic voting in its debates and remove restrictions on the number of persons that the archbishops—the synod’s presidents—can appoint as chairs of debates. The measure will also streamline aspects of the Church Commissioners’ procedures. It will, for example, simplify the requirements for the application of the proceeds of sale of parsonages, to remove the unnecessary circulation of funds. It will also alter aspects of the Church Commissioners’ functions relating to pastoral reorganisation under the Pastoral Measure 1983 but without detracting from the rights of interested parties, and do so in various ways which will produce cost savings. Further cost savings will flow for parishes from the new provision under which land appropriated by a scheme for ecclesiastical purposes of a parish will vest automatically in the diocesan board of finance on trust for the parochial church council. These are all examples of provisions in the measure streamlining procedures. Other provisions are intended to confer greater flexibility. Thus, for example, at the moment the Church Commissioners cannot take advantage of legislative provisions under which companies and charitable corporations can execute documents under the signatures of two directors or trustees. Changes made to the Church Commissioners’ Measure 1947 will, among other things, allow them to do so. The measure will also widen the powers of the commissioners with regard to Farnham Castle, which, from the 12th century to the 1920s, was among the residencies of my predecessors, the bishops of Winchester, and then, for a short period, part of it was the see house of the diocese of Guildford. Farnham Castle is now the only property in the commissioners’ ownership subject to a statutory prohibition against disposal. The measure will bring the commissioners’ powers in relation to Farnham Castle broadly into line with their powers in relation to other former see houses by allowing them to sell or otherwise dispose of it, subject to safeguards to protect the historic and architectural significance of the property in perpetuity. Finally, and rather unusually, the measure will make amendments to a large number of Acts of Parliament, in each case with the agreement of the government department in question. If noble Lords have read this section of the measure, they will have seen a roll call of memorable titles of legislation, among which the one that most took my fancy was the Weeds Act 1959. The statutory provisions concerned principally relate to requirements that notices be served on the Church Commissioners in relation to proposals to deal with benefice property or glebe land. The changes are designed to ensure that property issues are dealt with at the appropriate level, which does not need to be at the national level. They will therefore again produce administrative savings at the centre as well as in dioceses, which will no longer need to correspond with the Church Commissioners about such matters. I hope that these necessarily brief examples of some of the measure’s provisions will show that beneath its dry and technical complexity there lies the laudable aim of making the Church’s legal processes as effective as possible at national, diocesan and parish levels. The measure has, of course, been found expedient by the Ecclesiastical Committee, whose report on it is especially brief, and it now comes to your Lordships’ House for approval. I trust that your Lordships will feel able to give that approval without hesitation. I beg to move. Moved, That this House do direct that, in accordance with the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919, the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure be presented to Her Majesty for the Royal Assent.—(The Lord Bishop of Winchester.)