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Lord Chancellor: Ecclesiastical Functions

On 2 March 2004 it was announced, in a Written Ministerial Statement, that the Government had decided that the Lord Chancellor's ecclesiastical patronage should revert to the Crown, acting through the Prime Minister. The Government have now decided not to proceed with that decision, but instead to retain the current arrangements. The original decision was taken in the context of the proposed abolition of the office of Lord Chancellor. In the light of the changed context of the retention of the office of the Lord Chancellor, I    have concluded that changing the current arrangements for ecclesiastical patronage would not improve the efficiency of the appointments process nor would it contribute to the reform of the office of the Lord Chancellor in the way originally envisaged. This decision takes into account the views of those responding to the consultation paper Constitutional reform: reforming the office of the Lord Chancellor, published in September 2003. The majority of respondents favoured the retention of the services of the Ecclesiastical Office at No 10, expressing their confidence in and appreciation of that office's work.