THE final drafting and final approval of the Draft Mission and Pastoral Etc (Amendment) Measure were introduced by the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Revd Pete Broadbent (Southern Suffragans), who chairs the steering committee. He said that the steering committee had proposed only drafting amendments.

In the brief take-note debate on the committee’s report, the Revd Tiffer Robinson (St Edmundsbury & Ipswich) sought assurances that the Measure’s revised compensation scheme for office-holders affected by pastoral reorganisation would not be used to “bring in a capability procedure by the back door”.

The Bishop said that the Measure could not be used in that way.

Moving the final-approval debate, Bishop Broadbent said that the new Measure “enacts the next tranche of proposals from the simplification group” and stemmed from “concern expressed by dioceses after we asked them about blockages to mission”.

The Measure makes changes to consultation procedures on Pastoral Schemes and Orders, introduces the concept of a Deanery Plan for pastoral reorganisation, “and skims off the face of the Measure various over-stipulations about the ways in which Teams and Groups should operate”, Bishop Broadbent said.

He described the new compensation scheme for office-holders affected by pastoral reorganisation as “a good compromise, which will enable fair treatment of such clergy without their previous compensation until the age of 70”.

The Revd Jonathan Alderton-Ford (St Edmundsbury and Ipswich), thanked the team behind the Measure. This was “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the Second Reformation of the C of E, reforming it to do the job God wanted it to do here on earth.”

In a vote by Houses, the Measure received final approval: Bishops: 23 for; Clergy: 90 for, with two recorded abstentions; Laity: 120 for, with one recorded abstention.