THE General Synod’s final business on the Thursday afternoon was to approve, after a short debate, a motion that recognised the “public goods” delivered by churches and charities, and which called on the Government to exempt churches and charities from liability for Insurance Premium Tax.
Introducing the debate on a motion from Lincoln diocesan synod, which had originated in a deanery synod several years earlier, the Archdeacon of Lincoln, the Ven. Gavin Kirk (Lincoln), said that the diocese had more than 650 church buildings, of which almost half were Grade I listed. These were often the only public buildings left in their communities, but their upkeep was a huge financial burden on parishes. Many had suffered lead-thefts, vandalism, and arson, all of which meant that insurance premiums increased substantially, he said.
PCCs were custodians of these ancient public buildings, governed by both ecclesiastical and charity law. Many PCCs were faced with the “wretched choice” whether to pay their latest insurance premium or their parish share. The motion called for all charities to be exempt, not just Anglican churches, Archdeacon Kirk said. Insurance Premium Tax cost the Church of England about £5 million a year, he concluded. Charities ought to be treated differently from businesses, as was already true with regard to other taxes.
Gavin Drake (Southwell &Nottingham), backing the motion, noted that it had been widened to all charities: special pleading for churches alone was not on, he said. Insurance Premium Tax was only a small part of expenditure, but every little helped for hard-pressed charities constantly scrabbling around for funds.
Adrian Greenwood (Southwark) spoke of his experience as a charity trustee. The charity’s insurance premium had grown from £12,000 a year to more than £200,000 after it was discovered that a new building had been covered in highly combustible cladding. “It’s been absolutely awful,” he said.
The motion should look not only at Insurance Premium Tax, but at the insurance industry — including Ecclesiastical, which, he said, was imposing huge premiums on small charities. Support the motion, he said, but understand that the issue was wider than just tax.
Alison Coulter (Winchester), Vice-chair of the House of Laity, had not believed that this motion was important at first, but could see now that this would make a huge difference to what parishes were trying to do.
John Spence (Archbishops’ Council) said that any parish that was tempted to skimp on its insurance purely to save 12 per cent Insurance Premium Tax was thinking poorly. He urged the C of E to consult the wider charity sector, to see whether lobbying the Government over this was a priority for it. It was also worth considering whether maintaining some of the Church’s listed buildings was actually still the best use, in terms of mission, for limited funds.
It was not just Grade I listed buildings that imposed difficulties, said Lucy Docherty (Portsmouth). She asked whether cathedrals were included in this discussion.
Mary Durlacher (Chelmsford) raised the issue of subsidence, rarely covered by insurance schemes.
The motion was clearly carried.
That this Synod, noting:
(a) the various public goods that are delivered by charities, including in the case of churches through their care of nationally valued heritage assets and their provision of community services; and
(b) the fact that the money needed by charities to meet their liabilities, including Insurance Premium Tax, has to be raised by them, including in the case of churches through fund raising in their local communities,
call on Her Majesty’s Government to exempt charities, including churches, from liability for Insurance Premium Tax.