THE General Synod gave first consideration to the Draft Chancel Repair (Church Commissioners’ Liability) Measure.
The Church Commissioners took on land in 1947 that carried liability for repairs to around 350 parish churches. In 2022, they incurred expenditure of around £608,000 on chancel repair. They now proposed that chancel repair liability should be detached from land that was affected by it and, instead, become a freestanding statutory duty, whether or not the Commissioners continued to own the land. The Commissioners would then be able to sell their land free from chancel-repair liability and its associated difficulties. The interests of PCCs would still be protected, because the Commissioners would have a continuing statutory duty to repair the chancel of a relevant parish church.
Introducing the debate, Julie Dziegiel (Oxford) likened the complexities of liability to ingredients thrown into a blender with the lid left off: a “splatter effect” that, she hoped, this Measure would clean up.
The legislation had its origins in the feudal system, and uncertainty had hampered dealing with land, she said. Some of the land potentially subject to it was owned by the Commissioners or their subsidiaries, and this Measure would make such land immediately available for housing and other miscellaneous purposes.
Third parties would still remain liable and contribute to chancel repairs. The proposal had already been approved by the Land Registry. It would also free up time in the national church institutions, she said.
The Vicar-General of the Province of Canterbury, the Rt Worshipful Timothy Briden, described this as “a modest but important piece of legal reform” which would ease the administrative burden. Church repairs could often be planned, but there were circumstances such as lead-theft and storm damage which it made it imperative to undertake work more urgently. “Speed can be of the essence. This should improve procedures and should speed up the availability of funds,” he said.
Dr Chris Angus (Carlisle) approved of the Measure as another good example of what he had observed to be a “simplification agenda” evident in the review of much legislation over the past two quinquennia.
The Third Church Estates Commissioner, Canon Flora Winfield, believed that the Measure would directly benefit PCCs in a way that was pastorally sensitive for all concerned: “It has been an emotive issue in the past, detrimental to local relationships.”
Robin Lunn (Worcester) highlighted the complexities of chancel repair and hoped that the Measure would be one step on the way to other streamlining of legislation.
The Measure now stands referred to the revision committee.