Financial Information For Recommended Candidates

Training at a College

As soon as your course of College training has been settled, you should complete side A of the attached application form for a training grant from Central Church Funds, and forward this to the Grants Office at the Ministry Division. It is no longer generally possible for the Local Education Authorities to make discretionary awards for ordination training. It will therefore only be appropriate to make an application to your LEA if you are undertaking a first degree course at College and have not previously received LEA assistance, in which case you will be eligible for a mandatory award towards tuition fees.

A grant from Central Church Funds will normally consist of:

College tuition fees	approximately	£6,000	in 2005/2006
College maintenance fees	approximately	£3,200	in 2005/2006
Personal allowance		£1,215	in 2005/2006
Short vacation allowance		£338	in 2005/2006
Long vacation allowance		£382	in 2005/2006
Travel allowance*		varies
*If home is more than 20 miles from College ? for travel to and from College at the beginning and end of each term.

 

A personal contribution towards maintenance may be assessed where candidates are in receipt of an unearned income from savings and investments in excess of £1,040 per annum.

The grants are paid in termly instalments through the College at the beginning of each term.

For married candidates the diocese has main responsibility for the financial support of the dependants of candidates entering College training. The diocese will issue a budget form to enable a diocesan family maintenance grant to be assessed. (For a family with two children, the assessment is currently based upon an overall expected family expenditure of approximately £10,680 per annum plus housing and Council Tax costs).

Although primary responsibility for the support of the families of married candidates rests with the sponsoring diocese, the Ministry Division contributes to these costs through family maintenance grants made from the Church Times Train-A-Priest Fund and the Archbishops’ Ordination Funds. To apply for these grants a copy of the estimated budget, agreed with your diocese, should be submitted to the Grants Office at the Ministry Division.

For single candidates further financial assistance may be required beyond the level of the grant made from Central Church Funds. The diocese will issue a budget form to enable such additional assistance to be assessed by the diocese. Single candidates are now also eligible to be considered for grants from the TAP Fund, for which a copy of the budget form should be submitted to the Grants Office at the Ministry Division.

Training on a Regional Course

Fees are now automatically met by the Ministry Division from Central Church Funds for all candidates training on a Regional Course. It is no longer expected that candidates first apply to the LEA in the hope of being considered for a discretionary award.

Candidates training on a Regional Course are eligible to apply to the Ministry Division for a book allowance and travel expenses from Central Church Funds. Please complete side B of the attached application form and forward this to the Grants Office at the Ministry Division. The current level of book allowance which may be made is £219 per annum. The initial travel allowance is currently £105 per annum; candidates are eligible to claim for their travel expenses in excess of this sum at the end of each term or at the end of the academic year.

A personal contribution towards book and travel expenses will be expected in some cases where net personal income exceeds £37,500 per annum.

Training on an Ordained Local Ministry Scheme

In the financial arrangements for the OLM Schemes there are no fee changes for ordinands. For help towards book and travel expenses, applications should be made to the sponsoring diocese rather than to the Ministry Division.

Personal debt

Your sponsoring diocese will ask you to complete a Statement of Financial Position form, highlighting any existing debts and continuing financial obligations. You may have already completed this form prior to your attending a Bishops’ Selection Conference. Its purpose is to ensure that candidates embark upon ordained ministry free of significant financial difficulties.  This is of particular importance in the case of candidates who will be ordained to a stipendiary title since the level of stipend is not intended to cover the repayment of existing debts.

Student loans

It should be noted that grants from Central Church Funds are allocated on the basis that ordinands will not receive loans within the Government Student Loan Scheme. With regard to student loans taken out prior to ordination training, the House of Bishops has agreed that such a loan should not be considered as a debt which is an impediment to ordination.

Until September 1998 the Student Loan Scheme stipulated that a loan need not be repaid in any year where a graduate’s income falls below 85 per cent of national average earnings. Student loans taken out from September 1998 however, currently have to be repaid, in instalments, where earned income is in excess of £15,000 per annum.

Life Assurance Scheme for Married Candidates

All dioceses now participate in the Life Assurance Scheme for Married Candidates, operated by the Ministry Division with the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, which provides cover in the event of death of a married candidate (or lone parent) in College training. The level of cover provided is currently £76,950 per candidate with an additional £19,375 for each dependent child. The premium will be met by the sponsoring diocese. If you wish to continue with a present life assurance policy, please inform your DDO and the diocese will be able to help towards the costs involved up to the level of the EIG’s premium (currently £115 per annum).

The Scheme has been extended to include the option of providing cover for any married candidate (or lone parent) to be ordained to a stipendiary title who is training on a Course, for a period of three months before the date of ordination. Again the premium will be met by the sponsoring diocese.

Council Tax

Ordinands living in College are exempt from Council Tax, and those living outside College from the ‘personal’ element of the tax. For married candidates in receipt of a diocesan family maintenance grant, provision for Council Tax (where applicable) should be included in the estimated budget agreed with the diocese. A number of local authorities have agreed that, where a married student lives in College owned or College managed accommodation, the household should be completely exempt from Council Tax. Married candidates beginning College training are advised to contact their College bursar for current information.

     Ordinands training on Regional Courses studying for 21 hours or more for 24 weeks of the year may be able to gain a Council Tax rebate. If you fulfil these conditions and wish to apply you will need a certificate for your council from your Course principal confirming your eligibility.

State benefits

Child Benefit:This is available to all members of the population with children aged under 16 (or under 19 if they are at school). The current rate of benefit is £17.00 per week for the first child and £11.40 per week for each subsequent child.

Child Tax Credit:Child Tax Credit was introduced in April 2003. Married students with children (under 16 or under 19 if still at school) are expected to apply for this benefit.  Unlike Child Benefit, it is means-tested – but the means test is generous and even couples with a joint income of up to £55,000 p.a. may be eligible to receive a portion of the benefit.  It is paid (by the Inland Revenue) direct to "the person who is mainly responsible for caring for the children in the family".  It is paid in addition to Child Benefit.  Despite the name it does not require one partner to be working and paying tax.

Applicants may check their eligibility on-line at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/taxcredits, and then immediately apply on-line.  Alternatively, a claim pack can be ordered by phone (0800 500 222).  There is also a Tax Credits helpline – 0845 300 3900.

Working Tax Credit:Working Tax Credit, also introduced in April 2003, replaces Working Families Tax Credit (which in turn replaced Family Credit).  This may be applicable where one partner works more than 16 hours a week and there are sizeable childcare costs to be met.  But couples without children are able to apply.

Income Support and Housing Benefit: No longer available to students, but partners may be eligible to claim if savings fall below a certain level.

Medical: All students with savings of less than £8,000 are eligible to apply for assistance towards NHS prescriptions, dental and optical treatment. An application form (HC1) is available from doctors, dentists, and opticians when you register at their practice.

National Insurance

Students in full-time training are not obliged to pay National Insurance contributions during training. Candidates may, however, chose to pay the Voluntary Class 3 contributions (currently £7.35 per week) which count towards the basic retirement pension and certain other benefits. Much depends on individual circumstances as to the extent to which a candidate’s basic state pension entitlement would be affected by non-payment of Class 3 contributions during training, e.g. any previous gaps in a candidate’s record  owing to a period of earlier full?time education or unemployment.

Candidates may wish to read the relevant DSS leaflets on this matter, available in your local library or Social Security Office:

CA08	National Insurance, voluntary contributions
CA07	National Insurance, unpaid and late paid contributions
NI196	Benefit Rates and Earning Rules

 

You may wish to seek an interview with the local Social Security Office (‘Benefits Agency’) to settle any queries. Alternatively, The Contributions Agency, Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1YX (Helpline 0645 154476), can give advice about National Insurance, and details of your current record. The Benefits Agency web site is also helpful – www.dss.gov.uk/ba.

Any candidate who has not kept up payment during training is allowed up to six tax years from the date of completion of training to make those payments. Each year the Contributions Agency at Newcastle sends out a ‘deficiency notice’ to those who have not paid full NI contributions, giving the additional contributions required in order to maintain qualification for maximum benefits. (You need to ensure that they have your current address.)

In the case of candidates sponsored by the Diocese in Europe, the position with regard to National Insurance should be discussed with the DDO before the start of training.

Pensions

Information about pensions can be obtained from: Church of England Pensions Board, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3NZ. Telephone  020 7898 1800.

            E-mail: enquiries@cepb.c-of-e.org.uk.

 

 

 

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