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Review recommends improved rights for Clergy

24 January 2005

The second stage of the Church of England’s Review of Clergy Terms of Service will be debated at General Synod in London on Tuesday 15th February. The Review’s first report, issued this time last year, recommended that some categories of clergy be appointed on a new basis: common tenure.  This report now proposes that common tenure should apply to all clergy office holders, including vicars and rectors who now have the freehold which means they are virtually irremovable from office.

 

Common Tenure – fairness for all

If the proposals are approved, appointments at every level including bishops and cathedral clergy, will, in future, be made on a new basis, common tenure.

This will involve:

Access to Employment Tribunals and other rights under section 23 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (which gives the Government powers to confer the rights of employees on other categories of workers such as office holders);

Posts being open-ended until retirement age (and only in certain circumstances, such as designated training posts, for a fixed term);

Being subject to a capability procedure to be used in cases where clergy are failing to perform to a minimum standard;

Being subject to Clergy Terms of Service Regulations, which will set out the rights and responsibilities of clergy.

 

These proposals have implications for almost every aspect of clergy working life including their legal rights and responsibilities, the conduct of ministerial review (or appraisal) and the basis on which they occupy their housing. The concept of common tenure was well received by the Church last year, and it is now proposed to extend it to all clergy office holders including parish clergy with the freehold, bishops, archbishops, archdeacons and cathedral clergy, and also to Non-Stipendiary Ministers with licences and ‘house for duty’ appointments.

 

The review sets out recommended rights and responsibilities for clergy and aims to ensure a appropriate level of job security equivalent to that enjoyed by employees.

 

Professor David McClean, Professor of Law at Sheffield University, who chaired the review group, said:  “This represents a major advance in fairness for all. Common tenure will mean that, for the first time, all clergy will hold their office on the same basis.”

 

Common tenure extended to all

If the legislation is passed, common tenure would apply to all new appointments made after the legislation takes effect.  Clergy who have freehold (including bishops) will be invited to opt into common tenure and the section 23 employment rights that go with it. Those who choose not to do so will retain their current freehold until they either retire or take up a new position. Clergy without the freehold, who do not currently have any security of tenure, would be transferred to common tenure as soon as relevant provisions of the legislation are brought into force.

Ownership of clergy housing, churches and churchyards clarified

Under the proposals, legal ownership of clergy housing, churches and churchyards would transfer to the Diocesan Board of Finance on terms that would safeguard the interests of the local parish and the occupants of clergy housing.

 

Although clergy with freehold are technically the legal owners, their rights are currently qualified in all kinds of ways (such as not being able to sell or alter the parsonage house without obtaining appropriate consents). Many of the obligations that go with ownership have already been transferred to other bodies, such as the Parochial Church Council or the Diocesan Board of Finance.

 

Professor McClean said: “The clergy have never ‘owned’ this property in the way that a typical houseowner owns their house. They do not benefit if its value rises. They do not have to pay if it needs repair. We want to protect clergy interests but to describe them in straightforward language without the inappropriate notion of ownership.”

 

Diocesan Boards of Finance would hold the church, churchyard and housing as ‘benefice property’ subject to existing Church laws.  The right of clergy and Parochial Church Councils to make representations concerning the future plans for such property (in particular the clergy house) would be retained, as well as their existing responsibilities for repair and maintenance.

 

Next Steps

If the proposals are welcomed by Synod, they will be passed to dioceses for debate before they are translated into legislation and brought into effect nationwide. There is a proposed consultation period until July during which representations can be made.

 

The report can be read here