Metals: Theft
Church Commissioners
Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, Labour)
To ask the hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what the cost was of metal theft from Church of England property in (a) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) the Diocese of York in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011.
Tony Baldry (Second Church Estates Commissioner; Banbury, Conservative)
The three Dioceses covering the areas specified in the question are Durham, Newcastle and York. The following figures have been obtained from Ecclesiastical Insurance which insures the majority of Churches in the country. They show the increase in claims for metal stolen from the church buildings for 2011 compared with 2010.
| £000 | ||
| 2010 | 2011 | |
| Durham | 85 | 87 |
| Newcastle | 24 | 32 |
| York | 71 | 115 |
The figures above do not include the cost to parishes in administrative support or the continued erosion of our national heritage.