– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 February 1964.
Mr John Arbuthnot
, Dover
I beg to move,
That I he Church commissioners (Loans for Theological Colleges and Training Houses) Measure 1964, passed by the National Assembly of the Church of England, be presented to Her Majesty for Her Royal Assent in the form in which the said Measure was laid before Parliament.
This Measure has passed through the Church Assembly with no Opposition. It follows the lines of the Measure of 1931, which enables the Church Commissioners to make similar loans for Church training colleges. The need for a Measure at all lies in the fact that the loans are not made on the security of the colleges but are simply on the security of an undertaking by the Assembly to repay the capital and interest over a period of years. The market rate of interest is charged, so that the making of such loans can have no adverse effect on the incomes of the clergy.
Matters concerning the established Church of England are dealt with at Question Time by a parliamentary representative of the church commissioners.
The church commissioner's role is to answer any parliamentary questions relating to the Church of England in the same way that a government minister may face questions about a particular government department.
The Second Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the crown and is traditionally a backbench member of the party in government. The appointment lasts for the duration of the Parliament.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
