Oral Answers to Questions — Church Commissioners – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 January 2001.
Anne McIntosh
Conservative, Vale of York
12:00,
22 January 2001
What progress has been made towards reducing VAT on church repairs; and if he will make a statement. [144813]
Stuart Bell
Second Church Estates Commissioner
As the hon. Lady knows, we welcomed the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the exchequer last November. I know that the Church of England VAT group seeks to work with those agencies and others who will seek to implement the proposed reduction in VAT. This involves negotiation with the European Commission and the necessary steps should already have been taken to ensure that this matter is rapidly put in hand.
Anne McIntosh
Conservative, Vale of York
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that reply and congratulate him on the support that he has lent to the campaign. Will he push it one stage further? Contrary to the advice of my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Ruffley), in my view, no change in the law is required. We need to convince people that churches are indeed historic buildings and that it is more appropriate to reduce the VAT on repairs than to employ alternative methods of raising revenue, such as affixing mobile phone masts to church spires.
Stuart Bell
Second Church Estates Commissioner
I am grateful to the hon. Lady, although it may be too close to a General Election for me to congratulate her again on her role in the campaign. I agree with her assessment, and it may well be possible for the European Commission, through the European Union, to use derogation to achieve the reduction from 17.5 per cent. to 5 per cent. Hon. Members of all parties will work to achieve that outcome.
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 chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
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Like the Parliament and Council, the European Commission was set up in the 1950s under the EU’s founding treaties.
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