Oral Answers to Questions — Church Commissioners – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 21 November 2005.
David Taylor
Labour, North West Leicestershire
2:30,
21 November 2005
What assessment the commissioners have made of the likely impact on Church finances of the establishment of diocesan trusts to run local secondary schools.
David Lammy
Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) (Culture)
The commissioners have made no such assessment. I know that the Church has expressed an interest in the possibility of establishing such trusts, but it would be for dioceses to decide whether to set up a trust, and for schools to decide whether they wished to be associated with the Church in that way.
David Taylor
Labour, North West Leicestershire
While I am relaxed about 25 per cent. of state primaries being Church schools, I am very concerned about the planned doubling of Church secondary schools. That could be calamitous for community cohesion, as we have seen in Northern Ireland. Can my hon. Friend the Minister assure me that Church House enthusiasts for the white paper will be reined back, and that Anglicans will not be complicit in the metropolitan meddling of Andrew Adonis, which could end up with schools being totally segregated from the mainstream society that they are designed to serve?
David Lammy
Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) (Culture)
I can certainly assure my hon. Friend that I will pass on his views to the chief education officer for the Archbishops Council.
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.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
