How many listed vicarages and rectories the Church of England has sold in the last 10 years.

The information that the hon. Gentleman requests is not held centrally. However, since 2001, dioceses have been free to sell parsonages without any reference to the commissioners, so long as there are no objections, the sale meets standard criteria and the property is sold at full value.

I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I share the general nervousness of other hon. Members about the centralisation of the Church estate, and I hope that he will make those views known to the Synod. Of course I understand the problems of merging parishes, which can, in some areas, leave too many vicarages or houses tied to the Church. Will he also convey to the Synod the feeling, particularly in rural areas, that the temptation to sell off desirable houses and to separate the rectory or vicarage from the church in order to make a quick cash gain can have long-term negative implications for the local community?

The hon. Gentleman puts his finger on one of the problems of our era. How can the Church deal with the changing nature of our society in relation to the location of our parsonages and churches? The points that he has raised, which are related to other points raised today, will be taken into account by the Synod and by the Church generally.