What recent discussions the Church Commissioners have had with clergymen on thefts from churches.

The Archbishops Council has had extensive discussions with parishes and dioceses about the most significant type of church theft, which is the theft of lead from church roofs. This is a serious problem and the Church is working with the police and insurers to try to solve it.

I welcome Andrew Mackinlay to his new position on the Front Bench—[Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] It is obviously a popular appointment.

Everyone who lives in a rural community has a role to play in being vigilant and trying to prevent such thefts. I am especially concerned about the financial impact on churches, and it will continue to be a problem as long as lead and other mineral prices remain as high as they are. Can Sir Stuart Bell say anything about the impact on insurance premiums and the general life of the church, given that predicament?

Guidance on those matters can be found on the websites of Churchcare and the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, and is also available from the National Churchwatch scheme and Church House. Ecclesiastical Insurance has invented a marking product called SmartWater that can trace recovered metal to its owner and link the thief to the scene of the crime. A free security marking system is also available to parishes. We are trying to keep our churches open and to keep people coming to them, but we recognise the difficulties and dangers involved. We hope that the methods being introduced by Ecclesiastical Insurance will help to reduce theft, in both rural and city areas.

The theft of lead and other metals from churches in the Kettering constituency is a growing problem, and there was recently a theft from Wheatley parish church. At what level among senior police officers have the Church Commissioners been having discussions? What discussions have been taking place with senior representatives of the scrap metal industry to control the lead and other metal that is brought to scrap yards for recycling, and to find out where it has come from?

All thefts are reported to the police, with whom there is close liaison. I hope that it is of some slight comfort to the hon. Gentleman that, although the problem of stolen lead is getting more serious, the amount of theft of other church fixtures has declined. He asks a pertinent question about scrap metal, and we hope that the marking product being introduced will help us, with the aid of scrap metal merchants, to track both the material that has been stolen and the people who stole it.