Part of The Right Hon. Member for Meriden, Representing the Church Commissioners, Was Asked – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 July 2017.
Kerry McCarthy
Labour, Bristol East
12:00,
20 July 2017
I thank the right hon. Lady for that response. As she will know, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the president of Feeding Britain, and I was pleased to be able to launch its latest pilot in Bristol on Friday. I appreciate the work that churches are doing in providing food banks, and the other work that she outlined. What more can they do to lobby the Government on the underlying causes of food poverty that cause people to resort to such measures?
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 household is said to be in fuel poverty when its members cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost, given their income.