Christians against Poverty

Church Commissioners written question – answered at on 13 December 2018.

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Photo of Gregory Campbell Gregory Campbell Shadow DUP Spokesperson (International Development), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)

To ask the Right Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of contributions to churches helping run Christians Against Poverty Centres in the 2018-19 financial year.

Photo of Caroline Spelman Caroline Spelman The Second Church Estates Commissioner, Chair, Draft Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Bill Committee, The Second Church Estates Commissioner

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a charity independent of the Church of England. CAP run over 1,000 debt advice centres across the country supporting individuals and families in need. The work of CAP has recently been evaluated by the LSE and its report concluded that the benefit of CAP's work to society was over £31.5million per year, in return for an annual expenditure of £8.7 million.

More information about the report can be found here: https://capuk.org/connect/policy-and-government/never-just-a-number

The parishes of the Church of England often partner with organisations such as Christians Against Poverty to provide a range of services to support their local communities. The Church of England recently surveyed its parishes and discovered that 80% of congregations are involved in one or more forms of social action. Data gathered from 13,000 churches shows that the biggest area of work is in food banks - with 60%, or nearly 8,000 churches - involved in either running or supporting food banks through volunteers, donations and providing venues.

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