A REVIEW of payroll systems at Church House, Westminster, is to be carried out after an error by a junior member of staff meant that pay day was delayed by 24 hours for 1000’s of the clergy.
Late on Tuesday evening, a transient email was sent to the Church of England’s stipendiary clergy — numbering about 7000 — by the director of finance, Mark Barker. It informed recipients: “As a results of human error, payments on account of clergy on Wednesday shall be delayed by 24 hours. We are sorry for any inconvenience this will likely cause. Any bank charges incurred in consequence will in fact be reimbursed.” Contact details were provided. The announcement was also published on the Church of England website.
As the evening progressed, word spread on social media, and a few of the clergy reported that that they had not received any email. A spokesman said on Wednesday that it may need been caught by spam filters or been sent to email addresses that had not been updated.
The response was certainly one of alarm, particularly among the many clergy who had scheduled direct-debit payments to depart their accounts on payday. Questions were also raised about how such an error had come to pass.
On Wednesday, a Church House spokesman said that the error had been made by a junior member of staff who had forgotten to finish a task. This had not been noticed until it was too late to repair the BACS process by which clergy are paid. Staff weren’t confident that an fast payment would work; so it was decided to speak the actual fact of a 24-hour delay to clergy. Bishops had been informed.
“We will fix whatever is broken,” he said. It would “only be fair” to assist clergy concerned in regards to the impact on their credit scores.
A review of systems would happen, he said. It was a junior one who had made the error and “a system ought to be in place to be sure that that, in the event that they do this, someone more senior catches it.” He said that the junior person wouldn’t lose their job.
The payments have now been made and can arrive in accounts on Thursday.
Bishops and other senior leaders responded swiftly to the news on Tuesday night. The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, was the primary to induce clergy “struggling” to get in contact with Bishop’s House “directly”.
The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, emailed all clergy early on Wednesday morning, writing that any in need of an “emergency payment today” could receive one from the diocese — before 5 p. m. if the request was received by noon.
The response was praised by the Team Rector of St Wilfrid’s, Harrogate, the Revd Gary Waddington, who has emailed inquiries to the Church Commissioners in his capability as a General Synod member. They include queries in regards to the nature of the payroll system in place, the extent of oversight provided by senior members of staff, and the support offered to the person liable for the error. He has asked that the First Church Estates Commissioner, Alan Smith, should make a press release in regards to the incident at this month’s Synod meeting.
The episode has raised questions on the extent to which clergy live “pay cheque to pay cheque”. The Clergy Support Trust is now supporting almost one in five serving C of E clergy.
