CAP warns of fear of turning on the heating
THE Government should use the forthcoming Budget to supply urgent support to be certain that households with energy arrears will not be “terrified” of turning on the heating this winter, the charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has warned. Its chief executive, Stewart McCulloch, said: “Energy costs are considered one of our clients’ biggest fears, and this month’s price rise is one other huge blow to individuals who already can’t afford their electricity and gas.” CAP recommends the introduction of an energy-support scheme to incorporate writing off bills for households that haven’t any prospect of paying off debts; reducing debt-deduction rates from advantages; and reviewing the speed of social security and the minimum wage.
Extend Listed Places of Worship scheme, urges NCT
THE chair of the National Churches Trust, Sir Philip Rutnam, has written to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, urging the Government to increase the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which is resulting from expire on 31 March 2025. Under the terms of the scheme, established in 2001, VAT on eligible repairs or alterations costing greater than £1000 to a listed place of worship will be reclaimed. In its letter to Ms Reeves, dated 4 October, the charity says that the fee of the scheme is “typically £25-40 million a yr”. “But its strategic significance goes far beyond this — I’d urge the Government to renew the scheme for an additional three years as a consequence.” Sir Philip wrote a letter to The Times this week, which he posted on X. The Bishop of Bristol, the Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, replied: “I agree, and can proceed to press this point in Westminster.”
Vicar sentenced for child-sex offences
THE Vicar of All Saints’, Stoneycroft, in Liverpool diocese, the Revd Andrew James Howard Leatherbarrow, who’s 56, has been given a 12-month suspended prison sentence and 30 days of rehabilitation, at Liverpool Crown Court, on Monday, after he pleaded guilty to 2 counts of attempting to interact in sexual communication with a baby (News, 6 September). He was charged for the offences last yr. Mr Leatherbarrow, of Saints Close, Old Swan, Liverpool, was suspended after his arrest in February 2023. On Wednesday, a diocesan spokesperson said that Mr Leatherbarrow can be “subject to an internal disciplinary from the Church of England which is more likely to conclude quite swiftly. He has already resigned from his post at All Saints’ Church, Stoneycroft, and now not resides on the vicarage.” The Bishop of Liverpool, Dr John Perumbalath, welcomed the sentence and confirmed that he can be accepting Mr Leatherbarrow’s resignation.
Bill for ladies Lords Spiritual unamended
THE Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill has been waved through its Committee and Report Stage with no amendments tabled. Its Third Reading was on Tuesday. The Bill will extend rules that be certain that vacant seats on the Bishops’ Bench are filled by women bishops if an eligible female diocesan bishop is accessible (News, 2 August). There are exceptions for the five sees — Canterbury, York, London, Durham, and Winchester — that carry an automatic entitlement to a seat within the Lords. In accordance with the Bishoprics Act of 1878, the remaining 21 seats would normally be filled on the idea of seniority, the length of tenure. Six women bishops have been enabled to take a seat within the Lords for the reason that 2015 Act got here into force (News, 23 January 2015). The original laws is resulting from expire in May 2025; the proposed extension is to May 2030.
Show-and-tell bomb scare at St Paul’s, Withington
A SHOW-AND-TELL coffee morning at St Paul’s, Withington, in Manchester, on Wednesday of last week, became the scene of a bomb scare, after a visitor brought in explosive devices believed to be shells from the First World War. Organisers called the local fire station for advice, police bomb-disposal experts were brought in, and traffic was diverted around a 25-metre cordon across the church. One of the church’s curates, the Revd Cate Allison, told the BBC that the situation had been “handled safely” — the devices were taken away and destroyed in a controlled environment. The Bishop of Manchester, Dr David Walker, posted on X: “Fortunately, bomb disposal doesn’t fall under Clergy duties, but Cate showed how speaking calmly right into a tense situation, and thanking the experts who handled the problem does.”
Route to family reunion for child refugees ‘prohibitive’
THE sustained interest within the Refugees (Family Reunion) Bill “should tell us something: that the present path to family reunion is unduly restrictive and prohibitive”, the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, said during its Second Reading within the House of Lords, last Friday. Government data showed that there have been greater than 7000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children within the care of local authorities within the UK in 2023, of whom 141 were in his diocese. “Despite the very best efforts of dedicated professionals and public agencies, the care system is solely not the fitting place to deal with children, least of all children in search of asylum. It is deeply regrettable that so many are in care once they have relations only too willing to come back and take care of them — if the family reunion routes only made that possible.” He concluded: “Of course borders have to be managed. The strains on host communities are real, and we should always not minimise or overlook them. Resources are needed to assist host communities and incomers to live with dignity side by side and integrate well. However, the fact is that families will be separated on their journeys to safety, and we strengthen communities after we strengthen families.” The Bill, from Lib-Dem peer Baroness Hamwee, moves to Committee Stage.
Lake District solar-panel appeal dismissed
THE Planning Inspectorate has dismissed an appeal to put in 28 solar panels on the roof of St Anne’s, Ings, despite a school granted this yr by the Consistory Court of the diocese of Carlisle (News, 7 June). St Anne’s is a Grade II* listed Georgian church in-built 1743. Last November, the Lake District National Park Authority, the local planning authority, had refused planning consent. Normally, this is able to make the pursuit of a school redundant; however the petitioners, two churchwardens and a PCC member, intended to appeal. This appeal was rejected. A report from the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week acknowledged the intention to enhance the “long-term financial and environmental sustainability” of the church but “identified harm to the importance of this necessary listed constructing”.
Carlisle Cathedral marks Safeguarding Season
THE Chapel of St Mary and St Catherine in Carlisle Cathedral has been “put aside as a spot of prayer, reflection, and response” during Safeguarding Season, which runs until Sunday. A post on the cathedral’s Facebook page said: “Thank you to everyone who has visited this space and added a ribbon to our Prayer Tree or visited the Souls of the Shoes’ exhibition, which highlights the voices of those that have been silenced by domestic abuse.”
Correction: the Revd Dr Callan was elected as the brand new chair of Church Together in England by CTE members represented on its Enabling Group, not, as we incorrectly stated in a news briefly last week, by the trustees. We apologise for the error.
