David Hanson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Hanson on 2016-02-19.

To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what the average hourly earnings for their (a) female and (b) male (i) full-time and (ii) part-time employees was in each of the last five years.

Mrs Caroline Spelman

The following information relates to employees of the Church of England’s National Church Institutions (NCIs). Senior salaries, gender and race information are published each year in the annual reports of Archbishops’ Council, Pensions Board and Church Commissioners.

Women make up 55% of the total workforce and hold just over 40% of the roles at a senior level. Most roles fit into a pay banding structure which pays the same for equivalent jobs in each band. The equal pay draft regulations have just been published and the NCIs will be reporting in line with the requirements when they have been passed into law.

Clergy officeholders, as distinct from employees, are paid a stipend rather than a salary. For information female and male Bishops in office receive the same level of stipend. All other clergy officeholder stipends are based on a national stipend benchmark which is set by post and is the same for female and male clergy in each diocese.