Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | measure 2009 No. 1 |
Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Measure 2009
A Measure passed by the General Synod of the Church of England to make new provision for the terms of service of the holders of ecclesiastical offices; and for purposes connected therewith.
[2nd April 2009]
1 Common Tenure
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, this Measure shall apply to each of the following holders of ecclesiastical offices—
(a) the Archbishops of Canterbury and York;
(b) any diocesan bishop;
(c) any suffragan bishop;
(d) any dean, residentiary canon or other person in holy orders holding a stipendiary office in a cathedral;
(e) any archdeacon;
(f) any incumbent;
(g) any person in holy orders who exercises his or her office or ministry in accordance with a licence from the bishop of the diocese in which the office is exercised issued under any Canon of the Church of England; and
(h) any deaconess, reader or lay worker who exercises his or her office or ministry in accordance with a licence from the bishop of the diocese in which the office is exercised issued under any Canon of the Church of England and who receives a stipend or other emoluments of office (including the provision of accommodation) in respect of his or her office,
who—
(i) in the case of any such person as is referred to in paragraphs (a), (g) and (h) above, holds office on or is appointed to his or her office after the coming into force of this section,
(ii) in the case of any residentiary canon appointed for a term of years, holds office on the coming into force of this section, and
(iii) in the case of any other person referred to in this subsection, holds office on the coming into force of this section and has agreed to the application of this Measure to him or her in accordance with subsections (4) and (5) below or is appointed to his or her office after the coming into force of this section.
(2) Any person to whom this Measure applies shall hold his or her office in accordance with terms of service specified in Regulations.
(3) The terms of service under which persons to whom this Measure applies hold office shall be known as Common Tenure.
(4) As soon as practicable after the coming into force of this section—
(a) each archbishop shall notify, in writing, every diocesan bishop holding office in his province on that date, and
(b) each diocesan bishop shall notify, in writing, each suffragan bishop and every person referred to in subsection (1)(d) to (f) above (other than a person referred to in sub-paragraph (ii) of that subsection) holding office in his diocese on that date,
requesting him or her to indicate whether or not that person agrees to the application of this Measure to him or her and, if so, to make a declaration in writing to that effect.
(5) As soon as the archbishop or, as the case may be, the bishop has received a declaration in accordance with subsection (4) above this Measure shall, with immediate effect, apply to the person who made the declaration and that person shall be informed, in writing, accordingly.
2 Regulations
(1) The Archbishops' Council shall, in accordance with the following provisions of this section, by Regulations make provision for the terms of service of persons holding office under Common Tenure (in this Measure referred to as "office holders").
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above Regulations may—
(a) provide, in such circumstances as may be specified in the Regulations, for appointments of limited duration;
(b) confer rights and obligations on office holders and other persons and bodies, including protection for office holders against unfair dismissal;
(c) provide for the terms on which housing is provided for office holders and for the respective rights, powers and obligations of office holders and the providers of housing to them;
(d) provide for procedures to assess the performance of office holders, including remedies for inadequate performance;
(e) provide for rights of review or appeal and the use of employment tribunals to adjudicate on disputes;
(f) provide for specified persons or bodies to be responsible for bringing or defending proceedings and for the payment of costs, expenses and compensation; and
(g) provide for different cases and circumstances and contain transitional, incidental and consequential provisions.
(3) Regulations may apply, amend or adapt any enactment or instrument.
(4) If Regulations make provision, in accordance with subsection (2)(e) above, for the use of employment tribunals, the tribunals shall have jurisdiction in respect of proceedings for which the Regulations make provision and section 2 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (c. 17)
shall have effect as if the jurisdiction conferred thereby included jurisdiction conferred by or under a Measure.
(5) A draft of any Regulations proposed to be made shall be laid before the General Synod and, if they are approved by the General Synod, whether with or without amendment, the draft Regulations as so approved shall be referred to the Archbishops' Council.
(6) Where draft Regulations are referred to the Archbishops' Council under subsection (5) above then—
(a) if they have been approved by the General Synod without any amendment, the Archbishops' Council shall, by applying its seal, make the Regulations;
(b) if they have been approved by the General Synod with amendment, the Archbishops' Council may either—
(i) by applying its seal make the Regulations as so amended, or
(ii) withdraw the draft Regulations for further consideration in view of any amendment by the General Synod;
and the Regulations shall not come in to force until they have been sealed by the Archbishops' Council.
(7) Where the Business Committee of the General Synod determines that draft Regulations do not need to be debated by the General Synod, then, unless—
(a) notice is given by a member of the General Synod in accordance with its Standing Orders that he or she wishes the draft Regulations to be debated, or
(b) notice is so given by any such member that he or she wishes to move an amendment to the draft Regulations,
the draft Regulations shall, for the purposes of subsections (5) and (6) above, be deemed to have been approved by the General Synod without amendment.
(8) The Statutory Instruments Act 1946 (c. 36)
shall apply to any Regulations sealed by the Archbishops' Council under subsection (6) above as if they were a statutory instrument and were made when sealed by the Archbishops' Council, and as if this Measure were an Act providing that any such Regulations shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
3 Duration of appointments
(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, an office holder other than an archbishop or a bishop may resign his or her office by giving written notice not less than three months before the resignation is to take place to the bishop of the diocese in which the post is held.
(2) Any notice required to be given under subsection (1) above may be waived by agreement between the office holder and the diocesan bishop.
(3) The term of office of a person who holds office under Common Tenure shall be terminated only—
(a) on the death of the office holder;
(b) on attaining the retirement age specified in relation to that office in section 1 of the Ecclesiastical Offices (Age Limit) Measure 1975 (1975 No. 2) or on the expiration for any period which the office holder is permitted to continue in office after the retirement age under section 2 or 3 of that Measure;
(c) where the office ceases to exist in consequence of a pastoral scheme or order made under the Pastoral Measure 1983 (1983 No. 1) or reorganisation scheme made under Part II of the Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure 2007 (2007 No. 1);
(d) where the office holder is removed from office following a finding of guilt for an offence under Part VI of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 (1963 No. 1) or under any provision of the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 (2003 No. 3);
(e) where the term is fixed or is otherwise limited, on the expiry of the term or the occurrence of the event in question, as the case may be; or
(f) under subsection (4), (5) or (6) below or subsection (1) above.
(4) The bishop of the diocese in which an office holder referred to in section 1(1)(g) or (h) of this Measure holds office may revoke the office holder's licence to exercise the office only in accordance with the capability procedures or in accordance with the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 (1963 No. 1) or the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 (2003 No. 3) or, in the case of a priest-in-charge appointed to a benefice during a vacancy, when the vacancy comes to an end.
(5) Where a licence has been granted by a diocesan bishop to a person to exercise an office which is held by the office holder in connection with employment under a contract of employment the bishop may revoke the licence if that contract is terminated and the term of office of the office holder shall, thereupon, be terminated.
(6) Where there has been an adjudication on a matter relating to the performance of an office holder under the capability procedures...
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