Chapter NIM02630
| Published date | 11 April 2016 |
| Record Number | NIM02630 |
| Court | HM Revenue & Customs |
When the Church of England voted to allow the ordination of women priests it was thought a number of individuals would resign from the Church on the grounds of conscience.
The Church, therefore, instructed the Church Commissioners for England to draw up a system of benefits to help clergy who felt they had no option but to resign.
Details of the schemeThe scheme was introduced in early 1994 under the Ordination of Women (Financial Provisions) Measure. This measure covers only the Church of England. No other Church is involved and the Measure does not cover the Anglican churches in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
To benefit from the Measure those resigning as a matter of conscience over the ordination of women priests must have resigned within the period commencing six months prior to, and ending 10 years after, the date of the Canon of the Church of England enabling a woman to be ordained to the office of priest coming into effect.
The Canon came into effect on 25 February 1994 so those resigning as a matter of conscience over the ordination of women priests must do so between 25 August 1993 and 24 February 2004 to benefit from this Measure.
At the time of resignation, the individual must have been in paid ecclesiastical service of not less than five years duration within the Province of Canterbury (including the Diocese of Europe) or the Province of York.
The two Provinces cover the whole of England, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man but nowhere else within Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Payments under the provisions of the Measure should only be made where the individual has resigned from ecclesiastical service over the ordination of women priests, and, as a result, ceases to hold employment or ecclesiastical office and ceases to receive remuneration in the form of either stipend or salary.
There is no restriction placed on where individuals who qualify to benefit from this Measure can live. This means that, although they must have been in paid ecclesiastical service of not less than five years duration within England, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Europe at the time of resignation, after resigning they are free to live where they choose.
Payments and grantsThere are three categories of payment which may arise from the Measure:
- periodical payments
- resettlement grants
- discretionary retraining grants.
These payments are described in more detail in the following...
To continue reading
Request your trial