The Church of England has dropped plans to replace two of its national charities with a new one, after a parliamentary committee deemed them “not expedient”.
Last year, the national assembly of the Church of England voted for a measure designed to bring together the Archbishops’ Council and Church of England Central Services as part of a governance review.
Under the draft national church governance measure, which required parliamentary approval, both organisations would have been replaced by a new charity called the Church of England National Services (CENS).
CENS would have also taken over non-investment functions from the Church Commissioners (the Church of England’s investment arm) and most of those held by the offices of the archbishops of Canterbury and York.
However, in a letter sent to the General Synod’s members this month, William Nye says the assembly’s legislative committee had decided to withdraw the measure from consideration by the Ecclesiastical Committee.
Nye, who is secretary general of the Archbishops’ Council and General Synod, said the committee will not be seeking to reintroduce the measure to the assembly at its July 2026 meeting.
Safeguarding concerns
In his letter, Nye said the decision by the legislative committee “comes in response to the position taken by the Ecclesiastical Committee in December which deemed that the measure wasn’t expedient”.
He said the Ecclesiastical Committee expressed concerns about the breadth of CENS’s charitable purposes, the scope of its order-making powers, safeguarding arrangements and financial accountability.
“Members of that committee made clear that their primary concern was in relation to safeguarding, which it felt should be prioritised ahead of further engagement with governance reform,” Nye wrote.
He said the legislative committee had considered redrafting the proposals earlier this month but has now decided to withdraw the plans.
“In light of the Ecclesiastical Committee’s expressed position, and the absence of clarity that amendments would resolve its concerns, the committee concluded that reintroduction at this time would not be a simple or straightforward matter,” he said.
‘Disappointing news’
Nye said the legislative committee will report on the withdrawal of the measure to the General Synod in July.
He added that while the measure could still be reintroduced and amended by the synod in February 2027, “that level of delay could be damaging” for the work of the Church of England’s seven established institutions.
“The legislative committee also hopes that national church bodies will reflect upon what changes can be affected by non-legislative and other routes without the requirement for statute to give effect to the policy intention which the synod has overwhelmingly supported,” he said.
“Whilst this is disappointing news, we respect the decision of the Ecclesiastical Committee which is committed to a constructive scrutiny process and seeks to promote trust in the church’s governance.”
He urged the affected trustee bodies to review non-legislative opportunities to progress governance work over the coming months while the work on the future of safeguarding structures continues.
