Overview
- In a letter reported this weekend, 27 MPs and peers pressed Dame Sarah Mullally to block the transfer before she is confirmed as Archbishop in January.
- The Church Commissioners plan to move £100 million to a new Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice as an ex gratia payment under Section 106 of the Charities Act, with the Charity Commission understood to have held informal talks.
- The signatories, led by shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam and including Chris Philp, Claire Coutinho, Neil O’Brien and several peers, say the endowment’s purposes cover parish ministry, church buildings and historic records.
- Opponents warn the proposal would divert money from struggling churches and could set a precedent encouraging other institutions to pursue similar schemes.
- The Church Commissioners defend the commitment as aligned with the Church’s mission, stating the fund would invest in support for communities affected by historic African chattel enslavement under governance designed to comply with charity law.