Update on the attachment of the Channel Islands to the Diocese of Salisbury

DRAFT OF A MEASURE to make provision for enabling the attachment of the Channel Islands to the diocese of Salisbury; to make further provision for the application of Church Measures to the Channel Islands; and to make further provision for Church representation for the Channel Islands.

This will be coming up in next month’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod which meets from Monday 10 to Thursday 13 February in London.

If everything goes according to plan, the Order(s) in Council can be approved at the July 2020 Meeting of the Privy Council. 

Let's hope there are no problems or delays!

Here's some of the background notes with the measure.

Explanatory Notes

The Report of the Archbishop’s Commission on the relationship between the Channel Islands and the wider Church of England recommended that the Channel Islands (‘the Islands’) should be attached to the Diocese of Salisbury (instead of the Diocese of Winchester, as is currently the case) and that a Measure should be introduced to enable this change in oversight.

Further information about the background is contained in the Commission’s Report which is being circulated to members under the cover of GS Misc 1241.

The Draft Channel Islands Measure has been introduced in the Synod on the instructions of the Archbishops’ Council. It gives effect to the above recommendation of the Archbishop’s Commission by providing for the Islands to be attached to the Diocese of Salisbury by Order of Her Majesty in Council.

The Measure makes new provision to simplify the process for applying existing Measures to the Islands. It also makes minor and consequential amendments to other legislation.

At the request of the Archbishops’ Council, the Business Committee has made provision in the Agenda to enable all of the Synodical stages for the Measure to be taken at the February 2019 group of sessions.

Clauses

Clause 1(1) provides for Her Majesty by Order in Council to attach the Islands (referred to in the Measure for technical, legal reasons as ‘the Bailiwicks’) to the Diocese of Salisbury instead of to the Diocese of Winchester and to transfer the relevant episcopal jurisdiction from the Bishop of Winchester to the Bishop of Salisbury.

There is no prerogative power under English law to alter the extent of dioceses or to change episcopal jurisdiction. For the purposes of English law, the statutory power in clause 1 is therefore needed notwithstanding the prerogative powers Her Majesty has in respect of the Islands.

The changes provided for in the Measure will not take effect in the Islands until after the consents of their respective legislatures have been obtained.

The Measure does not set out the processes for obtaining the consent of the Islands’ legislatures to the making of Orders in Council. There are established processes for that purpose which involve the Islands’ legislatures approving the terms of a draft Order in Council prior to its being submitted to the Privy Council Office. Those processes will be followed in respect of Orders to be made for the purposes of the Measure.

Clause 1(2) to (5) makes provision for defining the term ‘the Bailiwicks’ that is used in the Measure to take account of the Islands’ particular territorial jurisdictions.

Clause 1(6) enables the attachment of the Islands to the Diocese of Salisbury, and the transfer of episcopal jurisdiction, to be achieved by a single Order in Council applying to both the Bailiwicks, or by two Orders, one for the Jersey Bailiwick and one for the Guernsey Bailiwick.

Clause 1(7) provides that an Order in Council may make consequential, supplementary, transitional or transitory provision.

Clause 1(8) makes it clear that if the attachment of the Islands to the diocese of Salisbury and the transfer of episcopal jurisdiction is carried out for both Bailiwicks under a single Order in Council, the Order may make different provision in relation to each Bailiwick so that any particular provision that may be required in relation to each Bailiwick may be made.

Synodical Procedure

At the request of the Archbishops’ Council, the Business Committee has allocated space in the Agenda so that all the Synodical stages for the Measure 4 can be taken at the February 2020 group of sessions. The Council made the request for the following reasons. 

First, the Measure is narrowly focussed in policy terms. The question is essentially whether the Islands should be attached to the Diocese of Salisbury. As the answer to that is either in the affirmative or the negative, there would be no detailed questions of policy to be considered by a revision committee. For the same reasons, there would not seem to be any need for several months to elapse between the Revision Stage in Full Synod and the Final Approval Stage to enable members to consider further whether they support the Measure. On that basis, it is unlikely that any advantage would be gained by spreading the various stages of the Measure over two or more groups of sessions. 

Secondly, the Archbishops’ Council, the Islands and the Diocese of Salisbury wish to progress matters as soon as reasonably possible. The recommendations in the report of the Archbishop’s Commission have been endorsed by the Deanery Synods of Jersey and Guernsey and by the Salisbury Diocesan Synod. No objection has been raised by the Diocese of Winchester. 

The Islands have been under temporary episcopal care for a number of years. Until the question of the transfer of the Islands to the Diocese of Salisbury is decided, the Islands are effectively in a state of suspension with only ad hoc arrangements for episcopal ministry and without the ability to plan for the future, in particular the future mission of the Church of England in the Islands. Important decisions concerning the Church in the Islands are unlikely to be taken until the question of transfer to Salisbury has been decided.

Timetable

If the Measure receives Final Approval at the February group of sessions it is intended to make arrangements so that the Parliamentary stages for the Measure are completed expeditiously so that Order(s) in Council can be approved at the July 2020 Meeting of the Privy Council. 

If the Measure does not receive Final Approval at the February group of sessions, it is unlikely – because of the Parliamentary recess – that it could complete its Parliamentary stages much earlier than Christmas 2020. 

Were that to be the case, the next meeting of the Privy Council at which Order(s) could be approved would not take place until February 2021 (as the Privy Council does not meet in January).