Repair of Benefice Buildings Measure 1972

Miscellaneous and GeneralE

20 Felling of trees.E

(1)Any trees included in the current list scheduled to the report of the diocesan surveyor under section 4(3) of this Measure in respect of a parsonage house shall not be felled, lopped or topped without the consent of the Board, F1. . .

Provided that this subsection shall not apply if the felling, lopping or topping is necessary to avoid immediate danger to the occupants of the parsonage house or [F2any other] building or to the general public.

(2)If any such trees are felled, lopped or topped in contravention of this section or any such timber is felled in contravention thereof, the Board may by notice require the incumbent or his personal representative to pay to the Board the amount of any resulting depreciation, as estimated by a diocesan surveyor, of the parsonage house or, as the case may be, the net value of the timber, or such part of that amount or value as the Board think fit, and, if the notice is not complied with, the Board may take proceedings for the enforcement thereof:

Provided that in any such proceedings it shall be open to the defendant to show that the contravention did not cause any depreciation of the parsonage house or that the timber had no net value or that the amount required to be paid exceeds the amount of the depreciation or value, and judgment may be given accordingly.

F3(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F3(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(5)The consent of the [F4registered patron] or ordinary shall not be necessary for any felling in accordance with this section.

(6)The net proceeds of any such felling and any moneys recovered by the Board under subsection (2) of this section may be applied for the purpose of planting new trees, and so far as they are not so applied, shall F5. . . be F6. . . treated in the same way as the net proceeds of the demolition of outbuildings of a parsonage house . . . F7, under section 19(4) of this Measure.

(7)Where the expense to the incumbent of felling, lopping or topping any trees in accordance with this section exceeds the proceeds thereof, the Board may defray the amount of the excess.

Textual Amendments

F4Words in s. 20(5) substituted (1.10.2006) by Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2006 (No. 1), ss. 9, 16(2); S.I. 2006/2, Instrument made by Archbishops

21 Additions and alterations to parsonage houses and glebe buildings.E

(1)An incumbent shall not make any additions or alterations to the buildings of a parsonage house . . . F8[F9until after he has F10. . .obtained the consent of the Board], and if he does so, the Board may by notice require him or his personal representative to restore the buildings to the condition in which they were before, and, on receipt of the notice, the incumbent or his personal representative shall restore the buildings as directed by the notice.

(2)If the incumbent or his personal representative refuses or neglects to comply with the notice, the Board may, if they think fit, execute such works as may be necessary to restore the buildings as aforesaid, and the powers of entry conferred by section 11 of this Measure shall apply for that purpose, and the cost of the works shall be recoverable as a debt due to the Board from the incumbent or his personal representative.

(3)Before refusing their consent under this section, the Board shall give notice to the incumbent of their intention to do so F11...

[F12(4)Before making additions or alterations to the buildings of a parsonage house the incumbent shall consult the registered patron (as defined in section 39(1) of the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986), if any, of the benefice and, in the case of a parsonage house which is occupied by a person who is a member of the team in a team ministry established by a pastoral scheme under the Pastoral Measure 1983 and not by the incumbent, that person also.]

[F13(5)Any notice under this section shall inform the incumbent or the person or representative as the case may be, of the right to make representations and the date by which the representations must be made, which shall be not less than one month from the date on which the notice is sent, and section 4(5) above shall apply to the consideration of any representations duly made and the Board shall then decide whether or not to proceed with the notice.]

Textual Amendments

F11Words in s. 21(3) omitted (1.6.2005) by virtue of Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2005 (No. 3), s. 11(2), Sch. 2 para. 11(a); S.I. 2005/2, Instrument made by Archbishops

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14E

Textual Amendments

23 Board to be informed and to advise and negotiate on matters affecting benefice property.E

The incumbent of a benefice shall keep the Board informed of matters affecting buildings and land belonging to the benefice, other than churches, and in particular of matters arising from any notice given to him by a Government department, local or public authority, public utility undertakers or, in the case of property held on a lease or tenancy, the landlord of the property; and the Board shall, at the request of the incumbent, advise on or undertake negotiations in respect of any such matters.

24 Guidance by Commissioners.E

The Commissioners may at any time seek information from, and give advice to, the Board on any matter concerning their functions under this and any other Measure, and the Board shall provide such information and have regard to such advice.

25 Charities.E

Where the purposes of a charity include the repair of parsonage houses, either generally or in a particular locality or as respects a particular parsonage house, the funds of the charity shall continue to be applicable to that purpose, notwithstanding the transfer of responsibility for such repair to the Board.

26 Application of Measure during vacancies.E

(1)During a vacancy in a benefice the provisions of this Measure, except section 13(1) and (4), shall apply to that benefice as if for the references to the incumbent there were substituted references to the sequestrators or, if the benefice is not under sequestration, to the bishop of the diocese:

Provided that any liability arising under the said provisions as so applied shall be discharged out of [F15moneys in the hands of the sequestrators or out of] the income of the benefice arising during the vacancy and shall not be a personal liability of the sequestrators or the bishop.

(2)Where, during the period between the sending of a report of a diocesan surveyor to the incumbent or the sequestrators or bishop and the confirming of the report under section 4 of this Measure, a vacancy occurs or is filled, the right to make representations and to meet the Board or a committee or representative of the Board shall, so far as they have not already been exercised, devolve on the sequestrators or bishop or the new incumbent, as the case may be.

(3),(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F16

Textual Amendments

27 Notices and other documents.E

(1)All notices, consents, reports, orders, directions or requests required or authorised by this Measure to be given or made shall be in writing, and any such document or copy thereof may be served, sent or given to any person or body by delivering it to him or to the secretary of the body, or by leaving it at the proper address of that person or body, or by post.

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F17

(3)For the purposes of this section and of [F18section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978] in its application to this section, the proper address shall, in the case of a body, be the registered or principal office thereof, and in any other case be the last known address of the person concerned.

Textual Amendments

28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F19E

Textual Amendments

29 Transfer to Board of functions of Diocesan Dilapidations Board.E

As soon as the Board is appointed or designated under section 1 of this Measure, the functions of the Diocesan Dilapidations Board for that diocese shall be exercisable by the Board, and the Diocesan Dilapidations Board (if a separate body) shall thereupon be dissolved, and for references in any Measure to a Diocesan Dilapidations Board and to surveyors appointed by them there shall be substituted, as respects that diocese, references to the Board and surveyors appointed by the Board.

30 Schemes of diocesan synods.E

[F20(1)A copy of any scheme made by a diocesan synod under this Measure shall be sent to the Commissioners and filed in the diocesan registry.]

(2)The duties and powers of diocesan synods to provide by scheme for the matters specified in this Measure may be exercised by a single scheme or by separate schemes, and any scheme may be varied, revoked or replaced by a subsequent scheme made and approved in like manner.

(3)Any such scheme may contain such supplementary and incidental provisions as may be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the scheme, and may provide that the scheme shall come into operation on a specified date, and may specify different dates for different provisions or different areas.

Textual Amendments

31 Interpretation. E

(1)In this Measure, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:—

  • “benefice” means the office of a rector or vicar of a parish or parishes, with cure of souls, but not including the office of a vicar in a team ministry;

  • “building” includes part of a building;

  • “buildings of a benefice” means any parsonage house . . . F21;

  • “the commencement of this Measure” means, in relation to a diocese, the coming into operation of this Measure on the day appointed for that diocese under the next following section;

  • “the Commissioners” means the Church Commissioners;

  • “Diocesan Board of Finance” means, in relation to a diocese, the Board of that name constituted under the M1Diocesan Board of Finance Measure 1925 for that diocese;

  • “Diocesan Dilapidations Board” means, in relation to a diocese, the Board constituted under the M2Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Measure 1923 for that diocese;

  • [F22 “ diocesan glebe land ” has the same meaning as in [F23the Church Property Measure 2018]]

  • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F24

  • “improvement”, in relation to any building, includes enlargement and reduction in size (whether by division or otherwise);

  • “parsonage house” means a residence vested in the incumbent of a benefice (when the benefice is full), being his official residence . . . F21, except a residence held under a lease which makes the landlord wholly or mainly responsible for the repairs, and includes the buildings, gardens, orchards, paddock, walls, fences, and appurtenances necessary for the convenient occupation of the residence, and for the purposes of this definition the separate letting of a part of the residence shall not be deemed to exclude it from the residence unless it is excluded by a certificate of the bishop under section 11 of the M3Parsonages Measure 1938;

  • [F25 “ registered patron ” has the same meaning as in the Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986 ]

  • “repairs” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2 of this Measure.

  • [F26 “ team vicar’s house ” means a residence vested in a Diocesan Board of Finance F27 . . ., being the designated residence of a vicar in a team ministry established for a benefice under section 19 of the Pastoral Measure 1968, except a residence held under a lease which makes the landlord wholly or mainly responsible for the repairs, and includes the buildings, gardens, orchards, paddocks, walls, fences and appurtenances necessary for the convenient occupation of the residence. ]

[F28(2)This Measure shall, so far as applicable, apply to a team vicar’s house as it applies to a parsonage house with the omission of references to the [F29registered patron] and to a previous incumbent, and with the substitution, for references to the incumbent, of references to the Diocesan Board of Finance in which the house is vested and the vicar, except that—

(a) in sections 9, 12(3), 13(5), 15(1)( a ) and 16(2), the references shall be to that Board only;

(b) in sections 4(1)( b ), 11 and 13(1) and (4), the references shall be to the vicar only; and

(c)in sections 20(2) and 21(2), the references shall be to such one of them as is responsible for the contravention in question.]

(3)Any reference in this Measure to any Act or Measure shall be construed as a reference to that Act or Measure as amended by any subsequent Measure.

Textual Amendments

F27S. 31(1): Words in s. 31(1) repealed (1.1.1999) by 1998 No. 1, s. 13(1), Sch. 5 para. 3; Instrument dated 14.10.98 made by Archbishops of Canterbury and York

F29Words in s. 31(2) substituted (1.10.2006) by Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2006 (No. 1), ss. 9, 16(2); S.I. 2006/2, Instrument made by Archbishops

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2Meaning of “parsonage house” extended by Endowments and Glebe Measure 1976 (No. 4), s. 33

Marginal Citations

F3032 Commencement of Measure. E

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F30S. 32 repealed (22.7.2004) by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2004 (c. 14), Sch. 1 Pt. 6 Group 2(2)

33 Saving for Planning Acts.E

Nothing in this Measure shall be taken as authorising or requiring the carrying out of any works otherwise than in accordance with the M4Town and Country Planning Acts 1962 and M51969.

Marginal Citations

34 Transitional Provisions.E

The transitional provisions set out in Schedule 1 to this Measure shall have effect for the purpose of the transition from the provisions of the Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Measures 1923 to 1951 to the provisions of this Measure.

35 Repeals. E

The Acts and Measures specified in Schedule 2 to this Measure arehereby repealed to the extent specified in column 3 of that Schedule.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C3The text of s. 35 and Sch. 2 is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991.

36 Short title and extent.E

(1)This Measure may be cited as the Repair of Benefice Buildings Measure 1972.

(2)This Measure shall extend to the whole of the provinces of Canterbury and York, except the Channel Islands and the diocese of Sodor and Man, but may be applied to the Channel Islands, as defined in the Channel Islands (Church Legislation) Measures 1931 and 1957 or either of them, in accordance with those Measures.