Church of England: National Register of Clergy

The National Register of the Church’s clergy with a licence or Permission to Officiate (PTO) is now publicly available on the Church of England website. Extracts from the Press Notice are reproduced below.


“The Register is an important development in strengthening safeguarding in the Church and was a recommendation in the 2017 Gibb Report which looked into the Church’s handling of allegations against the late Bishop Peter Ball.

Having a single, reliable, up to date register will enable clergy, churchwardens, and members of the public to check the bona fides of all clergy with licence or permission to officiate.

The National Register shows an individual’s title and name, how they are engaged with the Church of England (current post/licence) and the diocese, area or benefice to which they are licensed. The Register does not include contact, biographical or historical information.

At the time of launch, the National Register includes those who are ordained, expanding to include lay ministry in due course.

[…]

The National Register contains information about thousands of clergy. If anyone on the Register believes that an element of their entry is not correct, they should contact their diocesan office or email the People System team.

The Register is part of a wider programme of work to bring people data, systems and processes together across the Church of England. The information presented in the National Register is held in a people system which will, in time, also hold a range of data on lay staff of Church bodies, including the National Church Institutions. As such it contains standard demographic questions, which are optional, for all users. As well as being the data source for the National Register, the people system will also manage the payment of clergy stipends.

Notes to editors

The National Register is one of the recommendations in the 2017 Gibb Report into the case of the late Peter Ball, setting out necessary steps to ensure safeguarding in the Church is of the highest possible standard. The changes relate to Recommendation 11 (b):

The Church should introduce arrangements for a national register of clergy with PTO.

The Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2020, which states that personal data regarding public ministry must be given to the Archbishops’ Council for the purpose of providing a National Register of Ministry, received Royal Assent in March 2020.  The relevant regulation covering the information that will be published was passed at General Synod in November 2020, under The National Ministry Register (Clergy) Regulations 2020.”


Comments on this post are closed; it is for information only, and any queries should be directed to the Church of England, as indicated above. 

Cite this article as: David Pocklington, "Church of England: National Register of Clergy" in Law & Religion UK, 12 May 2021, https://lawandreligionuk.com/2021/05/12/church-of-england-national-register-of-clergy/

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