CHURCHES. LEGISLATION ADVISORY SERVI( Registered Charity No 256303 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2023 DESCRIPTION OF TRusrs The Churche5' Legislation Advisory Servlce Came into existence on 8 March 2008 as the successor to the Churche5 Main Committee when the Charity Commission for England and Wales sealed the Scheme approving the changes. The object of the chartty is to advance the religious and other Charitable work of Its member5 by promotlng their common interests In matters relating to the delivery of thelr work. In pursuance of the oblect of the charfty, It5 Governorsnrustees have the followin8 powers.. 111 to prowde Information and general admce to members on issues such as those relatin8 to property, finance, tax, employment and charltable ststus and. when appropriate, to arrange meetings for this purpose. 121 to co-operate with churches, other faith groups and secular bodies and to exchange Information and general advice with them.. 131 to act as a liaison body between members and Government In the UK and Europe and other statutory authoritles, to conduci negotiations with those authorities relating to matters wlthln the charity's objett and to take such action as may be thought fit in response to these negotiations,. 141 to delegate the performance of any act, Includin8 the exercise of any power or discretion, to sub-committee consisting of any two or more of the governors. The governors must exercise reasonable supervision over the su￿CoMmittee and the sub-commlttee must promptly report thelr acts and proceedings to the 8ovemors,' 151 lo appoint staff (who must not be trusteesl and pay them reasonable remuneration, Includlng pension provlslon for them and their dependants,. and 161 to make rules and regulotions conslstent wilh the scheme for the management of the charlty, Including rules relatin8 to membership and the condutt of elections. ORGANISATIONAL STRucfvRE The membershlp of the Churches, Legislation Advlsory Service comprlses a wide ran8e of dtfferent Christian denominatlons and organisations in the United Kingdom, together with representation from the Orthodox Jewish community, as Members and Associate Members. It also includes a group of Professional Members consisting of solicitors and accountsnts who advise religious organisations. It operates through a group of Govemors- the trustees- elected by the Members, who meet three or fc Jr times a year under the chairmanshlp of a senior Bishop of the Church of England who has a seat in the House of Lords. The Chalrman is appointed by the Archblshop of Canterbury.. the other Governors are either elected at the Annual General Meeting or co-opted. The charity is servlced by a secretarlat, supplied under contract by Central Lobby Consultants Ltd ICLCI, which dlscharges the day- to4ay responslbilities of the charity, subject to the management and 8uidance of the Governors. The most recent contratt ended on 30 April 2022 and was subsequently renewed for a further period. GOVERNORS & TRUSTEES DURING 2023 Mrs Joanne Anderton IMethodi5t Church of Great BrTtainl Mr Richard Chapman (Church of England) Ms Memuna Levan-Harris (United Reformed Church) Ms Mary Macleod (Church of Scotlandl The Revd Paul Rochester (Free Churches Gmup) Ms Caroline Sanderson IBapt15t Union of Great Brltsln} Rt Revd Stephen Wright (Catholic Bishops. Conference of England and Wales (reslgned on 13 October 2023 on hi5 appointment as Bishop of Hexham & Newcastle) The de5ignatedSecretory is Fronk Cronmer, but Centrcjl Lobby Consultonts Ltd provides stcretorlot services corporately. WORKING FOR THE PUBUC BENEFIT Under the leg151atlon in all fovr Jurlsdictlons, The advancement of religion. Is a charltable purpose, provlded it is'forthe publlc benefit, The principal object of the Churche5' Le8i51ation Adv150ry SeThice Is to offer advlce and help to it5 member Churches in relation to what are often complex matters of public pollcy and Government regulation and our work durin8 2022 In support of thls Is summarised In greater detail later In this Report. This is particularly Important for the smaller Churches, most of whlch have very little in the way of full-tlme central administration or In-house legal advice. We also provlde a focal point for responses to consultations by Government.. only very rarely does a consultation dNlde the Churches on denominational grounds because most deal wlth technlcèl issue5 relatin8 to such matters as Secular law or taxatSon rather than with matters of theology or rell8lOUS bellef. In settlng our oblectlves and planning our actrvities, our tnjstees have glven careful conslderatlon to the Charlty Commlssion's general 8uidance on 'public benefiv. We would argue that the work of the Charlty contributes s18nlflcanttyto the public benefit by brin8in8 to the attentlon of member Churches issues of legislation and pollcy that might affect their activities, by actin8 as a clearing-house for ecumenical responses to Government policy proposals and, where appropriate, by engaging wlth Government in relation to those proposals- thereby helpin8 to free memberchurches to concentrate on their own core mlsslon: the advancement of religionfor the public benefrt, PRINCIPAL AcllviTIES OF THE CHARITY FOR THE YEAR ENOING 31 DECEMBER 2023 Meetlngs ol the trustees The Govemorsof CLAS meton four occasion5 in 2023". on 25 May, 20Julyand 12 Decemberremotelv. and on 28 September In person. Decisions taken in principle on 25 May and 20 July were confirmed at the meetlng on 28 September. General meetlngs The purpose of general meetings is partly to enable specialists within Member Churches to focus on particular current issues as they affect the Churche5 and partty to proviée an opportunity for them to exchange views informally- There were three meetings in 2023.. 28 February: webinar on landlorfl and tenant law (held remotely). 31 March: webinar on property issue5 (held remotelvl. 18 October: Annual General Meeting lin person). at which the meeting agreed to start the process of transitioning to a Charitsble Incorporated Organisation. Respomes to consultations CLAS seeks to ensure that the interests of its members in relation to current and fvture legislation are properly represented at every opportunty. Part of that process is to 155ue Circular5 and e-mall briefings to alert members to matters of concern so that they can make appropriate representetions themselves. Equally important, however, are Government consultations- and we have responded to a series of formal and informal consultations during the year under revlew. some of them very general and others extremely technical. 2023 Spring Budget W¢ responded to the invitstion for submission5 to HM Treasury in advance of the Spring Budget. concentrating on the remaining chollen8es In updating the Gift Aid stheme to take account of dlgital methods of payment, a plea for the £2,CW ceillng on the Gift Aid Small Donation5 Scheme to be ralsed to £2,500 to take account of inflation since the Scheme's inception in 2016, and for the Llsted Places of Worship Grant Scheme elther to be placed on a reasonably-pern)anent footing Instead ot the current annual extensions or to be replaced with elther a zero rate for repairs to Ilsted places of worship for VAT or a VAT refund under S 33 (Refunds of VAT in ￿rtain ca5esl Value Added Taxes Act 1994. Gront5 bypori5h ond town counclls to places of worshlp In 2021, we made a submlssion to the Law Commission arguing that amendlng leglslatlon wa5 requlred to clarlfy the vexed Issue of whether or not parish. town and lin Wales) communlty councils are PÉI mitted to grant-ald places of worship under the cUr￿nt legislation. In 2023, the Department for Levelling Up, HoLrsin8 and Communities issued a con5ultatlon on the matter to which we responded. We were delighted that the point was finally addressed to our satisfaction by a clarificatory section In the Levellin8 Up and Re8eneration Act 2023 which amends the Local Government Act 1894 to put the matter beyond doubt. Law Commlssion scoping exercise on dlsposal of the det7d In association wlth the Churcheg Funerals Group we made a submlssion to the Law Commlssion on several areas In whlch the current law Is either unclear or slmply out of date: the law relatSng to cemeteries, cremation law, reuse of graves and c105ed churchyards, public health funerals and novel methods of disposal beln8 the main ones. The Commission's projert on burlal law is Stlll at the pre- consultation stage; and it has a150 announced two fijrther projects on new funerary methods (such as alkallne hydrolysis) and on rights and obligations relating to funerary methods, funerals and remains, Both are at what it described as the "pre-project" sta8e- but they will no doubt enga8e our attentlon at some point in the future. VA Ton energysavlng materiols relief In June, we responded to the consultation by HMRC on VAT energy saving materials relief - Improving energy efficiency and reducing carljon emissions, primarity SUPFKlrting the proposal that battery storage should be included in the relief, whether retrofitted to a solar panel or otherwise, and citin8 the recent decision to in5tol solar panels on the roof of Kin¥s College Chapel, Cambridge, as an example of a growing trend to using solar energy as a means for churches to reduce their CO emlssions. Pre-legi51ative scrutiny of the L4raft Terrorism (Protection of Premisesj Bill As noted in previous Annual Reports, in 2021 we responded to the Home Office's consultation on the Pmtert Duty, urgin8 that any new duty on place5 of worship should be proportionate to their size and location and to their ability to put adequate security measu￿5 in place. In December 2021, the Home Secretary announced that the draft Bill would provide for two tiers of compliance- a standard tier for venue5 With a maximum occupancy of more than I(￿ people at any tlme and an enhanced tier for those with an occupancy of over 800. All places of worship would be placed in the standard tler except for a small cohort of locations that charge for entry. and those with a maximum occupancy below I would not be Included at all. The result of that consultstion emerged as the draft Terrorism (Protectlon of Premises) Bill on whlch the Commons Home Affairs Committee conducied a pre-leglslative scrutlny inouiry. In brief, we argued strongly for a light-touch approach to security for places of worshlp, especlally those in rural areas, 8iven that individual con8re8atlons are often quite small and with a preponderance of older people. The Home Affairs Committee's report was highiy crltical of the proposals in the draft Blll. Charities, tax complionce In July, we responded to a consultation by HMRC on compliance by charities wlth char5ty law, principally focused on preventin8 donors from obtsinlng a financial advantage from their donations, otherwlse known as the Tainted Charity Donatlons rules. We Suggested that if there wa5 a problem with the operation of the Talnted Charity Donatlons rules it would be preferable to amend them rather than starting afresh wlth new legislation. Exemptlng cutegorles of dwellin9sfrom the councll tox premlyms in Englond We ￿SpOnded lo the consultation ar8uin& prlncipalty. that because parsonage houses and rètirement propertles for clergy may be unoccupied for qulte long periods behveen one resident movlng out lor dying) and another moving in, merely by force of circumstance, such propertle5 should not be subject to councll tax premiums. Buslness rote5 avoidance ond evoslon We responded to the consultation by HM Treasury and DLUHC on business rates avoidance and evasion expresslng concerns at the proposa15 for èmending ihe Empty Property Rellef scheme. As well as responding to formal consultations and submlttlng memoranda to inqulries, the Secretarlat c ontinued to have informal contacts with a ran8e of Governmentdepartments and regulatory bodies. ONGOING ISSUES The Protect Duty and Terrorlsm (Protection of Premises) legislation As noted above, we expect thi5 to continue to be an issue in 2024. There Is clearly a serious issue here.. our concern. however. is that the duties of compliance placed on places of worship should not be unduly onerous. Burlol low The Law Commission has not yet issued a consultation document on the reform of burial law. Although we have been involved at the pre