2020 Budget plans revealed

Nigel Salisbury told Diocesan Synod members gathered at St Francis' Church in Salisbury:

"The first thing is we know that Fairer Share is only one of the calls upon parishes for funds. However it is a fundamentally important one as it is the means by which we pay the stipends, pensions, housing and training of our clergy, the salaries of our staff and make an equitable contribution towards the wider Church – largely through Archbishops’ Council.

"We do hear your feedback and whilst we can’t necessarily act on everything, we have tried to simplify the budget as far as possible into a single diocesan budget.

Click here for the presentation

He said that the Board of Finance was "trying in the same vein to be transparent and clear about where the money goes and where it comes from, not only through the budget guide but through our wider written communications, visits to parishes and deaneries and training."

He said that feedback indicated some confusion regarding the difference between the Share budgetary increase and the per capita increase, and so the count had been moved to earlier in the year "so that we could take the outcome into consideration in setting the budget and give you a per capita figure as well as the normal budgetary increase figure."

He said that the Board of Finance was hearing a clear message from an increasing number of parishes over their ability to pay:

"We have tried to minimise the increase in what is a transitional year before the outcomes of the reviews are known and we are able to draw up plans to balance the budget in a 3 year plan for the years 2021 – 2023."

He told Synod that therefore:

"We are proposing an expenditure increase of 0.4% above what was spent in 2018 but 0.4% less than the budget for 2019. Our income is projected to show 2% growth and the difference between the two enables us to make a little progress on the deficit.

"Our Share request for 2020 will therefore be an increase of 1.48% (CPI 1.9%/2%). And taking account of the decline of 577 in Fairer Share numbers, the per capita increase will be 2.86%.

"Of course how that translates into what parishes will actually pay depends on the local count result, category etc and will be published in the autumn."

Nigel’s full presentation to Synod can be found here.