General Fund
Key Issues for 2007
Income
- Common Fund contributions from parishes are budgeted to increase by 2.6%. This is less than the target requested in summer 2006.
- Overall income is budgeted to rise by 2%
Expenditure
- Constant clergy numbers
- The budget assumes a 2% increase in stipends and salaries
- Pensions - the Church of England Pensions Board decided to increase contributions towards clergy pensions by six percentage points, from 33.8% to 39.8% of the national minimum stipend. This increases costs by about half a million pounds
- The costs of maintaining parsonages have been limited by deferring some quinquennial works until 2008.
Deficit
- A deficit of £542,000 is budgeted, equal to the increased pension costs.
Outlook for 2008 and beyond
To maintain the 2006 level of activity we need to raise roughly an additional £1 million in 2008. The extra funds are needed mainly to:
- meet the increased pension contributions
- pay a stipend increase that is not below the rate of inflation
- re-instate a fuller programme of maintenance work on parsonages
- provide for an increased number of in-going works, reflecting the increased mobility of the clergy
- meet inflationary increase in the costs of other work.
Part of London Challenge 2012 is to achieve a balanced budget for the General Fund.
Costs are expected to go up by about 6% while income, apart from Common Fund, is only expected to increase by 3.5%
Without a significant increase in Common Fund income it will be necessary to make savings by reducing activities.
London Diocesan Fund: Funding Mission in London
The London Diocesan Fund is the central and main fund of the Diocese of London.
The figures cover only the General Fund of the London Diocesan Fund. The statutory accounts provide much more detail.
The Fund’s expenditure, the costs of supporting all of the parishes, may be divided roughly into three parts:
- 1/3 to pay clergy stipends
- 1/3 to pay for the housing, Council Tax and pensions for clergy
- 1/3 to pay a share of the other activities that support parish mission and ministry.
2007 Budget
Income £23.4 million
Expenditure - Parish Standard Cost £24 million
|
|
|
2006
Draft
£m |
2007
Budget
£m |
2008
Projec'd
£m |
|
|
|
|
| INCOME |
|
|
|
| Common Fund |
16.5 |
16.8 |
18.3 |
| Rents |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.5 |
| Other Income |
3.1 |
3.0 |
3.1 |
| National Church |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
| Total
Income |
23.4 |
23.4 |
25.0 |
|
|
|
|
| EXPENDITURE |
|
|
|
| Stipends met from CF |
12.5 |
13.5 |
13.9 |
| Parsonages |
4.0 |
3.6 |
4.1 |
| Sub-total |
16.6 |
17.1 |
18.0 |
|
|
|
|
| Support via Area &
Deanery |
1.3 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
| Other Parish Support |
1.8 |
1.7 |
1.7 |
| National Church |
1.8 |
1.8 |
1.9 |
| Other costs |
2.1 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
| Total expenditure |
23.5 |
24.0 |
25.1 |
|
|
|
|
| Surplus/(Deficit) |
(0.1) |
(0.5) |
(0.1) |
|
Notes
- The 2006 draft is the best estimate of the out-turn for the year. The final audited figures are expected to be available in June 2007.
- The budget was endorsed at Diocesan Synod on 25 November 2006.
- The projected 2008 figures use a hoped for 8.5% increase in Common Fund and a 3.5% increase in stipends.
- The charts are produced on a slightly different basis from the table. Discrepancies in addition are due to rounding of component figures.
- More detail on how the income and expenditure figures have been calculated is provided in “Parish Standard Costs” at the link below.
