Notes for churchwardens, treasurers and others helping run the parish income survey.
Who are these notes for?
While we have assumed that the work in the parish will be co-ordinated by the churchwardens and the deanery work by the treasurer, it is quite possible for the churchwardens or PCC and deanery synod to appoint others who will carry out the specific tasks of the survey in order to share the work. For sake of clarity, we simply refer to “churchwardens” and “treasurers” in this exercise, even if others are sometimes going to be the people carrying out the work.
Making the decision about what unit to work with
We have assumed that the basic unit for this exercise is the parishbut each PCC will need to make a decision about the best unit for them. In very large parishes, people may wish to work with churches and their DCCs;in very small parishes people may prefer to work with one or more neighbours. We suggest that these decisions are best taken in conversation with deanery officers.
Compiling the list of “Active Members”
While the Church of England has no official membership lists, each parish has an electoral roll, a working knowledge of who the regular worshippers are, planned giving and gift aid registers, rotas, organisations and so on. In consultation with the clergy and others, churchwardens are asked to draw up a list of those who could fairly be described as active members, using these as well as their own knowledge of the people and the parish.
In terms of attendance, an “active member” in a church with a weekly service will normally be a person who attends at least 8-12 times a year. In churches with only one service a month, it will be less frequent. It will normally include those who are regular planned givers, who at least sometimes worship with the congregation there.
So please think about who those people are who contribute to the life of the church, whether in time or money.Who would you worry about if you hadn’t seen them for a few weeks, or a few months? If someone is a “Friend” who gives money for the building or supports appeals, but is otherwise not involved in the life of the church in any other way, they probably should not be counted as an active member for these purposes.
Clergy and churchwardens (and other key players) are encouraged to consult and collaborate in drawing up as accurate a list as possible.
Where someone is an active member of more than one church, they fill in survey participation forms for each church where they are an active member. However, they can either declare on their survey participation form that have filled in an income declaration form for just one church, or they fill in survey and income declaration forms for each church they relate to.
For example, Jane Smith attends both St Agatha’s and St Mathilda’s equally. She can choose to split her income in half and declare half for St Agatha’s and half for St Mathilda’s. Or she can declare all her income for St Agatha’s, and fill in the form at St Mathilda’s using the “no income” band. Nobody should declare the same income twice.
The Distribution
Once an active membership list has been compiled those on it then need to be given:
- The churchwardens’ letter asking them to take part
- The colour leaflet explaining both parish share and this system
- The survey participation form
- The confidential income declaration form.
The churchwardens’ letter
This needs lightly customising before you print it. You will need to put in the name of your parish, the date it is being sent out, and provide the appropriate signatures. Where possible (i.e. where there are two churchwardens) it is best if this signed by both churchwardens acting together, and this is what the template assumes.
The Survey Form
You will need to customise this by changing the name of the parish both in the title and in the text. We encourage you to print the survey form and the confidential income assessment form on different coloured paper, and make the boxes into which they are put are the same colour as the form. If you do this, you will need to change the wording in both the declaration and note 1, to include the colour.
The main text then becomes, for example:
I have completed the confidential income declaration form as an active church member of St Mungo’s in the Marsh and placed it in the sealed blue box marked “Income”.
Note 1 then becomes, for example
1.Please place this form in the sealedgreen box in Church marked SURVEY
The Confidential Income Declaration Form
In the same way you will need to customise this by changing the name of the parish in the title. We encourage you to print the confidential income assessment form and the survey form on different coloured paper, and make the boxes into which they are put are the same colour as the form. If you do this, you will need to change the wording in both the declaration and note 1, to include the colour.
Note 1 then becomes, for example
1.Please place this form in the sealedblue box in Church marked INCOME.
The Churchwardens’ and Deanery Treasurer’s Assessment Form
Notes to Part 1
1.The churchwardens of the parish which has issued the income assessment forms need to record the number on their agreed active membership list, and the number of the survey participation forms returned.
2.They need to sign part 1 and pass it on, together with the sealed box of income declaration forms, to the churchwardens of the recording parish by the deanery’s agreed date.
Notes to Part 2
1.The recording churchwardens need to count the number of income forms received, compare it with the number given by the churchwardens of the issuing parish, and try to reconcile any discrepancy. (An invalid form is one where there is either no income declaration, or the declaration is unclear.)
2.They then need to enter the number of valid forms received against the appropriate Income Category and multiply by the Weighting Factor to calculate the parish points.
3.Each income band carries a weighting factor which is the mid-point of the range. The weighting factor represents a number of parish points: e.g. Band D £10,001 to £15,000 (mid-point £12,500) represents 12.5 points, or again Band K £60,001 to £70,000 represents 65 points.
4.If all Income Forms are returned the Grand Total will be as the Sub Total.
5.For missing Income Forms adjustments are made in Part 3 of the Assessment Form by the Deanery Treasurer.
6.The recording churchwardens then need to enter the subtotals, certify the form and send it to the deanery treasurer by (agreed date).
Notes to Part 3
The treasurer needs to calculate a value for each missing form, as follows.
- If 75% or more forms returned then the treasurer calculates and uses the points average for the parish for each missing form, using Table A.
- If fewer than 75% of the forms are returned, then for each missing form, the treasurer calculates them on the basis of the deanery HMRC average. The average is assigned to the appropriate income band and parish points are calculated as for an actual declaration. In this case, Table B is completed.
- If a parish has not carried out the income survey at all, then Table C is used. Each member of the parish is assessed as if their income was the deanery HMRC average, converted into parish points as above.
- If such a parish has created an “active membership” list, the numbers of that list should be used to calculate their total parish points.
- Where a parish has not created an “active membership” list as part of this exercise, use the mean average of their ASA and Electoral Roll numbers. The diocesan office will give you these numbers for each parish in your deanery.
The deanery treasurer returns a copy of this form for each parish in the deanery to the diocesan office.
The Frequently Asked Questions leaflet
Additional questions not on the FAQ
What is the timescale on which this is operating?
We ask parishes to complete this so that deanery treasurers can return the forms to Stephen Lindner and the finance department by the end of July. This means that there will be sufficient time to work with the returned figures so that the Bishops' Council can consider and, if needs be,offer options for transitional arrangements to the Diocesan Synod for a decision in the autumn.
Our parish would like an extension to the deadline, can we have one?
If a parish says "We can't complete this survey by the end of July, but we can complete it by such and such a date" they should inform the deanery treasurer. The treasurer after discussing this with them (and seeing if an earlier completion can be encouraged) is asked to inform Stephen Lindner. If the response of this parish is received in time for the figures to be calculated, or even re-calculated before allocation is made, then we shall use it if at all possible. In the interim we shall have to use a figure based on the HMRC data.
Is this approach unique to Worcester?
In a survey of dioceses in 2012, the National Stewardship Advisor reported on what he described as theChurch family anonymous income survey: “This is probably the most accurate evaluation of the wealth, and therefore potential to give, that is present within a church. The survey is run every few years and asks individual church members to identify which of several income bands applies to them. The experience of those dioceses that have run these surveys is that individuals are sufficiently honest forthe survey to give a reasonably accurate view of the potential of the church to contribute. All four dioceses using this approach allocate shareaccording to potential.”
What happens if the figures are disputed?
In the first place questions and disputes should be referred to the deanery standing committee. If they can’t resolve the issue, it should be referred jointly to the archdeacon and diocesan secretary for advice.
Can we still make deanery adjustments?
Some deaneries have always had a meeting of treasurers and others when the parish share allocation has been made. Others have had their own formula. Although the allocation under the new system is proposed to be made directly to parishes, there will still be opportunity for the deanery synod(more fully aware of local issues) to explore mutually agreed adjustments as a way of supporting parishes with particular issues, and so helping bear one another’s burdens. Any such adjustments (whether up or down) would need the support of all the respective PCCs.
What should self-employed people on varying income do?
The situations of self-employed people, or those on zero-hours contracts vary tremendously, and mean we can offer these suggestions, while recognising that people will have to use their own best judgement. For example, it may be possible for someone to average their income, less tax over a three year period. This would be particularly helpful for someone with very erratic earnings where they honestly don’t know what would happen in the future. In other cases it may be that someone has had variable earnings in the last three years but always with a reducing income, year on year. In this scenario it might be fairer to only use the lowest of the last three years’ figures i.e. the immediately preceding year. Respecting the confidentiality of the process means that we can offer guidelines, but only the person concerned can decide which is the most accurate box to tick on the declaration form.
Someone has questioned whether we can use the electoral roll (or other lists) for this purpose: can we?
Legally speaking: “It is a matter for the PCC to decide whether a copy of the roll should be supplied to a third party for purposes other than those of the CRR.” (i.e. the Church Representation Rules). There is therefore no reason why, unless the PCC decides otherwise, the Churchwardens (or others acting under their authority) shouldn’t refer to the electoral roll when they are compiling their list of “active church members”. In this case, however, you are not aiming to build a composite list of all those who are on the electoral roll, planned giving and gift aid registers etc. but rather to suggest that those might be useful aides-memoire as churchwardens and clergy (and others) think about who might properly be considered as an active member.
It will be highly unlikely that the active membership and the electoral roll would end up being identical, and no-one is recommending that you should use the electoral roll as a mailing-list for this exercise.
The parish Gift Aid officer might be one person the churchwardens would wish to consult about the draft list as someone with a good knowledge of regular givers. Equally, if the gift aid officer, clergy or wardens, knows of people who never attend church, but just want to contribute to the upkeep and heritage of the building, then such a person probablyshouldn’t be included as an active church member anyway, although that has to remain a local decision based on local knowledge.
What does the Data Protection Act (DPA) say about collecting this information?
Some people have asked about the checks on the collection of the confidential income declaration forms, in the light of rules on Data Protection. The DPA covers the collection and use of personal data, which is defined under the act as “data which relate to a living individual who can be identified – (a) from those data, or (b) from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller.
Because the confidential income declaration forms only have a single tick against one band of income, there is no way in which that income declaration form can be related to a specific individual, and therefore it is not personal data within the meaning of the act.
How long should the information be kept, and by whom?
Both the survey forms and the confidential income declaration forms (which remain the property of the PCC on whose behalf they were collected) need to be retained until after the parish share allocation has been notified to all parishes, in case there is any query about the allocation. The survey participation forms need to be kept by the parish whose forms they are, and the confidential income declaration forms need to be kept by the recording parish, so that at no stage can the two forms be linked. Each parish should destroy the forms it holds three months after the parish share allocation has been notified, unless that parish is involved in an ongoing query, in which case they should be destroyed as soon as the query is resolved.