Statutory Instruments
2009 No. 2106
Ecclesiastical Law, England
Fees
The Parochial Fees Order 2009
Made
29th July 2009
Laid before Parliament
6th August 2009
Laid before the General Synod in draft
10th July 2009
Coming into force
1st January 2010
The Archbishops’ Council makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 1 and 2 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986(1) and now vested in it(2).
In accordance with section 2(1) of that Measure, a draft of this Order has been laid before, and approved by, the General Synod.
Citation and commencement
1. This Order may be cited as the Parochial Fees Order 2009 and shall come into operation on 1st January 2010.
Prescribed fees
2.—(1) The Table of Parochial Fees set out in Part 1 of the Schedule prescribes the amount of the parochial fees which are to be paid to the persons, in relation to the respective matters, specified in the Table.
(2) The specification in the Table of the persons to whom parochial fees are to be paid is subject to the provisions of section 3 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986 (which makes provision as to persons to whom parochial fees are to be paid during a vacancy in a benefice and where a licence of a chapel includes provision fixing fees).
Application of Part 2 of the Schedule
3. Part 2 of the Schedule shall apply in relation to the parochial fees which are prescribed in the Table in Part 1.
Definitions
4. In the Schedule, unless the context otherwise requires—
“burial” includes deposit in a vault or brick grave and the interment or deposit of cremated remains;
“cemetery” means a burial ground maintained by a burial authority;
“Chancellor” means the judge of the consistory court or commissary court of the bishop or archbishop of the diocese;
“churchyard” includes the curtilage of a church and a burial ground of a church whether or not immediately adjoining such church;
“incumbent” means the incumbent of any benefice as defined by the Interpretation Measure 1925(3);
“monument” includes a headstone, cross, kerb, border, vase, chain, railing, tablet, plaque, marker, flatstone, tombstone or monument or tomb of any other kind.
Revocation of 2008 Order
5. The Parochial Fees Order 2008(4) is revoked.
The draft of this Order was approved by the General Synod on 10th July 2009
David Williams
Clerk to the Synod
Church House, Westminster
The COMMON SEAL of the Archbishops’ Council was affixed on 29th July 2009
D P White
K Norris
Church House, Westminster
SCHEDULEFEES PRESCRIBED BY THIS ORDER
Article 2
PART 1TABLE OF PAROCHIAL FEES
| Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee to be paid to incumbent | Fee to be paid to Parochial Church Council | Total Fees to be paid | |
| £.p | £.p | £.p | |
| BAPTISMS | |||
| Certificate issued at time of baptism | 12.00 | — | 12.00 |
| Short certificate of baptism given under Section 2 Baptismal Registers Measure 1961(5) | 9.00 | — | 9.00 |
| MARRIAGES | |||
| Publication of banns of marriage | 15.00 | 7.00 | 22.00 |
| Certificate of banns issued at time of publication | 12.00 | — | 12.00 |
| Marriage service | 126.00 | 134.00 | 260.00 |
| FUNERALS AND BURIALS | |||
| A. Service in church | |||
| Funeral service in church | 54.00 | 45.00 | 99.00 |
| Burial in churchyard following on from service in church | — | 194.00 | 194.00 |
| Burial in cemetery or cremation following on from service in church | — | — | NIL |
| Burial of body in churchyard on separate occasion | 36.00 | 194.00 | 230.00 |
| Burial of cremated remains in churchyard on separate occasion | 36.00 | 78.00 | 114.00 |
| Burial in cemetery on separate occasion | 36.00 | — | 36.00 |
| B. No service in church | |||
| Service in crematorium or cemetery | 99.00 | — | 99.00 |
| Burial of body in churchyard | 36.00 | 194.00 | 230.00 |
| Burial of cremated remains in churchyard | 36.00 | 78.00 | 114.00 |
| C. Certificate issued at time of burial | 12.00 | — | 12.00 |
| MONUMENTS IN CHURCHYARDS | |||
| Permitted in accordance with rules, regulations or directions made by the Chancellor including those relating to a particular churchyard or part of a churchyard (but excluding a monument authorised by a particular faculty)— | |||
| Small cross of wood (*) | 9.00 | 12.00 | 21.00 |
| Small vase not exceeding 305mm x 203mm x 203mm (approx. 12” x 8” x 8”) (*) | 36.00 | 45.00 | 81.00 |
| Tablet, plaque or other marker commemorating a person whose remains have been cremated (*) | 36.00 | 45.00 | 81.00 |
| Any other monument (*) | 54.00 | 103.00 | 157.00 |
| Additional inscription on existing monument | 36.00 | — | 36.00 |
| SEARCHES IN CHURCH REGISTERS ETC. | |||
| Searching registers of marriages for period before 1st July 1837 | |||
| (for up to one hour) | 12.00 | 7.00 | 19.00 |
| (for each subsequent hour or part of an hour) | 9.00 | 7.00 | 16.00 |
| Searching registers of baptisms or burials (including provision of one copy of any entry therein) | |||
| (for up to one hour) | 12.00 | 7.00 | 19.00 |
| (for each subsequent hour or part of an hour) | 9.00 | 7.00 | 16.00 |
| Each additional copy of an entry in a register of baptisms or burials | 12.00 | 7.00 | 19.00 |
| Inspection of instrument of apportionment or agreement for exchange of land for tithes deposited under Tithe Act 1836(6) | 9.00 | — | 9.00 |
| Furnishing copies of above (for every 72 words) | 9.00 | — | 9.00 |
Article 3
PART 2EXPLANATORY NOTES ON PART 1
Burial on a separate occasion
1. In relation to the fee for a burial in a churchyard, “on a separate occasion” means on any occasion other than immediately preceding or following on from a service in church, for example, the interment of cremated remains.
Burial of infant
2. No fee is payable in respect of the funeral or burial of a still-born infant, or for the funeral or burial of an infant dying within the period of one year after birth.
Funeral service
3. If a full funeral service is held at the graveside, the incumbent’s fee is increased to that payable where the service is held in church.
Burial of cremated remains in churches or closed churchyards
4. Where cremated remains are buried in or under a church or in a closed churchyard, the fees payable to the incumbent and the Parochial Church Council are—
(1) where burial is authorised by a general faculty, the same as those laid down in Part 1 for burial in a churchyard;
(2) where burial is authorised by a particular faculty, such sums as may be determined by the Chancellor, who shall specify the person or persons entitled to receive them.
Monuments in churchyards
5. The fees marked (*) include fees for the original inscription.
Where a monument in a churchyard is erected or an additional inscription on a monument is made under the authority of a particular faculty, the fees payable to the incumbent and the Parochial Church Council or either of them shall be such sums as may be determined by the Chancellor, who shall specify the person or persons entitled to receive them.
The incumbent’s fee for an additional inscription on a small cross of wood shall not exceed the current fee payable to the incumbent for the erection of such a monument.
Direction by incumbent as to payment of fees
6. An incumbent who has not executed an assignment of parochial fees to the Diocesan Board of Finance may direct, either generally or in a particular case, that all or part of any fee which is payable to the incumbent under Part 1 shall be payable to the minister performing the service or duty.
Searches in church registers etc.
7. The search fee relates to a ‘particular search’ where the approximate date of the baptism, marriage or burial is known. The fee for a more general search of a church register is negotiable with the incumbent and the Parochial Church Council.
Services in crematoria and unconsecrated cemeteries
8. The Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1992(7) contains a provision which has the effect of requiring a minister of a parish, if requested, to perform a funeral service for defined parishioners in any appropriate crematorium or unconsecrated cemetery. The fees prescribed by the Table in Part 1 for such services (which are identical to the fees for services held in consecrated cemeteries) are mandatory except where a local authority or other crematorium authority has fixed charges for these services in which case the authority’s charges will apply.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)
The Order prescribes the fees payable in respect of certain matters in connection with marriages and burials, for the erection of monuments in churchyards and for other miscellaneous matters. The fees are in substitution for the fees prescribed by the Parochial Fees Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/2470).
The powers originally conferred on the Church Commissioners by sections 1 and 2 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986 were transferred to the Archbishops’ Council by the National Institutions of the Church of England (Transfer of Functions) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1715).