Deanery of Westminster (St Margaret)

The Church of England in the Heart of London

What is the Common Fund?

The Common Fund is the means by which parish churches receive support for and contribute towards the cost of providing and supporting clergy and furthering the work of the Church of England across London.  Detailed information about the Common Fund is available from the Diocese here.

In 2012, the average total cost to the Common Fund of each parish in London is around £68,000.  The actual cost of each parish to the Common Fund does, of course, vary.  This average cost is made up of three broadly equal elements: (1) paying the parish priest & associated taxes; (2) providing for clergy pensions, providing housing and paying council tax and (3) training new clergy, supporting parishes, helping schools and contributing to the wider church.

How well is the Deanery doing?

In 2009, the Deanery jointly contributed more than £1m to the Common Fund for the first time.  The average annual increase in total contributions since 2003 has been about 6%.  This has required hard work, sacrifices and generosity from the parishes in the Deanery.

In 2012, half of the parishes in the Deanery will be contributing an amount equal to at least their "standard cost" calculated by the Diocese.  Nevertheless, in total, the Deanery does not quite contribute an amount equal to its cost to the Common Fund, which remains our priority.

How is the Common Fund split between parishes?

The benchmark for determining how much each parish is invited to contribute is set by how much each parish costs the Common Fund.  This is calculated for every parish by the Diocese.  Parishes are not equally well off though, so the Deanery aims each year to achieve three things:
  • achieve a broadly equitable position between parishes
  • refrain from asking for the impossible(!)
  • give an indication of long term thinking to help parishes plan for the future.
This has led to the development of four basic principles which are applied each year:
  • Parishes are invited to cover their costs as a priority.
  • More is invited from parishes with higher incomes.
  • The annual change invited from each parish is set within a reasonable range around the overall change invited from the Deanery as a whole.  (For example, in 2010, the overall increase invited was 4% and individual parishes were invited to increase by between 3% and 10%).
  • The minimum change (in the range outlined above) is invited from parishes which are known to have particular challenges in the year in question.
The Common Fund in context

Below is a short report which was written in response to requests from some parishes for more information about how our Common Fund contributions compare to those made elsewhere in the Church.

Please click here to download a pdf of The Common Fund in Context.
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