Question

To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reforming the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Regulations 2009 to bring measures relating to the mandatory retirement age for clergy into line with provisions on age discrimination within the Equality Act 2010.

The current provisions are already compatible with the age provisions of the Equality Act 2010, which allows a retirement age of 65 or over where there is an objective justification. The Terms of Service Regulations were last amended in 2017 and no consideration has been given since then to amending them further.