Question

To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what the average length was of vacancies for a parish (a) incumbent and (b) priest-in-charge in each of the last five years.

Parish priest appointments are a matter for diocesan bishops. Data about the number of vacancies for incumbents and priests-in-charge per annum in parishes across the 42 dioceses of the Church of England are not held centrally by the National Church Institutions. It would incur a disproportionate cost to assemble and present the information requested