Formal consultation begins on reorganisation of Yorkshire dioceses

NEWS RELEASE

Issued 1st November 2011

The Church of England Dioceses Commission has begun the formal consultation phase of its proposals for the Yorkshire dioceses with the publication of a Draft Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon and Leeds and Wakefield Reorganisation Scheme. Consultation on the Draft Scheme will run until 30 April, 2012 and follows consideration of more than 140 written responses to the Commission’s initial vision for the Yorkshire dioceses in its December 2010 report.

The Dioceses Commission says it has listened carefully and has made key changes to the original proposals. It has accepted the consensus view that the new diocese should be called Leeds (rather than Wakefield) and that it may be known informally as the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales. The diocesan bishop would be the Bishop of Leeds rather than Wakefield, and the three existing cathedrals of Bradford, Ripon and Wakefield would be retained with equal status rather than two becoming ‘secondary’ Cathedrals. Significantly for Leeds, the scheme leaves open the possibility of a future Bishop of Leeds giving Leeds Parish Church ‘Pro-cathedral’ status.

Documents (PDFs to download or read online)

1. The Draft Scheme

2. Explanatory Memo

3. Diocese Commission Report - A New Diocese for West Yorkshire and the Dales

4. Estimate of the financial effect of the proposals 

5. Frequently Asked Questions

The Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Revd John Packer said he welcomed the Draft document."I welcome this next stage in the process, and the direction in which the Scheme is taking us. Broadly this Reorganisation Scheme reiterates the basic thrust of the original proposal and changes to the name of the diocese and the location of the diocesan bishop in Leeds make sense. The decision to give the three cathedrals equal status is a good one and I welcome the possibility that Leeds Parish Church could become a Pro-Cathedral. The Diocesan Commission have listened and made changes, and it is now important that all our parishes engage with this document and take the opportunity that this six months consultation period gives us to help shape the final Scheme."

Prof Michael Clarke added, “We recognise the short term uncertainties created within the three dioceses by our proposals. This is an inevitable consequence of change of this kind, but we want to keep these to a minimum. We welcome the establishment by the three bishops’ councils of a Preparation Group, which will enable the clergy and people of the prospective new diocese, with their staff, to shape its future by filling in all of the details that can only be decided locally.”

Alongside the detailed draft scheme, the Commission has published its latest explanatory report; a statement of the effect of the proposals on the mission of the Church of England; and a financial estimate for the changes.  The financial estimate indicates that the new diocese could, within five years, cost about £0.8 million a year less than keeping the current diocesan structure. The Commission is clear that its work is mission-led and not finance-driven.

This formal consultation period will run for six months until 30 April, 2012. The Commission will then produce a final draft scheme for consideration by the relevant diocesan synods before it is debated by the General Synod. The earliest the scheme could come into effect would be late 2013 to early 2014.

ENDS

The Draft Scheme can also be read in full at www.diocom.org/yorkshire

Note from the Dioceses Commission:

Yorkshire Dioceses Review

In the autumn of 2009 the Commission commenced a review of the five Yorkshire dioceses (Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, Sheffield, Wakefield and York). The aim was to establish whether the shape and boundaries of the existing dioceses tend to facilitate the Church's mission to the people and communities of Yorkshire or whether different boundaries would enable the Church to relate to them more effectively.

The Draft Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon and Leeds and Wakefield Reorganisation Scheme

The Commission is now formally consulting on the draft scheme for the reorgansiation of the dioceses of Bradford, Ripon and Leeds and Wakefield.  The consultation period runs from 1 November 2011 until 30 April 2012. Comments can be sent to yorkshirereview@churchofengland.org during this time.

Having originally consulted on the broad themes and initial ideas of the Commission, based on their research and visits to the dioceses, this consultation is on the draft of the actual scheme (a form of legislation) which would create the new diocese (and dissolve the old ones). Following a 6 month consultation period the Commission will consider the responses and finalise the scheme. The diocesan synods would be invited to approve the scheme later in 2012, with a view to it coming before the General Synod in July 2013. Preparatory implementation work would then take place. The earliest that the new diocese could come into existence would be late 2013/ early 2014.