Extracts from email sent by Revd Anthony Smith (Diocesan Head of Resource Development)

To all Deanery Finance Committee Chairs, Lay Chairs, Area Deans and Assistant Area Deans

Thank you once again for your assistance and input in connection with the new parishshare system. We have had a very good response from the deaneries and parishes to our request for data and are now able to move ahead and run the model.

We will be shortly sending out to deanery officers:

A table of the calculations for each parish in the deanery.

A summary table showing the movements by deanery.

A draft form to be used by any parishes claiming special consideration.

A full explanation of what needs to be done over the next couple of months.

We hope that deaneries will again take the initiative with the next stage of the process which is to inform parishes of the outcome and to negotiate any requested changes within the deanery always ensuring, as far as possible, that the deanery total is maintained. It is our expectation that you will want to meet fairly promptly with your parishes either individually or collectively.

You may be interested to know that we have already had responses from some parishes indicating that even should their target share decrease they wish to maintain payments at the current level. It would be good to encourage such generosity in every deanery. At the other end of the scale, applications for special consideration, should there be any, can be made only after full consideration and endorsement by the deanery.

The timetable to which we are working is shown below:

September 1 Confirmatory tables and explanatory notes sent to parishes

September 15 Parishes to notify deaneries of their intention to apply for special consideration

September 29 Cases for special consideration to be received by the diocesan office

October 10 Results of special considerations to be received by deaneries

October 17 Returns from deaneries of final 2015 Share allocations to be received at the diocesan office

October 30 Report for the Diocesan Synod issued

November 8 Diocesan Synod; report to be noted.