AOCM

Money Matters 2009

Dr Mark Hodge (Ministry Division Grants) with Catherine Shelley, AOCM Secretary

Tel: 020 7898 1396 Email: mark.hodge@c-of-e.org.uk

AOCM covers finances from pre-selection to curacy and takes up issues of funding and resources on behalf of ordinands set against wider changes in student finance. Readers are from a diversity of financial positions. Some will have had a salary, home of their own and lifestyle to match and be adapting to a student budget. Others have been living on a grant or low income and may begin training with few resources, even debts. Diocesan provision, resources for single or married ordinands and whether your spouse is working all add to the diversity of funding.

If finances are tight or you need to raise funds for placements there is a range of charities and trusts to contact for additional financial assistance. The handbook and the website include details of grant-making trusts, their conditions and addresses. Diocesan provision is becoming more uniform; AOCM aims to be able to share good practice in this area.

Funding of Theological Colleges and Regional Courses:

Since September 2008 block grants for tuition costs have been made by Ministry Division to institutions and courses calculated by the number of sponsored ordinands attending each institution. Grants to ordinands are now paid by BACS direct to students not via the college or course. For college students this grant includes the college maintenance fees, to be paid on to the college.

Local Education Authority GRANTS

LEAs no longer make discretionary awards for ministerial training. It is only appropriate to apply to the LEA if you are undertaking a first College degree course and have not previously received LEA assistance. The administration of LEA grants is in the process of being centralized and application should be made through the government’s web-site at www.direct.gov.uk.

Support under the Disability Discrimination Act

If you have a disability eg restricted sight, hearing or mobility or have dyslexia you are entitled to support to assist with accessing your course. This is often government funded and accessed through your training institution. You will be assessed and appropriate provision made, which can include grants for adapted equipment and additional tutorial support. Where support is required from Central Church Funds please contact the Grants Officer at the Ministry Division.

MINISTRY DIVISION GRANTS

Residential training – Once selected you will receive a form to apply for a grant from Central Church Funds to complete when your college place is confirmed and send to the Ministry Division. College tuition fees are paid in full; any fees grant made from another source must be used to reimburse Ministry Division. However, any unearned income eg interest from savings or investments over £1,150/year is taken into account in assessing grants. 60% of interest above £1,150 is taken into account in assessing the maintenance grant.

Ministry Division Allowances – These cover, in addition to college tuition and maintenance fees, personal expenses, books, common room subs, and travel if living over 20 miles from college. The standard personal allowance is currently £1,345 pa; short vacation allowance £378 pa and long vacation allowance £425 pa.

Although primary responsibility for the support of the families of married ordinands rests with the sponsoring diocese, Ministry Division contributes to these costs through family maintenance grants made from the Church Times TAP Fund. To apply for these grants a copy of the agreed estimated budget should be submitted to the Grants Office at the Ministry Division.

Non-residential training – Ministry Division pays Course fees in full in all cases; plus book grants of up to £243 per annum and travel costs, which are assessed on a scale related to income and commitments. OLM Schemes are funded by a Ministry Division contribution towards their running costs. The diocese is responsible for funding students’ costs, in some cases by arrangement between the diocese and the parish.

DIOCESAN GRANTS

Diocesan Family Support – Families of ordinands in residential training are supported mainly by the sponsoring diocese. Costs are distributed between dioceses by a pooling of resources. Provision for housing is made within limits set for individual Colleges ranging from £8,220 to £10,530. In addition family support is provided according to the following guidelines:

Family Type

Couple

Lone parent

Child O11

Child U11

Recommended

Diocesan support

£9,380

£5,995

£2,110

£1,390

Plus a diocesan grant for married ordinands’ removal expenses to college.

DEDUCTIONS

The recommended figures in the table above, plus housing costs is the overall total figure that you will receive. The following, where applicable, are deducted, with the diocese providing the shortfall:

RECOMMENDED FIGURE – Less:

* Ministry Division/LEA/Maintenance Contribution

* State Benefits (incl. Child Benefit);

* Child Tax Credit – 75% after the first £2,090

* Earned income above £1,045 pa;

* Unearned income at the discretion of the diocese

* Income from Charities above £435

* 75% of Working Partners’ Income after the first £2,090

Diocesan support for single students:

This remains an area of concern in which AOCM has campaigned for several years. Grants payable by Ministry Division are designed to fund ordinands during the academic year but not the long vacation. Full-time students are not eligible for Income Support and in many instances it is inappropriate for them to have to depend on families and friends support in the vacation. Sponsoring dioceses are asked to supplement the expenses of single ordinands but unlike married ordinands there is no standard recommended amount. Ministry Division issues a single ordinands’ budget form with guidelines. Almost all dioceses have now adopted this and you should contact your diocese if help is needed. Diocesan grants up to £1,315 pa are included in the national pooling arrangements.

BENEFITS AND REBATES

Income Tax – Don’t forget to claim back any income tax you may be owed from your tax office when you start training.

Child Benefit – Available to everyone with children under 16 (19 if still in full time education). £20,00 per week for the first child and £13.20 per week for each subsequent child.

Child Tax Credit – Married students with children (under 16 or 19 if still in full time education) can apply. Unlike Child Benefit, it is means-tested; couples with a joint income of up to £60,000 pa may be eligible to receive some tax credit. It is paid by the Inland Revenue not the DWP directly to “the person… mainly responsible for caring for the children in the family”. It is paid in addition to Child Benefit. It does not require one partner to be working and paying tax. Applicants can check eligibility on-line at: www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits, and then apply online. Alternatively claims packs are available, phone – 0800 500 222. The Tax Credits helpline is 0845 300 3900.

Working Tax Credit – Replaced Working Families Credit, which in turn replaced Family Credit. This may be claimed where one partner works more than 16 hours a week and there are sizeable childcare costs to be met. But couples without children are also eligible to apply.

Income Support – Not generally available to students but partners may be able to claim.

Medical – You may be entitled to a percentage rebate on prescriptions, dental and optical treatment. Fill in form HC1 available from doctors, dentists and opticians when you register at their practice.

Council Tax – Ordinands living in College rooms should be exempt from the tax. Those living outside College who are full-time students will be eligible for Council Tax discount; if income and savings are below relevant levels Council Tax benefit can be claimed for the married ordinand. Provision for Council Tax should be included in the estimated budget agreed with the diocese. This area is very complicated, especially for married ordinands. A number of Councils have agreed that, where a married student lives in a College-owned or College-managed accommodation, the household should be completely exempt from Council Tax. You will need to check the position with your particular college and College Bursar, who should be able to advise.

Home owners -If you have a house that you own, which is let whilst you train, you are not liable for Council Tax for such time as it is paid by the tenant. However, if the property is empty for any period you will be liable to Council Tax at half-rate on a second home.

Regional Courses – Students studying for 21 hours or more for 24 weeks per year, with limited income may be able to gain a Council Tax Rebate If you fulfil these conditions then you will need a ‘student certificate’ from your Principal, confirming your eligibility, for your Council.

Life Assurance – All dioceses now provide for Life Cover via Ecclesiastical Insurance Group for married candidates. This provides funds in the event of the death of a married candidate (or lone parent) in College training. The scheme has been extended to also include the option of providing cover for any married candidate (or lone parent) sponsored for stipendiary ministry who is training on a Regional Course, for a period of three months before the date of ordination.

Debt – Dioceses ask candidates to complete a Statement of Financial Position form before attending a Bishops’ Advisory Panel. The aim is to ensure that candidates embark upon ordained ministry free of significant financial liabilities. Details of any debts, including student loans, must be given in the form; debt is acceptable provided that there is a realistic plan in place to ensure that it will be managed and can be repaid.

FINANCE AFTER ORDINATION:

Those ordained to full-time stipendiary ministry are eligible for a number of grants paid by the ordaining diocese. The Central Stipends Authority recommends the following minimum levels of grant:

* Removal Expenses – The cost of removal van, labour etc. You will usually need to provide three quotes.

* Resettlement Grant – A minimum of £2,040 from April 2010 to cover moving-in expenses.

* First Appointment Grant -a minimum of £2,040 from April 2010 to cover robes, books and other expenses incurred upon taking up your first post. (A further grant is available on taking up your first incumbency.)

Assistance available from the Church Commissioners:

Stipends Advance – The Church Commissioners offer interest-free stipend advances of up to £900 to candidates about to be ordained, repayable over a term of up to twelve months.

Car Loans – All clergy who are paid through the Church Commissioners are eligible for a car loan, subject to the following conditions. The loan should not exceed the sum of £10,115; the maximum term of the loan is 4 years. The car should not be more than four years old (if it is more than this it may still be possible to purchase subject to a mechanical inspection). An HPI/Car Data Check is required for all second-hand vehicles. The loan is subject to a rate of interest which remains fixed once the loan has been agreed. (The current rate is 5.0% ) NB! The Church Commissioners usually send further details on loans to ordinands in their final year, either direct, or through the training institutions, in the Spring of each year.

Tax Deductible Expenses – The Church Commissioners’ booklet also gives details about tax, tax allowances and tax deductible expenses. NSMs should note that they can only claim tax relief for church duty related expenditure, on income derived as a minister and not on income from other employment.

Provision for NSMs and OLMs – Generally these grants and assistance are not available to these categories. Where appropriate, financial provision is negotiated between the individual, the parish and the diocese.

Clergy Stipend – From April 2010 the National Minimum Stipend for all clergy will be £20,430 pa.

This article sets out the main features of current student financing. AOCM has been involved in many issues on behalf of ordinands, including developments in student finance. We recognise that readers are from a diversity of financial positions. Some will have previously enjoyed a comfortable salary and lifestyle and will have to adapt to a student budget. There are others who are used to living on a grant or low income who may well begin training with depleted or even negative resources.

The diversity of financial positions may continue to differ slightly from diocese to diocese, from single to married ordinands, or simply on whether or not you are aware of which charities or trusts to contact in the hope of obtaining financial assistance. We have included a list of grant-making trusts in this handbook. As far as differences between dioceses are concerned, there can still be variations as mentioned above, but dioceses are moving to a far more uniform system.

Some Changes

There have been some recent changes and there are some further changes afoot, to be introduced September 2008. A revised system for the funding of the Theological Colleges and Regional Courses is to be implemented which will be based upon block grants. The block grants will be made at standard levels, dependant upon the number of sponsored ordinands attending each institution. As part-and-parcel of these changes, in the current year set payments have been made to the Colleges for the maintenance of students at College. The maintenance for married and single students has been paid at set, separate levels and this has meant that the previously available College rebates have generally no longer been made to married students.

At present, training grants for both College and Course training are paid through the institutions in termly instalments at the beginning of each term. It is intended that the new system will include the payment of the maintenance monies direct to students, whose responsibility it will then be to pay the appropriate maintenance fees to the College.

LEA Grants

It is generally no longer possible for the LEAs to make discretionary awards for training. It is therefore now only appropriate to make an application to the LEA if you are undertaking a first degree course at College and have not previously received LEA assistance.

Ministry Division Grants

If training at a College, as soon as you have your College place confirmed after selection you should complete the grant application form for a grant from Central Church Funds and send this to the Grants Officer at the Ministry Division. College tuition fees will always be met in full (if not part-met by the LEA). However, if you have unearned income of more than £1,095 per annum, read on. It is only the interest from savings and investments that can be taken into account in the assessment of grants. In the assessment of Ministry Division grants, the first £1,095 is disregarded, and 60% of interest above this level will normally be taken into account in the assessment of the maintenance grant. The parental contribution towards the grant, for ordinands under 25, has long ago been abolished.

Ministry Division Allowances

ITEM	College Expenses Tuition and Maintenance	Personal Allowance Books Common Room Subs etc	Travel (if home more than 20 miles from College)	Vacation Short Vac/ Long Vac
PROVISION	Tuition = 100% Maintenance fees normally 100%	£1,278 (payable in 3 termly instalments)	Rate banded according to distance	£358 short £402 long

Although primary responsibility for the support of the families of married ordinands rests with the sponsoring diocese, the Ministry Division contributes to these costs through family maintenance grants made from the Church Times TAP Fund. To apply for these grants a copy of the agreed estimated budget should be submitted to the Grants Office at the Ministry Division.

Regional Courses

The maximum grant per annum payable by the Ministry Division consists of:

Course fees, met in full in all cases; Book grants of £231 per annum; Travel costs

Ministry Division book and travel grants for students on the Regional Courses are assessed on a scale that relates to income and commitments.

In the case of OLM Scheme candidates there is a contribution from the Ministry Division towards the OLM Scheme’s running costs. The diocese has responsibility for the funding of students’ costs, which may in some cases be by arrangement between the diocese and the parish.

Diocesan Grants

Diocesan Family Support

The families of ordinands in training are supported mainly by the sponsoring diocese. The costs are evenly distributed between the dioceses by a system of pooling. Some provision for housing will be made within the limits set for individual Colleges ranging from £7,665 to £9,825. In addition to this, family support is provided according to the following guidelines:

Family Situation	Couple	Lone Parent	Per child Over 11	Per Child under 11
Recommended diocesan support per annum	£8,925	£5,728	£2,008	£1,323

Married ordinands’ removal expenses to College are also met by a diocesan grant, in addition to the first year’s annual budget.

Deductions

The recommended figure in the table above plus housing costs is the overall total figure that you will receive. The following, where applicable, are deducted, with the diocese providing the shortfall:

RECOMMENDED FIGURE

less

Ministry Division/LEA/TAP Maintenance Contribution

State Benefits (including Child Benefit); Child Tax Credit 75% after the first £1,990

Earned income above £995 pa; unearned income at the discretion of the diocese

Income from Charities above £410

75% of Working Partners Income after the first £1,990

DIOCESAN GRANT

Diocesan Support for Single Students

This has been an area of concern for a number of years and AOCM has been active in pressing for more help for single ordinands. Although the grants payable by the Ministry Division are designed to provide for the ordinand throughout the academic year, it is the level of funding during the long vacation period that has caused problems. Ordinands are not generally permitted to claim Income Support and in the majority of cases it is inappropriate that they should become financially dependant on their families and friends during the vacation period.

In order to address this situation, sponsoring dioceses are asked to supplement the expenses of their ordinands. The Ministry Division issues a budget form with guideline notes for single ordinands. Almost all dioceses have now adopted this and you are urged to contact your diocese if help is needed. Diocesan grants up to £1,250 pa are included in the national pooling arrangements.

Benefits and Rebates

Income Tax

Don’t forget to claim back any income tax that you may be owed from your tax office when you start training.

Child Benefit

Available to everyone with children under 16 (or 19 if they are still at school). £18.10 per week for the first child and £12.10 per week for each subsequent child.

Child Tax Credit

Child Tax Credit was introduced in April 2003. Married students with children (under 16 or under 19 if still at school) are eligible to apply. Unlike Child Benefit, it is means-tested but the means test is generous and even couples with a joint income of up to £60,000 pa may be eligible to receive a portion of this benefit. It is paid (by the Inland Revenue) direct to “the person who is mainly responsible for caring for the children in the family”. It is paid in addition to Child Benefit. Despite the name it does not require one partner to be working and paying tax. Applicants may check their eligibility on-line at www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits, and then immediately apply on-line. Alternatively, a claim pack can be ordered by phone (0800 500 222). There is also a Tax Credits helpline – 0845 300 3900.

Working Tax Credit

Also introduced in April 2003, replacing Working Families Credit (which in turn replaced Family Credit). This may be applicable where one partner works more than 16 hours a week and there are sizeable childcare costs to be met. But couples without children are also eligible to apply.

Income support

Not generally available to students but partners may be able to claim.

Medical

You may be entitled to a percentage rebate on prescriptions, dental and optical treatment. Fill in form HC1 available from doctors, dentists and opticians when you register at their practice.

Council Tax

This varies greatly from Council to Council. Ordinands living in College should be exempt from the tax, and those living outside the College from the personal element of the tax. For married ordinands in receipt of a Diocesan Family Maintenance Grant, provision for Council Tax (where applicable) should be included in the estimated budget agreed with the diocese. This area is very complicated, especially for married ordinands. A number of Councils have agreed that, where a married student lives in a College-owned or College-managed accommodation, the household should be completely exempt from Council Tax. It is well worth speaking to the Council in which your respective College is, as well as your College Bursar, who should be able to advise.

Regional Courses: NB! Students studying for 21 hours or more for 24 weeks of the year who receive a limited income may be able to gain a Council Tax Rebate If you fulfil these conditions then you will need a ‘student certificate’ from your Principal, confirming your eligibility, for your Council.

Life Assurance

All dioceses now participate in the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group’s Life Assurance Scheme for married candidates. The scheme provides cover in the event of the death of a married candidate (or lone parent) in College training. The scheme has been extended to also include the option of providing cover for any married candidate (or lone parent) sponsored for stipendiary ministry who is training on a Regional Course, for a period of three months before the date of ordination.

Debt

Dioceses now ask candidates to complete a Statement of Financial Position form before attending a Bishops’ Advisory Panel. Its stated purpose is to

ensure that candidates embark upon ordained ministry free of significant financial difficulties. The treatment of debt by dioceses is slightly more relaxed than it used to be – details of any debts, including student loans, must be given in the form, but a reasonable level of debt is acceptable provided that there is a realistic plan in place concerning how it will be managed.

Finance after Ordination

Those ordained to full-time stipendiary ministry are eligible for a number of grants paid by the ordaining diocese. The Central Stipends Authority provides guidelines recommending the minimum levels of grant as shown below:

Removal Expenses – The cost of removal van, labour etc. Be prepared to provide usually no less than three quotes.

Resettlement Grant – A minimum of £1,960 from April 2008 to cover moving-in expenses.

First Appointment Grant – a minimum of £1,960 from April 2008 to cover robes, books and other expenses incurred upon taking up your first post. (A further grant is available on taking up your first incumbency.)

Assistance Available From The Church Commissioners

Stipends Advance

The Church Commissioners offer interest-free stipend advances of up to £900 to candidates about to be ordained, repayable over a term of up to twelve months.

Car loans

All clergy who are paid through the Church Commissioners are eligible for a car loan, subject to the following conditions.

The loan should not exceed the sum of £9,535 (increasing to £9,820 in April 2008) the maximum term of the loan is 4 years
The car should not be more than four years old (if it is more than this it may still be possible to purchase subject to a mechanical inspection). An HPI/Car Data Check is required for all second-hand vehicles
The loan is subject to a rate of interest which remains fixed once the loan has been agreed. (The current rate is 5.0% )

NB! The Church Commissioners usually send further details on loans to ordinands in their final year, either direct, or through the training institutions, in the Spring of each year.

Tax Deductible Expenses

The Church Commissioners’ booklet also gives details about tax, tax allowances and tax deductible expenses. NSMs should note that they can only claim tax relief for church duty related expenditure, on income derived as a minister and not on income from other employment.

Provisions for NSMs and OLMs

Generally these grants and assistance are not available to these categories. Where appropriate, financial provision is negotiated between the individual, the parish and the diocese.

Clergy Stipend

From April 2008 the National Minimum Stipend for all clergy will be £19,640 pa.

The Association of Ordinands and Candidates for Ministry