Oral QuestionChurch Commissioners

To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Commissioners have made an estimate of the proportion of the Church's assets that may have a link to historic involvement with slavery.

Tabled: 15 May 2025Answered: 22 May 2025

Asked by

Ms Diane Abbott

LabourHackney North and Stoke Newington

Answering Minister

the Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners

Answer from Hansard

The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Marsha De Cordova)

The forensic accounting research published in 2023 revealed that Queen Anne’s Bounty was linked with African chattel enslavement in two main ways: significant investments in the South Sea Company; and benefactions received from individuals whose income may have derived from slavery. The fund for healing, repair and justice is the Church Commissioners’ response to these findings.