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The Representative Church Body – Report 2022ALLOCATIONS COMMITTEE3 meetingsCanon Graham Richards - 3(Chair)Canon Graham RichardsMrs Helen ArnoppRt Rev Andrew Forster32Most Rev John McDowellMr Robert Neill33The function of the Allocations Committee is to investigate requests for financial supportand make recommendations to the Executive Committee or the Representative Body forthe annual allocation; to maintain a ‘watching brief’ on the use and deployment ofresources allocated to committees and organisations including their budgetary proceduresand accounting policies; to anticipate financial pressures ahead and plan forwardaccordingly, to ensure that trust limitations are observed in the use of Representative Bodyfunds and to co-ordinate with other financial bodies (Priorities Fund Committee,Investment Committee, Stipends Committee, Pensions Board etc).INVESTMENT COMMITTEE8 meetingsMr Kevin Bowers - 8(Chair)Mr Kevin BowersMr Henry Algeo*Mr Roy BensonMr William Galloway588Mr David LoweMs Hilary PrenticeMs Wendy Taylor878The function of the Investment Committee is to undertake oversight and supervisoryduties in relation to the investment of funds managed by the Representative Body (RB).The Committee reports to the RB through the Executive Committee and conducts itsbusiness in accordance with the Constitution of the Church of Ireland, the Committee’sTerms of Reference, applicable legislation or regulation, the RB’s policy in relation toEnvironmental and Social Governance (ESG) and the RB’s general policies, principlesand values.* retired October 2021 (Mr Leslie Ruttle elected December 2021)9

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022PROPERTY COMMITTEE5 meetingsMr Keith Roberts - 5(Chair)Mr Keith RobertsMr Ronald ColtonMrs Rita Day*Mrs Jane LeightonVen Stephen McBride5344Adviser:Mrs Ethne McCord†Mr Stanley McFarlandVen Terence ScottVen Roderic WestMr Sam Harper35544The function of the Property Committee is to process all matters affecting glebes,churches, parochial buildings and graveyards vested in the Representative Body inaccordance with statutory responsibilities as laid down in the Constitution of the Churchof Ireland, to manage the buildings directly under the control of the Representative Body,to co-ordinate with diocesan see house committees and care for see houses and allresidences provided for the use of church officers, to care for all properties assigned bythe Representative Body for the use and occupation of retired clergy and survivingspouses, to assist and provide guidance in the planning and disposal of redundant churchesand the contents thereof, to provide technical support and advice to parishes and dioceses,to maintain property records and registers and generally to report to the ExecutiveCommittee or to the Representative Body as appropriate.Note: Representatives of the dioceses who are members of the Representative Body areentitled to attend meetings of the Property Committee when relevant diocesanproperty matters are under consideration.* elected March 2021 in place of Mr Henry Robinson (retired November 2020)† elected March 2021 in place of the late Miss Maud Cunningham10

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022STIPENDS COMMITTEE3 meetingsMr Michael Johnston - 3(Chair)Ms Julie Beck*Rt Rev Dr Paul ColtonMs Hazel CorriganVen Brian Harper†3333Prof Paul Johnston‡Mrs Jane LeightonMr Basil O’MalleyVen David PierpointMr William OliverAdviser:Mr Michael Johnston12101The function of the Stipends Committee is to make recommendations concerning MinimumApproved Stipends, mileage rates for locomotory expenses, and the remuneration, expenses andbudgets for the episcopate and other church officers, to monitor changes in taxation and Statelegislation insofar as clerical remuneration matters are concerned, to investigate and makerecommendations in relation to grant aid requests from dioceses for the support of the Ministry andthe training of newly ordained clergy, to consult with dioceses and make recommendations to providefor the better maintenance of the Ministry generally, to monitor and report on the implementation ofthe recommendations of the Clergy Remuneration and Benefits Committee as approved by GeneralSynod in 1990 and report to the Executive Committee or to the Representative Body as appropriate.LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES COMMITTEE3 meetingsMr Oswyn Paulin§ - 3(Chair)Mr Oswyn PaulinRt Rev Michael BurrowsProf Paul Johnston Advisers:Rev Canon Dr Maurice ElliottRev Dr Adrian Empey32Very Rev Niall Sloane¶Vacant#032Dr Kenneth MilneRev Robin Bantry White33The function of the Library and Archives Committee is to oversee the management of the RCB Libraryand its resources having regard to trusts and objectives; to oversee the maintenance of the archives andChurch records generally (including records of contents of churches and of church plate); to co-operatewith the Theological Institute and committees using the Library premises and to provide a cost-effectiveservice to the Church and the public at large subject to the approval of the Executive Committee or theRepresentative Body as appropriate and budget limitations.*†‡§ ¶#elected March 2021 in place of Mr Geoffrey Perrin (retired October 2020retired November 2021 (replacement to be elected)retired September 2021 (Mrs Cynthia Cherry elected December 2021)appointed September 2021 in place of Mrs Ethne Harkness (resigned May 2021)retired September 2021 (replacement to be elected)elected December 2021 in place of Rt Rev Patrick Rooke (resigned December 2020)arising from the election of Mr Oswyn Paulin to the Chair11

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022LEGAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE0 meetingsMr Lyndon MacCann SC(Chair)Mr Lyndon MacCannMr Anthony Aston SCThe Hon Mr Justice Declan BuddRt Rev Dr Paul ColtonMrs Judith PetersMr William PrenticeMr Andrew WalkerThe function of the Legal Advisory Committee is to advise the Representative Body onany legal or trust matter which the Executive Committee or the Representative Body mayproperly refer to it.AUDIT COMMITTEE3 meetingsCanon Graham Richards - 3(Chair)Canon Graham RichardsMs Julie BeckMr Roy Benson33Ms Hilary Prentice*1The Audit Committee’s primary function is to assist the Representative Body in fulfillingits oversight responsibilities by reviewing the financial statements, the systems of internalcontrol, the audit process and the risk register. The Committee meets twice yearly withthe auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to review the scope of the audit programme priorto audit, the outcomes for the year when the audit is completed and any issues arisingfrom the audit. The Committee reviews the risk register annually.* resigned September 2021 (Mr Henry Saville elected December 2021)12

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022REPORT ON THE YEAR 2021The Representative Church Body (RCB) is the charitable trustee of the Church of Irelandfor dioceses and parishes in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.The RCB exists to inform, to support and to manage resources for the advancement of themission and ministry of the Church of Ireland. The services provided include: Investment managementProperty and trust administrationClergy payroll and pension administrationSafeguarding and human resource advisoryLegal, GDPR and charities advisoryLibrary and archive managementSynod, communications, education and committee supportThe offices of the RCB are located at Church House Dublin, Church House Belfast and theRCB Library, Braemor Park, Dublin.RCB Staff organisationDuring 2021, the services of the RCB were provided by staff working from home and inthe case of Library staff from the RCB Library at Braemor Park.RCB Staff managementThe management of staff is coordinated through the Senior Leadership Team, andoperationally through the Covid-19 Coordination Group. The Senior Leadership Teammeets weekly over Zoom with the Covid-19 Coordination Group meeting bi-weekly.RCB Right to Request Flexible Working policyFollowing extensive engagement with staff, union representatives, management andcommittee members a proposal in relation to remote working was brought before theExecutive Committee. The RCB Right to Request Flexible Working policy was approvedin June. This policy give employees the right to request to work from home subject to aminimum of one day’s attendance per week in an RCB office. Staff applications have beenreceived but we have not yet set a date for the commencement of the policy. In themeantime, staff continue to work from home only working from the offices where required.The policy will be subject to a formal review within a year of implementation.13

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022CommunicationsDuring 2021, a particular focus for management has been to ensure adequate interdepartmental coordination. This has been achieved through meetings of the Covid-19Coordination Group, bi-weekly meetings with union representatives, a weekly news emailto staff, monthly all-staff presentations with questions and answers and by holding a virtualstaff coffee morning each Friday.As we implement the RCB Right to Request Flexible Working policy we will furtherconsider the need for staff to meet together informally.Committee meetingsOver the previous nearly two years the majority of committee meetings have taken placeover Zoom, this has facilitated attendance and reduced costs. Some more detailed meetingshave taken place in person in Church House. Over the coming months the committees ofthe RCB will be considering when meetings should be held in person and when they shouldbe held online.RCB Response to Covid-19Since the beginning of the pandemic, the RCB has sought to support and resource parishesand dioceses to deal with the consequence of Covid restrictions. These responses haveranged from guidance to financial support.Media grantsIn 2020, the immediate identified need was to support parishes and dioceses as theytransitioned from in-person to online worship. The RCB and the Priorities Fund providedeach diocese with a grant for 10,000 to fund diocesan media resources.Diocesan deferral schemeAlso in 2020, the RCB provided each diocese with the option to defer part of their monthlystipend assessment for April, May and June 2020 with repayment required in June,September and December 2021. During 2021, in recognition that the restrictions imposedby the pandemic were continuing longer than had been initially expected, the repaymentdates for these loans were extended by a further two years to June, September andDecember 2023. The value of offered loans under this scheme amounted to 1m.Cathedrals loansIn 2020 the RCB approved ten-year non-interest bearing loans for the benefit of certaincathedrals and collegiate churches with a choral tradition that were dependent on touristincome. During 2021, following consultation with the participating deans and due tocontinued financial pressure, the scheme was extended and for certain cathedrals theamount available was increased. In total, the value of loans offered to cathedrals wasapproximately 2.5m.14

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022Parish grantsDuring 2021, the RCB discussed how financially to support Church of Ireland parishesmany of whom will have incurred exceptional Covid related costs. Following discussionwith diocesan secretaries and consideration at the Executive Committee it was decided thatthe RCB should offer a once-off grant to parishes. This grant would be paid to each diocesefor onward payment to parishes, would be calculated on the basis of parish cure and wasto be the same amount for each parish. The amount paid to each parish was 1,912 or 1,510 per cure with a total cost to the RCB of approximately 0.8m.Activities for 2021Charities Governance CodeIn accordance with the Charities Act 2009, the RCB submitted an annual report to theCharities Regulator. This report included a statement of compliance, stating that the RCBwas partly compliant with the Charities Governance Code. The detailed review ofcompliance identified a number of actions that the RCB would need to put in place to beable to note full compliance, these include documenting a 3-5 year strategy and having amember handbook.Investment management outsourcingAt the end of 2020 the decision was taken to outsource the management of in-housemanaged investments. Following presentations from selected fund managers theInvestment Committee recommended four specific managers; Alliance Bernstein,Blackrock, Setanta and Newton to manage the previously in-house managed investmentsof General Funds, the RB General Unit Trust (NI) and the RB General Unit Trust (RI).The application of previously in-house managed funds across the new fund managers isshown in the table below:AllianceBernsteinGeneral FundsBlackrock Unit Trust (NI)Unit Trust (RI) NewtonSetanta The table does not show the existing allocation of General Funds to Sarasin and Partners,or the continuing direct investments for each fund in alternatives, bonds or private equity.During the year the trust deeds for the RB General Unit Trusts were updated to reflect thechange in asset classes and to standardise the administration fees for the RB General UnitTrust (RI) with that of the RB General Unit Trust (NI).15

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022MindMatters Church of IrelandThe MindMatters COI project is a three-year initiative funded by Benefact Trust (previouslyAllchurches Trust) that seeks to explore issues of mental health, to deliver training and toprovide grants to sustainable mental health promotion projects across the Church. The initialresearch phase of the project was completed during 2021 with the report available at www.mindmatters.ireland.anglican.org . In 2022, priorities for the project team includeimplementing an evidence-based training programme and coordinating the grants process.SafeguardingSafeguarding continues to be a particular focus area for the RCB. At the end of 2021, theSafeguarding Officer for Northern Ireland retired and the office recruited a newSafeguarding Officer for Northern Ireland, Gillian Taylor, who will report to Robert Dunneas the Church of Ireland Safeguarding Officer. An initiative begun in 2021 has been toamalgamate the Church of Ireland Safeguarding policies for Northern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland, so as to make them more assessable. Another project has been todevelop a quality assurance framework to ensure consistency of the application of policies.Financial PerformanceDuring 2021 the total funds available to the RCB increased by 20% to 249m (2020: 208m), this increase is attributed to positive market performance and is after expenses andallocations.The value of General Funds invested assets at the end of the year was 239m. Between2010 and 2014 25m of General Funds was transferred to the clergy defined benefitpension scheme. Yet despite this exceptional withdrawal General Funds has steadilyrecovered to its current high of 239m. In absolute terms, that is excluding inflation, thisvaluation exceeds the previous peak at the end of 2006 of 238m.General Funds Invested Assets300250200 m15010050-16

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022Budgeted withdrawalThe RCB uses Total Return as its budget mechanism in order to determine the long-termsustainable maximum withdrawal from General Funds. In 2017 the Executive Committeeset the Total Return withdrawal formula for the following five years as:Total Return max withdrawal 3.5% of previous 5 year average opening fundsDuring 2021 the RCB managed to achieve a small surplus on budget. Although this is acommendable achievement, we would note caution as market return expectations havereduced due to Covid concerns, inflation, low interest rates and, since the year end, theconsequences of the war in Ukraine.AllocationsThe RB General Funds are the unrestricted funds for which the RCB is the trustee. TheTotal Return withdrawal is used to cover the cost of providing services to both parishesand dioceses and to finance other RCB activities.During 2021 budgeted expenditure from General Funds and other central funds were asshown below:Expenditure from General FundsRCB ServiceDelivery Costs49%General Synod15%Misc %Clergy Pension Costs2%17Episcopacy12%

The Representative Church Body – Report 20222021 3.5m 0.9m 1.2m 0.3m 0.1m 0.1m 1.1m 7.2mRCB service delivery including staff costsEpiscopacy including maintenance of See HousesTheological Institute including grants and housingChaplaincy including Belfast and DublinClergy Pension costsMisc. Ministry SupportGeneral Synod including CIYD, education and press officeTotal Budgeted Expenditure2020 3.5m 0.9m 1.2m 0.3m 0.1m 0.1m 1.0m 7.1mThe expenditure above is before the exceptional parish grants approved during 2021 at anadditional cost of 0.8m.Church Fabric and Development FundIn 2016 the Church Fabric and Development Fund was broadened to allow the applicationof some of the central fund towards initiatives that would facilitate the strategic growth ofthe Church of Ireland. The guidelines for application to the central fund were that initiativesshould: Develop the strategic advancement of church or missionBe applicable to more than one diocesesRaise the public profile of the Church of IrelandBe sustainable in the medium termDuring 2021 the Church Fabric and Development Fund sub-group approved: Bundoran and Newcastle outreach initiativeChurch Leaders Group – Centenary ServiceArmagh Cathedral – Media GrantClimate Change ConferenceCarraig Centre Cork 51,000 10,000 20,000 3,000 10,000The applications approved by the Church Fabric and Development Fund sub-grouprepresent a commitment to support mission and outreach.RB General Unit TrustsParishes, Dioceses and other Church of Ireland organisations may invest in the RB GeneralUnit Trusts. There are two separate Unit Trusts: one for Euro investments, the RB GeneralUnit Trust (RI), and one for Sterling investments, the RB General Unit Trust (NI).18

The Representative Church Body – Report 2022These funds are managed by the RCB investment team with the units paying bi-annualdividends. The dividend yield based on average bid price for the year to 31 December 2021and capital growth during the year for both units was:RB Unit Trust (RI)RB Unit Trust (NI)Dividend yieldChange in unit price2.42%2.42%19%13%The Executive Committee took the decision during 2021 to maintain the dividend per u

3 The Rt Rev Ian Ellis*, Bishop of Clogher 4 The Rt Rev Andrew Forster, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe 4 The Rt Rev David McClay, Bishop of Down and Dromore 4 The Rt Rev George Davison, Bishop of Connor 4 The Rt Rev Ferran Glenfield, Bishop of Kilmore 3 The Rt Rev Patrick Rooke†, Bishop of Tuam