Chapter 2: The Work of the Review Group |
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| 1. | In April 1999 the Deans of Westminster, Windsor and the Chapels Royal petitioned Her Majesty The Queen to establish, in consultation with the Lord Chancellor, a Review of the governance and administration of the Royal Peculiars under their care. The Royal Peculiars to be covered by the Review would be Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor and the Chapels Royal which fall under the jurisdiction of the Dean of the Chapels Royal (the chapels of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London, the Chapel Royal and The Queen's Chapel at St. James's Palace and the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace). |
| 2. | The Review was duly established with the following terms
of reference:
'To review and report to Her Majesty The Queen,
through the Lord Chancellor, with recommendations, on the organisation,
management and accountability of each of Westminster Abbey, St. George's
Chapel, Windsor and the Chapels Royal responsible to the Dean of the
Chapels Royal, but without prejudice to their status as Royal Peculiars'.
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| 3. | The members of the Review Group were:
Professor Averil Cameron CBE, Warden of Keble College,
Oxford (Chairman)
The Very Revd Raymond Furnell, the Dean of York Alderman Sir Brian Jenkins GBE The Rt. Hon. The Lord Lloyd of Berwick (Legal Assessor). The Administrative Secretary was Mr. David Long. |
| 4. | The Church Commissioners generously agreed to the secondment of Mr. David Long as Administrative Secretary to the Review Group. Other costs, including the printing of the Report, were met by the Royal Peculiars themselves. |
| 5. | The Group requested submissions from each of the three institutions under Review in response to a common set of questions to be covered, and received supplementary information at later stages in response to particular requests. The institutions also provided copies of relevant documents and publications including copies of their annual accounts. We are very grateful for the care with which they answered our queries and the patience with which they checked the accuracy of our reporting. |
| 6. | The Review Group met on 9 occasions, on most occasions for a full day in London but with one overnight meeting at Keble College, Oxford. The Group also paid weekend visits to Westminster Abbey (21-23 January 2000) and St. George's Chapel, Windsor (3-5 March 2000). We much appreciate the co-operation and hospitality which we received on both occasions. We had a meeting with the Bishop of London as Dean of the Chapels Royal on 29 February 2000. We also visited the Tower of London and the Chapel Royal at St. James's Palace (26 May 2000) and Hampton Court Palace (20 September 2000). All these visits were useful in enabling the members of the Group to meet those involved with the various institutions at first hand and on site. Further individuals gave oral evidence to the Group at its regular meetings and the Chairman and Secretary visited a number of others. The Group had begun its work by inviting written evidence from any interested person and the Chairman wrote individually to a range of persons inviting them to contribute if they so wished. A list of those who provided such evidence is detailed in Appendix 3. We have also consulted widely and have solicited and been given valuable advice by a variety of specialists, for which we are extremely grateful. |
| 7. | Those who gave evidence in person at meetings of the
Group were:
Miss Ingrid Slaughter, Assistant Legal Adviser
to the General Synod
In addition, the Chairman or the Chairman and Secretary had meetings
with the following:
Professor Gillian Stamp, Council of St. George's House The Very Revd. Patrick Mitchell KCVO, Dean Emeritus of Windsor The Very Revd. Michael Mayne KCVO, Dean Emeritus of Westminster The Lord Remnant CVO, Council of St. George's House and Director, St. George's House Trust (Windsor Castle) Frank Field MP Stuart Bell MP, Second Church Estates Commissioner Mr. Richard Halsey, Head of Church Policy, English
Heritage
Dr. Steven Brindle, English Heritage Miss Juliet West, Administrator, Westminster Abbey Chapter House and Pyx Chamber The Rt. Revd. Michael Mann KCVO, Dean Emeritus of Windsor HRH the Duke of Edinburgh Mr. Philip Mawer, Secretary General, Archbishops' Council Mr. William Chapman, the Prime Minister's Secretary for Appointments Mr John Holroyd CB, CVO, former Prime Minister's Secretary for Appointments Sir Robin Janvrin, Private Secretary to HM The Queen Mr Claude Hankes-Drielsma Fr. John Rick III The Lord Chancellor |
| 8. | The general outline of the Report was agreed and a draft prepared largely by the Chairman. This was discussed in detail at subsequent meetings and further drafts prepared with substantial revisions on the basis of contributions by the individual members of the Group. The final Report was agreed by all members of the Group. |
| 9. | We are grateful to the Church House Bookshop for arranging the sale of copies of the Report and to the Lord Chancellor's Office for agreeing to mount it on its web site. |
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