The former Archbishop of Canterbury has been given six months to vacate his private apartments at Lambeth Palace, it was revealed today.
On 7 Feb 2025 the members of the General Synod of the Church of England, which meets next week in London, received answers to written questions submitted ahead of the proceedidngs. Question 60 submitted by lay delegate Nicola Denyer of the Diocese of Newcastle asked: “What are the financial and other benefits included in the settlement agreement by which the Archbishop of Canterbury left his post in January, and do the terms of that settlement include a Non-Disclosure Agreement?”
Alan Smith, the First Church Estates Commissioner responded: “The Archbishop of Canterbury’s departure from office was not subject to a settlement agreement. He has received the financial payments to which he is lawfully entitled as a clergy office holder. His departure from office on 6 January 2025 is not the subject of any confidentiality agreement.”
Mr. Smith added that “With the Commissioners’ agreement, the Welby family is staying in the archbishop’s private quarters at Lambeth Palace for up to 6 months ahead of their relocation to their new home.”
Archbishop Welby’s last official day in office was 6 Jan 2025, after the archbishop resigned in the wake of his conduct in the John Smyth affair. He said he was quitting with a “long-felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England”, saying that he had to take both “personal and institutional responsibility”.
