Following the removal of altar rails for a trial period, the applicants sought a faculty for their permanent removal to create more space in the sanctuary, to facilitate the distribution of Communion and to assist those who could not kneel to receive Communion owing to age or disability. An objection to the removal was received from the donor (no longer resident in the parish) of the altar rails, who argued that removal of the rails diminished the sanctity of the sanctuary. Further objections were raised by an elderly parishioner with disabilities, arguing that the application was inadequately advertised and that removing the altar rails made receiving Communion more difficult and breached the disability provisions of the Equality Act 2010.

After considering the history of canon law concerning the distribution of Communion, the chancellor held that there is no canonical obstacle to receiving Communion standing nor to not providing altar rails. As regards the Equality Act it was held that, while divine service and the administration of Communion are public services they are not the actions of a public authority. Accordingly, neither the European Convention on Human Rights nor the Equality Act were applicable. The chancellor stated that the church should seek to avoid discrimination, but accepted that reasonable adjustments were being made to enable those with disabilities to receive Communion and that they therefore suffered no substantial disadvantage by removal of the altar rails. The chancellor held that as the removal of the altar rails would not adversely affect the aesthetic appearance of the church the Bishopsgate questions did not apply. The necessity of facilitating administration of Communion both generally and for those unable to kneel outweighed both the objections of the donor of the rails and those concerning discrimination. To acknowledge the donor's gift the removed rails should be stored, preserving the option of using them on an occasional basis or restoring their permanent use if necessitated by future changes of circumstance.

As regards consultation and notice of the faculty application, it was suggested obiter that advertising faculty applications on the outside of the church's front door was preferable to placing them with other notices inside the church door or in a covered noticeboard. [Catherine Shelley]