Funding guidelines for Lowest Income Communities (LInC)

LOWEST INCOME COMMUNITIES FUNDING supports ministry in the most deprived parishes.

What is Lowest Income Communities (LInC) funding?

Created in 2017, the purpose of LInC funding is to support and develop mission in communities with the most deprived populations.

LInC funding is a critical part of the financial system both of the Church of England and of individual dioceses. It is distributed to dioceses as block funding, allocated based on the size and average income of their population, and modified to reflect the proportion of the population with the lowest incomes. The 28 dioceses who receive this block funding decide how best to support mission in low-income communities and estates. 

How much LInC funding has been allocated?

£133.5m has been allocated to funding lowest-income communities in 2026-28, which is a 46% increase compared to 2023-25. 

What is LInC used for?

The 2022 Independent Review highlighted that LInC funding supported 1,700 parishes, maintaining ‘a significant number of clergy posts in poorer parishes that would otherwise be lost.’

Amongst other recommendations, the review called for the following, which align well with the agreed LInC principles (shown in italics):

• LInC funding is for lowest income communities. Communicate the extent to which LInC funding is sustaining mission and ministry in lowest income communities.
• Supporting mission for lowest income communities. Align strategic funding and measures to support revitalisation and catalyse mission, to allow more strategic reporting for mission in LInC-funded parishes.
• Transparency about the quantum of funds. Effective deployment of and accountability for LInC funding is enhanced when dioceses explain not just to the national church but also their own synods and stakeholders how resources are allocated and used. 

Is the £133.5m the only funding for lowest-income communities?

No. LInC funding represents only a part of the Church’s funding for lowest-income communities. It underpins other national funding through the Diocesan Investment Programme (£236m), the purpose of which is to enable the Church’s Vision and Strategy become a reality in local churches. This is biased towards low-income communities, and is used alongside dioceses’ and parishes’ own funding for mission and ministry in deprived communities.

The full guidelines can be downloaded below: