The National Secular Society wants to end taxpayer funding for chaplaincy in the NHS. Matt Wardman subjects the figures to scrutiny, and is left with a lot of questions.

It can be hard to quantify the benefit of having chaplains, says Mark Vernon. Their work is not amenable to a cost-benefit analysis. But that does not mean it has no value or effect, just that it has to be assessed in human rather than statistical terms.

Health is not is not a reductionist industrial process, says Stephen G. Wright. It is about attending to deep human, relational and spiritual needs. This is what NHS chaplaincy is about.

A secularist call for an end to taxpayer funding for the NHS chaplaincy service has been described as "erroneous and simplistic" by Unite, the largest union in the country.

Churches and religious organisations should fund chaplaincy and spiritual care in the National Health Service instead of the taxpayer, says the National Secular Society.

A report published by the think tank Ekklesia suggests that the high-profile conflict between a number of Christian Unions and Students' Unions need not end in legal action ‚Ä' which would be damaging to all concerned.