In one of the biggest shake-up to cathedral management for decades, diocesan bishops are for the first time to be given the power to choose the dean of their cathedrals.

The change threatens to shift dramatically the balance of ecclesiastical power in dioceses, where Deans and Bishops jealously guard the privileges and responsibilities of their separate empires.

Once installed deans are, and will remain, masters of all they survey, particularly in the old-foundation cathedrals that did not develop from former parish churches.

Bishops cannot preach in their cathedrals without invitation from the Dean, and when they are consecrated they have to knock three times on the cathedral door with their staff before they can be granted admission.

The change concerns the 27 cathedrals whose Deans are presently appointed by the Crown.

The present system, where the Prime Minister takes advice from his and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s appointments secretaries before appointing a Dean, derives from the Church of England’s status as the nation’s established Church.

The change is recommended by the Church in a consultation paper published in response to the Government’s Green Paper in July, The Governance of Britain, which contained a wide range of proposals for constitutional renewal.

The Green Paper proposed that the Prime Minister should no longer use the royal prerogative to exercise choice in recommending appointments in senior ecclesiastical posts.

The Church says in its paper: “In the Green Paper the Government reaffirmed its commitment to the establishment of the Church of England, the position of the Sovereign as Supreme Governor, and the relationship between the Church and State. Diocesan bishops, suffragan bishops, a number of cathedral deans and canons and many parochial incumbents, as well as some other office holders, will continue to be appointed by the Crown.”

The difference for diocesan bishops will be that the Church can recommend just one instead of two names to the Crown, giving it more independence in the appointment of bishops as well.

The Church says: “Many of the questions to be resolved are quite specific and may even appear somewhat technical. The underlying issues are, however, important. They touch on how, under God, we can establish processes that give us the best prospect of selecting the right people for positions of responsibility in His Church.”

The paper continues: “Given both the importance of faith issues to public policy and the role that the established Church will continue to play in promoting local community cohesion, we shall want to discuss with Her Majesty's Government how effective links can be maintained between the Church and the heart of Government.”

But the Church admits that it is with cathedral appointments that the Green Paper “necessitates the greatest level of procedural change and where there are, therefore, the most significant choices to be made.”

Of the 42 English cathedrals, 28 have their deans appointed by the Crown, 12 by the diocesan bishop, and two, Bradford and Sheffield, by independent trustees. One of the 28 Crown Deans - the Dean of Christ Church - is also the head of an Oxford college, which means he or she will not be appointed by the Bishop of Oxford but by a process to be worked out with the university.

The 12 cathedrals to which the bishop appoints the dean are also parish churches, meaning that two lay members of the chapter have the right to veto appointments. Such a right of veto would not exist in the cathedrals where deans are presently appointed by the Crown.

The Church paper proposes that bishops should agree a code of practice when appointing deans.

Justifying the proposal that the bishop be allowed to appoint his dean, the paper says: “A cathedral is the seat of the bishop, the place where the chair that symbolises his teaching ministry and authority - the ‘cathedra’ - is located. A cathedral is of course much more than that - the mother church of the diocese, a centre of mission in and for the diocese, a place of engagement with the wider community.

“It is, however, the relationship with the bishop that is the defining characteristic of a cathedral. As a matter of principle it seems to us questionable whether, with the Prime Minster's Office no longer in the lead, anyone other than the diocesan bishop should oversee the process.”