The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Twycross) (Lab)
My Lords, I am pleased to answer this Question for Short Debate and, like others, I thank the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis of Banbury, for securing the debate. I thank all other noble Lords and the right reverend Prelate, who, despite the weather, stayed to speak in the debate. I congratulate the noble and learned Baroness, or rather her daughter and son-in-law, on their marriage. I will aim, in the time allowed, to answer as many questions as possible, but I will review Hansard and follow up in writing where I do not.
In May, as noble Lords are aware, I announced the opening of applications for the places of worship renewal fund. The fund will provide upfront capital grants to restore listed places of worship, with funding targeted towards the places that need it most. I was pleased to be able to secure this funding of £92 million for churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other places of worship, in recognition of the valuable role they play in the hearts of their communities. In many cases, they provide services well beyond their congregations. The example that the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis, gave in her opening remarks of her local church, St James the Apostle, highlighted this, as did the examples from the noble Baronesses, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville and Lady Seccombe, my noble friend Lady Wilcox and the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, who highlighted the effective monetary value of the social value that is provided.
Since I became Heritage Minister, I have visited places of worship up and down the country, including St Michael le Belfrey in York, Salisbury Cathedral, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, Grimsby Minster and the Sir Moses Montefiore Synagogue in Grimsby. I have spoken regularly to stakeholders, including the Church of England and the National Churches Trust. I know that wonderful buildings such as these rely on dedicated volunteers to keep the doors open and the lights on. While some larger places of worship may have dedicated fundraising staff, I know that, for the vast majority, it is those same volunteers—including, I have no doubt, many Members of your Lordships’ House, clearly including a number of those who spoke today—who will fundraise with their community and apply for funding for repairs and essential improvements. This scheme is designed with them in mind.
The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis, highlighted the previous Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. I recognise how much this scheme was valued by those caring for our historic places of worship and I know it supported many transformational projects. However, in the current fiscal environment, we need to look carefully at how funding is targeted to ensure it is delivering against our ambitions. As the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Leicester said, many churches have not benefited as they could not raise the capital funds up front.
Our evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme showed that 80% of those who benefited said they would have completed the works anyway, though in some cases to a different timetable or scope. Our internal analysis on past payments in the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme data also shows that it disproportionately favoured places with less disadvantage, illustrating the point that it was almost impossible for some areas to get the funding to make the essential repairs.
To reassure my noble friend Lady Wilcox, this is not a rebranding exercise. The places of worship renewal fund will target places facing double disadvantage—the highest levels of deprivation and the greatest need for investment. When assessing claims, Historic England, which will manage the fund for the Government, will prioritise eligible applications in these places of greatest need.
The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis, and other noble Lords raised rural churches. Any listed place of worship can apply and applications will be prioritised on the basis of need, as set out on the Historic England website. In areas not served by standard measures of deprivation, additional consideration can be given to those that serve isolated or rural communities or provide the primary or only shared community space in that locality.
My noble friend Lady Wilcox referenced the incredible church in Newport, Wales. In relation to devolution, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was a UK-wide VAT rebate scheme. The places of worship renewal fund is for England only, because heritage is devolved. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Administrations receive Barnett consequentials at the spending review, taking into account any changes to the overall DCMS settlement. We have made them aware that it covers this scheme. It is now for the devolved Administrations to consider whether to set up new arrangements, should they wish to. They have not yet done so, but we have offered to share how DCMS is approaching this. Lottery funding is also available in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and we anticipate that, over the next three years, about £100 million will be distributed for churches across the nations. I appreciate the point made by my noble friend Lady Gill and the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, that some places of worship are reluctant to take lottery money.
It is only when all eligible projects in or serving the places that face double disadvantage have been funded that other projects will be considered. Second priority will be given to areas with the greatest need, as measured by the index of multiple deprivation. Once eligible projects in these areas have been funded, projects with the greatest need in terms of financial need, urgency of repair or community benefit will be considered.
The places of worship renewal fund will move funding from a retrospective VAT reclaim, as noble Lords have noted, which funded projects that could already raise the money to carry out capital repairs, to a targeted, upfront capital grant. Funding will no longer be awarded on a first come, first served basis. It will go to places that need it most. By enabling applicants to secure funding before major works begin, the places of worship renewal fund will give congregations the confidence and certainty to carry out works.
The noble Lord, Lord Scriven, questioned the point around active places of worship. An active place of worship is categorised either as one used for worship at least six times a year or as one owned by a charity that cares specifically for historic places of worship that are open to the public a minimum of six times a year. Like the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, I would recommend a visit to the Churches Conservation Trust, which is eligible for the new scheme.
My noble friend Lady Wilcox asked whether funding would be sufficient. The places of worship renewal fund will invest £92 million, as I have said. There is also a wider landscape of government funding for the Churches Conservation Trust. The National Lottery is expected to spend over £100 million between 2024 and 2027, and the vital work of parishes and congregations is also key.
This is not the only new funding I have launched. The £60 million heritage at risk capital fund is now open, ready to conserve and repair assets delivering community benefit. The £42 million heritage revival fund is also open, supporting communities themselves to take on the regeneration of historic buildings, getting them back into community use. This sits alongside lottery funding to heritage of around £300 million per annum.
In relation to the points made about whether the Church would fund this and the sustainability of funding, I will allude to different points made by both the right reverend Prelate and the noble Lord, Lord Scriven. Care of our places of worship is a significant challenge, and in the Government’s view it needs to be a shared endeavour. I will talk to the Church of England about how we, the Church, the lottery and others can work together to support these buildings. My conversations with Church officials, however, suggest that they are willing to have this conversation.
In response to the wider point of the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, there is a balance to be struck. These are not simply religious buildings; they are also historic buildings. As the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis, said, they make up almost half of grade 1 listed buildings. Through the places of worship renewal fund, smaller grants will be available for minor targeted interventions.
The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Prentis, my noble friend Lady Wilcox and others, including the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, and my noble friend Lady Gill have highlighted that simplicity was a feature of the previous scheme. In designing the new competitive application process, we have worked hard with Historic England to take into account the needs of volunteers up and down the country who care for our places of worship.
In response to the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, in designing the scheme we met with a range of stakeholders, as did Historic England, which also ran a working group to design it. Historic England will have dedicated project officers to guide smaller congregations and faith groups through the grant application process. When I was on a recent visit to Grimsby, I met a congregation who were availing themselves of that advice. We feel that means that groups which need extra support will receive it, above all in areas of double disadvantage.
This is the first round of a new scheme. We are monitoring feedback carefully using Historic England intelligence, reviewing social media and listening to our stakeholders to understand whether improvements to the process can be made. I will meet with Historic England to discuss this, and I am happy to meet with any interested Members of your Lordships’ House as well to hear noble Lords’ direct experience. Like all speakers in today’s debate, I recognise how our historic places of worship provide many valuable services to our communities, like food banks, playgroups, and spaces for music, dance and culture. The best way to protect our heritage is to use it, and this is exactly what the funding aims to do. I will write to other noble Lords, including to the noble Baroness, Lady Seccombe, around crime and crime against churches.
The scheme will ensure that heritage buildings, including listed places of worship, stand proud at the centre of our communities and continue to serve their needs for many years to come.