Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland about ending the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; and whether the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund will be subject to the Barnett formula.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

I wrote to Angus Robertson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, regarding the closure of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. DCMS officials have also met with counterparts in the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to discuss the closure and confirm Barnett consequentials were applied as a proportion of overall departmental settlements.

At the Spending Review 2025, HM Treasury agreed budgets for Departments for a three-year period for Resource DEL, and a four-year period for Capital DEL. The Department then completed a Business Planning process to allocate this funding to programmes. This included £92 million (£23 million per year) for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.

At Spending Reviews, the Devolved Governments generally receive Barnett consequentials as a proportion of overall departmental settlements, not specific funding lines or programmes. Barnett consequentials were confirmed taking into account the overall DCMS allocation, which includes funding for the Places of Worship Renewal fund. Decisions on the allocation of this funding are then for the Devolved Governments to take.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, in each year since 2001 (1) what the total budget was, (2) how much was claimed by listed places of worship, and (3) whether the total grant amount available was exhausted before the end of the scheme year.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Data for years prior to 2014 is no longer available.

Between 2012 and March 2025, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme had an annual budget of £42 million. Recorded spending shows the following annual spend against the total budget: 2014/15 (£20,151,149), 2015/16 (£27,563,903), 2016/17 (£31,323,039), 2017/18 (£33,200,829), 2018/19 (£34,533,968), 2019/20 (£35,798,654), 2020/21 (£27,251,724), 2021/22 (£27,634,699), 2022/23 (£29,667,865), 2023/24 (£29,215,586). In 2024/25, the amount claimed was £42,468,941, of which £469,000 was paid from the 25/26 budget. In the 2025/26 financial year, the budget was £23 million. This has been fully allocated to applicants.