Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Robathan Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2014 Commons Chamber

The right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

[Mr Andrew Robathan (South Leicestershire) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend will know that I love bats—

[Mr Speaker]

The right hon. Gentleman has bats on the brain.

[Mr Robathan]

Sorry, sleeping in the rafters.

[Mr Speaker]

We will hear more about that in a moment. It sounds racy and intoxicating.

[Mr Andrew Robathan]

6. What recent estimate he has made of the costs to churches of damage caused by bat infestation.

[The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Sir Tony Baldry)]

“Baldry on Bats” part 2: the full financial cost is difficult to calculate, but the damage to local and nationally significant cultural heritage is substantial. Approximately 6,400 churches are infested with bats.

[Mr Robathan]

Having come down from the eaves and woken up, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether he has had any discussions with English Heritage, which, after spending a lot of money on restoring churches, then finds that environmental authorities do not allow the exclusion of bats from churches? It will not harm bats to be excluded from churches. They did not start there; they started in trees and other such places. We need to exclude them from churches because they are doing a huge amount of damage and wasting taxpayers’ money that has already been spent on restoring churches.

[Sir Tony Baldry]

I understand my right hon. Friend’s concerns. St Nicholas church in Stanford-on-Avon in his constituency is one of the worst affected churches in the country. We are carrying out research and work with Natural England, and we hope that that will offer solutions for managing bats in the worst affected churches in the country and, most significantly, financial help in carrying out those plans. Such work does help. My hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh) has in her constituency St Hilda’s church in Ellerburn, which has successfully excluded bats from the interior of the church, and has now allowed the congregation back in the building to worship. Adaptations are also being made to Natural England’s licensing system, which will make it easier for consultants to carry out licensed bat work in churches.