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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing grants to churches and other places of worship which face potential closure as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Listed places of worship represent some of the nation’s finest heritage. The Government recognises the very significant impact that Covid-19 has had on places of worship to continue to operate and on the ability of congregations to maintain them.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has announced significant cross-sector support to deal with the impacts and aid recovery. This includes a £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund announced earlier this year aimed at helping key cultural and heritage organisations, including listed places of worship. The Fund has and will continue to provide grants to cover operating costs, support organisations become financially viable again and finance stalled capital projects. In addition, many places of worship have been eligible for other Covid-19 funding schemes including the emergency grant schemes run by Historic England and the National Lottery earlier this year.

The Government is committed to supporting places of worship and will continue to monitor both the impacts of the pandemic and the wider challenges that places of worship face.