Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made a recent assessment with the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the potential merits of making the Listed Places of Worship Scheme (a permanent grant to help support (a) historic buildings central to local communities and (b) the livelihoods of skilled crafts people.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to closely monitor the implementation and impact of the grant scheme through the regular reporting of the grant administrator, EMB. Since 2010, the Government has returned over £350 million to listed places of worship such as churches, synagogues, mosques and temples through the grant scheme. This has helped protect our listed places of worship and enabled them to continue their work as centers of worship and community assets.

The Chancellor has now set departmental budgets for 2025-26, further decisions around individual schemes such as these will be considered by standard departmental allocation processes later this financial year. Funding beyond 25-26 will be set at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.