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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the financial pressures facing listed places of worship in Scotland, including Sacred Heart Parish Church in Cumbernauld, in the context of changes to heritage and capital funding streams.

Heritage funding is devolved, however listed places of worship in Scotland have benefitted from VAT rebate grants from the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which ran from 2001 to the end of this financial year.

The Department conducted an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. Our evaluation showed that while it had many benefits, 80% of respondents said that they would still have carried out the work without the rebate. The evaluation included an extensive survey of current and past scheme users and is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-listed-places-of-worship-scheme-final-report. We are aware that grants from the scheme will have benefited many recipients across Scotland, with a total of 1,513 Listed Places of Worship grant claims to a value of £6.9m being awarded to Scottish applicants since August 2022.

The Government has recently announced the Places of Worship Renewal Fund in England which will provide upfront capital support in the areas where it is needed most.

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.