Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what financial support is available to (a) community support groups that meet in premises that form part of places of worship and (b) to support places of worship that have lost income due to having suspended rent payments for community groups that have continued to use their premises during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government recognises the impact that the pandemic has had on a wide range of community and voluntary groups, including faith groups and places of worship.

Throughout the pandemic – even during the most severe periods of national restrictions – the Government has sought to ensure that key support groups, of up to 15 people, have been able to continue to meet in places of worship and other community venues, to provide mutual aid, therapy and other vital forms of support to those most in need.

As part of the response to the impact of COVID-19, the Government made available a package of support specifically for charities and businesses. Places of worship that are also registered charities have been able to apply to a number of these schemes on the basis of being impacted organisations themselves, to support their work delivering community services in response to the pandemic. This included the Government’s £750 million package of support specifically for charities, social enterprises and the voluntary sector. Many places of worship who employ people have also benefitted from the Government’s furlough scheme, which was recently extended to the end of September 2021 where needed.

The Government continues to engage regularly with a range of faith leaders and community groups – including through our Places of Worship Taskforce and regular roundtable meetings with major faith groups - to better understand how the Government can support them to respond to the pressures they face at this time.

I encourage places of worship and community groups to monitor the Government’s web pages that offer information on the schemes currently available, and new schemes when they are launched, such as: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19.