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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department made an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, announced on 22 January 2025, on the ability of religious buildings in (a) areas of (i) deprivation and (ii) low economic activity and (b) investment zones to serve their communities.

DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impacts of various options to scale the scheme.

We believe that the changes announced will continue the widest distribution of the scheme’s benefits for communities within the available means, including in areas of deprivation and low economic activity. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by this change.