Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will provide (a) equivalent to and (b) greater financial support than the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; and what steps she is taking to ensure transitional funding for places of worship.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Places of Worship Renewal Fund will provide an equivalent overall level of financial support to that provided by the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, £23 million per annum.
The new Places of Worship Renewal Fund is a capital fund providing grants upfront, which in some cases, may award a greater proportion of the project costs than what would have previously been received through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
We are aware of concerns regarding the transition between the two schemes. Guidance, including eligibility criteria and application process on the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to prevent funding gaps during the transition from the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Places of Worship Renewal Fund will provide an equivalent overall level of financial support to that provided by the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, £23 million per annum.
The new Places of Worship Renewal Fund is a capital fund providing grants upfront, which in some cases, may award a greater proportion of the project costs than what would have previously been received through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
We are aware of concerns regarding the transition between the two schemes. Guidance, including eligibility criteria and application process on the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason repairs and maintenance are treated differently for VAT purposes for (a) places of worship and (b) museums and art galleries.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Construction repair and remedial works to all buildings are charged at the standard rate of VAT, this includes places of worship and museums/art galleries.
Previously major alterations to listed buildings were zero-rated, including places of worship. Since 2012, alteration works to a protected building are standard rated for VAT. Details are set out in HMRC guidance, available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708#section9
Some museums and galleries receive VAT refunds on the costs associated with providing free access to their permanent collections, under the museums and galleries VAT Refund Scheme. More information can be found at VAT Refund Scheme for museums and galleries (VAT Notice 998) - GOV.UK
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme provides grants for VAT paid by listed places of worship on their repair and maintenance costs, with the objective of helping to preserve UK heritage. From April 2026 the scheme will be replaced by a Places of Worship Renewal Fund, which will invest £92 million capital funding into listed places of worship. It is designed to ensure that taxpayer funding is targeted more effectively toward the preservation of our heritage assets.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has has made of the levels of repairs to churches which will not proceed as a result of VAT changes.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department conducted an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. 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. 80% of respondents said that they would still have carried out the work without the rebate, Of these, 15% would have carried out works in the same way, 34% would have carried out works but delayed, 15% would have carried out works but been more economical, and 16% would have delayed and been more economical.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 potential impact on places of worship of replacing the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme with the Places of Worship Renewal Fund, in the context of the imposition of VAT on repair and maintenance work from 1 April 2026.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department conducted an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. 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.
Our evaluation showed that while the current Scheme had many benefits, 80% of respondents said that they would still have carried out the work without the rebate. As we look towards a new fiscal period and the evolving needs of our community, it is essential that government support is deployed to the areas where it can have the greatest impact and where it is needed most.
Over the next four years, the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will invest £92 million capital funding into listed places of worship and is designed to ensure that taxpayer funding is targeted more effectively toward the preservation of our heritage assets.The evaluation did not assess the specific impact of starting the Places of Worship Renewal Fund after the Listed Places of Worship scheme ended.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 whether the £92 million Places of Worship Renewal Fund over four years provides equivalent financial support to places of worship compared with the Previous Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, in the context of grant-funded projects being subject to VAT from 1 April 2026.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Places of Worship Renewal Fund will have a budget of £23 million per year, the same level of funding as provided by the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in 2025/26. The Places of Worship Renewal Fund will award grants for projects to cover capital works, rather than just the VAT element of a project, as is presently the case with the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. In some cases the amount granted could be greater than just the VAT element currently funded.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the net cost of benefit of (a) removing the VAT exemption on places of worship repairs and (b) increasing the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department conducted an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. 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. The evaluation did not estimate the net cost of benefit of (a) removing the VAT exemption on places of worship repairs and (b) increasing 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. As we look towards a new fiscal period and the evolving needs of our community, it is essential that government support is deployed to the areas where it can have the greatest impact and where it is needed most. Over the next four years, the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will invest £92 million capital funding into listed places of worship and is designed to ensure that taxpayer funding is targeted more effectively toward the preservation of our heritage assets.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of places of worship liable for VAT on repairs in comparison to the number who will receive a grant to cover this additional cost from the listed Places of Worship fund.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Listed Places of Worship Scheme was run on a first come first served basis. The new Places of Worship Scheme will instead target funding at areas of the most need, and Places of Worship will go through a proportionate application process. We are currently designing the criteria with experts from the sector, and have not made an estimate of numbers eligible, which will partly depend on the size of grants applied for. The fund will deliver £92 million over 4 years.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 January 2026 on Launch of new capital fund for places of worship, HCWS1268, and the evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, what evidence her Department has used to support the determination that 80% of respondents would have undertaken works without the rebate; and what steps her Department took to assess whether those works would have been delayed, scaled back, or funded through additional fundraising and debt.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department conducted an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. 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. 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.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 January 2026 on Launch of new capital fund for places of worship, HCWS1268, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on the financial sustainability of (a) historic churches and (b) other faith buildings; what estimate she has made of the potential number of repairs likely to be (i) delayed and (ii) cancelled as a result; and what estimate she has made of the additional financial burden placed on congregations and local communities.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department conducted an evaluation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. 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. The evaluation did not assess the impact of ending the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on the financial sustainability of places of worship. 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. As we look towards a new fiscal period and the evolving needs of our community, it is essential that government support is deployed to the areas where it can have the greatest impact and where it is needed most. Over the next four years, the Places of Worship Renewal Fund will invest £92 million capital funding into listed places of worship and is designed to ensure that taxpayer funding is targeted more effectively toward the preservation of our heritage assets.