13/05/2025
Cuts to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme are already having a ‘huge impact’ on churches, Second Church Estates Commissioner warns.
More than 200 churches are already facing big cash shortfalls on repair bills as a result of the £25,000 cap on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, MPs have heard.
A cross-party Parliamentary debate led by Marsha de Cordova, MP for Battersea and Second Church Estates Commissioner, and John Glen, MP for Salisbury and South Wiltshire, heard of the ‘huge impact’ that the £25,000 limit on claims is having on 260 churches, including some cathedrals, where large scale repairs are under way or about to start.
Opening the debate, in Westminster Hall, Ms de Cordova called on the Government to make the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme permanent, ending the uncertainty over its future.
She also called for the cap to be lifted on grant claims and for the Government to set up a new capital funding scheme for listed places of worship of all faiths and denominations.
The debate, with interventions from MPs of all political parties, heard that Holy Trinity Clapham in south west London, which Ms de Cordova attends, now needs to raise a further £1 million for a major repairs scheme designed to make the church more accessible to the local community, as a result of the £25,000 cap.
Highlighting the importance of Holy Trinity Clapham’s work, she said: “It (the Church) provides local communities with huge amounts of support, such as advice and advocacy on debt, providing hot meals and sport and social activities.”
She added that the uncertainty over the scheme, which runs until March 2026, and the reduced funding was preventing churches from planning ahead: “It is preventing craft businesses, such as masons and glaziers, from taking on apprentices, as they are unable to guarantee work.”
Ms De Cordova told MPs of the 31,000 social action projects run or supported by Church of England churches.
“Parishes have a specific duty to serve all their communities, regardless of faith, background or affiliation. Our churches are not just there for Sunday services; they are active seven days a week,” she said.
John Glen MP told the debate of the contribution churches and cathedrals make to culture and the arts as well as social action through food banks, warm spaces, or acting as a venue for Alcoholics Anonymous, debt counselling, grief counselling, youth clubs and parish meetings.
“I want to emphasise that we must fully acknowledge the enormous contribution that our church buildings make and the value-add that they provide—spiritually, socially and in looking after the most vulnerable people,” he said.
Joe Morris MP for Hexham told the Commons that churches in his constituency are not just places of worship but vital resources for community cohesion and resilience. He said churches in his constituency had a historic role in the story of Christianity in the UK.
“These churches are not simply relics, they are not simply attractions, they are not simply bits of our history that have seen their day and are now merely decorations,” he said.
“They are the beating heart of our communities, they provide for a community spirit that I think is unparalleled elsewhere in the world.”
Liberal Democrat spokesperson Max Wilkinson, MP for Cheltenham, said churches remain institutions towards which many people turn in times of hardship and crisis.
“Today their roles have evolved, the 40,000 churches across our country offer mental health services, youth clubs, after school programmes, warm spaces,” he said.
“Churches are responsible for running the majority of food banks in the UK. They often step in where the state has stepped back.”
In January this year the Government announced a one-year extension of the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme but reduced the total amount of money available and introduced a £25,000 cap on the amount that can be claimed by a place of worship.
Pressed by Marsha de Cordova on whether the scheme would be made permanent, Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government Minister Jim McMahon said: “Any matter of future funding members will appreciate is a matter for the Spending Review.”
Post expires on July 14th, 2025
