The scheme, currently due to end very soon, in March 2025, has been a lifeline to communities all over the country
VAT exemption is not usually at the top of people’s prayer lists, but that may change if the current rules around VAT reclaim change at the end of March this year. Since 2001, as enacted by Tony Blair’s government, historically important (Grade I II* and II) places of worship of all faiths in the UK have been able to reclaim VAT (20 per cent) on repairs to their buildings. The scheme, currently due to end very soon, in March 2025, has been a lifeline to communities all over the country, and is currently the only public funding available to support this fascinating and rich part of our shared heritage.
On Wednesday this week (22 January 2025) there will be a debate in Westminster Hall so that MPs can share their opinions of the scheme. It’s vital that we make our voices heard, and that we encourage our MPs to understand the importance of the scheme, and to attend the debate. A few clicks will allow you to send an email to your MP encouraging them to attend the debate and speak out for the continuation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
But why should we care about this issue?
Our churches are a vital center point for our faith – something highlighted during the pandemic when it became clear how necessary these spaces are as places of prayer, solace, memory and community. Congregations across the UK keenly felt the loss from not being able to enter the buildings.
As it stands, the scheme pays out around 500 grants each month, at an average of £4,000 per grant. This might not seem like a lot of money, but it can be “make or break” for parishes needing to undertake repairs and renovations, especially in deprived areas. While the individual grants are small, over the course of a major building project such as a new roof this can be transformational. For a project cost of £1million, not an unusual sum on a large church or cathedral, this would mean that the community can reclaim up to £200,0000 towards the costs – anyone who is part of a faith community can understand the difference that such a sum could make to the life of that congregation, and we should remember that in effect, this only represents a reclaim of the VAT that has already been paid.
The scheme has a maximum budget of £42 million a year and currently distributes around £25 million per year – a small sum for government (only 0.002 per cent of government spending), but a massive one for places of worship, when grants towards building works are difficult to come by.
Many people up and down the country have voiced their concerns, and written to their MPs, Ministers and Peers, to encourage the government to extend its commitment to the scheme or even zero rate the VAT on listed churches entirely. Responses have been mixed, including the slightly cryptic response in the Commons last week by Chris Bryant, former Anglican priest and Minister of State for Heritage, who noted that many people were taking an interest in the grants scheme, and quoted the words of the hymn “God is working his purpose out”.
Covid and Brexit have seen construction costs skyrocket, and without any other easily accessible public funding, many churches are falling into disrepair. Almost half of the Grade I listed buildings in this country are churches, and of the nearly 3,000 Catholic churches in England and Wales, around 25 per cent are listed, making it highly likely that there is one near where you live. Of all the Grade I listed buildings in England, almost half of them are churches across denominations, an astonishing figure and an important one if we are to consider the impact of ending the scheme.
These special places are also representative of our shared heritage and values, even where the communities have changed over time. When I was up in Preston in late February 2020 just before the pandemic took hold, to visit the beautiful Grade II* St Alphonsa, the parishioners I met told me that the children of the parish had been around the church to note the names of the original donors for the building of the church, as captured in the stained glass windows, so that the whole community might pray for them. The Cathedral of St Alphonsa, previously the Jesuit church of St Ignatius (and where Gerard Manley Hopkins was curate), is now home to the Syro-Malabar community in UK and its membership numbers more than 50,000 people. This community, in full communion with Rome and originally from Southern India, is largely made up of first generation migrants, and a visit to St Alphonsa, or perhaps another listed church, might be the first time they come in to contact with heritage here, making the gesture of the children even more moving.
This is a heritage which belongs to all of us, and our buildings are a reminder of the continuity between us and the communities that went before us. The congregation at St Alphonsa is large and the masses are full, but even so fundraising is a struggle. It was a huge relief to many people who care about this church, me included, that the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales was able to award the community two grants under the Heritage Stimulus Fund, part of the Covid Culture Recovery Fund, totalling more than £400,000 for major works to the roof. If they had had to also find a further 20 per cent in VAT, they simply would not have been able to complete the project. The hard work is not, however, over and there is still much work to be done, with estimates of £1.315 million before VAT for the remaining repair works. It is easy to see that without the ability to reclaim VAT, projects like this will become untenable.
While there are a small number of examples of Catholic churches making successful applications to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, such as the excellent work being carried out as part of the Restoring Pugin project at Nottingham Cathedral, and the grant recently awarded to Sacred Heart, Droitwich for the restoration of the dazzling mosaics, these are the exceptions not the rule. And the hoops communities have to jump through to stand a chance of funding are numerous. Craft skills too are at risk as without the funding, many churches simply won’t be able to carry out repair projects that employ some of our most skilled stonemasons, stained glass makers, and many other craftspeople, and the local economy supported by these projects will also take a hit. The decision now sits with the Department for Culture Media and Sport, but to take and adapt Chris Bryant’s words last week, let’s hope that our Government isn’t working it out for much longer, as The scheme, currently due to end very soon, in March 2025, has been a lifeline to communities all over the country
For more information or to contact your MP:
Image:
© Alex Ramsay Photography 2018
Grade II* listed Cathedral of St Alphonsa in Preston, where poet and Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins was curate, and is now home to the Syro-Malabar community
Source: thetablet.co.uk
