Oral Answers to Questions

Elsie Blundell Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2026 Commons Chamber

The Leader of the House, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

[Mrs Elsie Blundell (Heywood and Middleton North) (Lab)]

1. What steps the Church is taking with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ensure the effectiveness of the places of worship renewal fund in deprived parishes.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

8. What assessment the commissioners have made of the adequacy of the places of worship renewal fund in supporting churches in suburban areas.

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Sir Alan Campbell)]

The Second Church Estates Commissioner is unable to be in her place today, so I am answering on her behalf.

The national Church institutions are in regular contact with the DCMS about the places of worship renewal fund’s operation, and are collecting feedback from parishes before the third round opens. I hope hon. Members will be reassured that the DCMS has committed to evaluating the scheme in response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry on protecting the built environment.

[Mrs Blundell]

I am so proud to represent some wonderful churches across my constituency, from All Saints and Martyrs in Langley to St Luke’s in central Heywood, but many are in need of repair and renewal. Concerns have been raised with me about Historic England’s decision-making process for allocating the renewal fund and how some applicants in more deprived communities are going without the vital repairs that they need. What steps are being taken by the Church to ensure that a socioeconomic analysis of each application is done before future funding decisions are made?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

My hon. Friend is making a great job of representing her constituency and the churches and church communities in it. The fund, administered by Historic England, prioritises areas of double deprivation, which combine high socioeconomic deprivation with low levels of local community infrastructure or resources in rural and urban places. My hon. Friend and other colleagues may wish to write to the DCMS and Historic England if they have operational questions and feedback. The Church is also gathering experiences of clergy and parishes who have used the scheme, and this user experience is essential to understanding how the scheme may be improved by Historic England.