Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will ensure that grants from the village hall improvement grant fund are able to be allocated to (a) Collingham Memorial Hall and (b) other halls where refurbishment is already underway and due for completion in time to commemorate the centenary of their opening in 2020.

The Government announced the establishment of the £3 million Village Hall Improvement Grant Fund on 5 April this year. It will be administered by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) on behalf of Defra and work is currently in hand to finalise arrangements. Halls can already make an expression of interest in the scheme through ACRE’s website and we understand that the trustees of Collingham Memorial Hall have already done so. It is not possible to guarantee funds for any particular hall. We hope that the first grants will be awarded in late summer.