Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the reduction in the annual claim cap under the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on (a) listed churches and (b) other listed places of worship.

DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impact on introducing an annual cap of £25,000 per place of worship for the 2025/26 financial year. Churches are the primary users of the scheme, with 97% of applications coming from Christian denominations in 2024/25, and are therefore the most impacted by any changes.

The changes to the scheme were necessary given the level of fiscal challenges we inherited, a number of unfunded commitments made by the previous government and the pressures on other parts of the heritage and cultural sectors. Based on the Department’s analysis of previous data, 94% of applications will be unaffected by the change, and most claims are under £5,000.