Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, if any, to protect Bevis Marks Synagogue and its estate, as an historic world centre of Sephardic Jewish worship and scholarship, from risk to its future from real estate development or other factors, including pressures from the City of London Corporation.

The Government is committed to the protection of our historic environment, including listed buildings such as the Bevis Marks Synagogue, and we have put in place a strong legislative and policy framework to achieve this. In determining planning applications, local planning authorities are under a statutory duty to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses. This is supported by national planning policy which, in particular, states that any substantial harm or loss to the significance of a Grade I listed building such as the Synagogue should be wholly exceptional and where there is less than substantial harm, the harm should be weighed against the public benefits. In addition, local planning authorities are required to consult Historic England on any proposals affecting a listed building or its setting.