The Chancellor has agreed an extra £30 million to help resolve the damage to the future of listed places of worship by the budget’s recent heritage ‘VAT raid’, a subvention only confirming the high-level recognition of the damage caused by the plans to other listed building owners.
The Church of England states:
The Church of England has welcomed today’s agreement with the Government over the future funding of alterations and repairs to its 12,500 listed buildings, which will provide £30 million a year extra money. This is on top of the £12 million already in the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS).
The Bishop of London described this as an acknowledgment from Government of the unique heritage value to the nation of cathedrals and churches and the way in which these alterations are enabling them to serve their local communities in a range of ways alongside being centres of worship.
Despite not persuading the Government that maintaining zero rated VAT for alterations is the best way forward, church leaders today said that the £30 million a year extra money that the Chancellor has committed to the LPWGS will enable the equivalent to the VAT bill to be paid out on all alterations and repairs to listed church buildings. The Scheme pays out to those denominations and faiths with listed buildings.
The LPWGS will in future be ring fenced and no longer vulnerable to cuts in departmental budgets and it is planned to re-introduce monthly pay outs from October. The scheme will be guaranteed for the duration of this Parliament. Parishes have shown they need a much greater degree of certainty in the funding they receive and this will now be met by ironing out some of the more unhelpful characteristics of the current LPWGS.
The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres who chairs the Cathedrals and Church Buildings Division and who led the discussions with the Treasury said ‘We owe a debt of gratitude to the Second Church Estates Commissioner Tony Baldry, for his role in brokering this agreement, and to Anne Sloman, and Janet Gough who have worked tirelessly in a very short window of opportunity but the Chancellor made it very clear that he was moving to ease the impact on the churches in recognition of the massive contribution made by congregations up and down the land to the life of their communities’.
Anne Sloman, Chair of the Church Buildings Council said, ‘the fact that the Treasury offer went from £5million to £30million is a recognition of the tremendous value for money to the nation as a whole that our buildings represent. We are grateful to parishes up and down the land who have lobbied so hard since the Budget to bring this point home to the government, and even more grateful for the massive contribution volunteers make by their efforts, week in and week out, to keep our beautiful churches in good repair for worship and adapted to serve the community in so many creative ways.’
The Heritage Alliance states:
The Chancellor’s announcement of an extra £30m for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme is very welcome news for listed churches. But this announcement does nothing to address the ‘bigger picture’ of the Government’s decision to levy VAT on approved alterations to all listed buildings, and will leave communities across the UK unsure of the future.
Churches are a very important part of the historic environment and they face acute challenges, but secular listed buildings – such as community centres and village halls – face similar challenges in raising money to alter their buildings to give them a viable twenty first century lease of life. Levying VAT on these alterations will inevitably sound the death knell for plans to revive cherished buildings, as construction projects are mothballed or lost – damaging local economies, streetscapes and community services. The heritage movement is not a preservationist lobby – sympathetic adaptation is the primary strategy for securing the future of our listed buildings. Rather than curtailing an anomaly that allows wealthy owners to avoid tax on alterations to their listed homes, this ‘heritage tax’ will hit the far greater majority of modest owners and community groups working hard to reuse listed buildings, by adding an extra 20 per cent to the cost of keeping them going.
Chief Executive of The Heritage Alliance, Kate Pugh, said: ‘Listed buildings are by definition public goods. They’re valuable for the unique character they bring to our cities, towns and villages, and their economic contribution – through the fast-growing tourism industry and the construction sector – is significant.
‘Whilst an extra £30m for listed churches is of course good news, it does not address the big picture of the potentially disastrous impact of the Government’s VAT proposals on all listed buildings. Failure properly to address this issue threatens to undermine the positive initiatives in the Penfold Review and the National Planning Policy Framework, and leaves a question mark hanging over a range of Government initiatives, from the asset transfer programme and the philanthropy drive to the Big Society agenda.’
‘The Heritage Alliance will continue to call on Government to reverse entirely this misguided proposal for all listed buildings, irrespective of type or ownership. I believe a proper review of the policy objectives behind the measure, using an adequate evidence base, is vital before such an important change – which is irreversible under EU law. I look forward to discussing with Government how they intend to address the needs of all listed buildings.’
See the Heritage Alliance comments at: LINK
Church of England News: LINK
