Department for Culture, Media and Sport written question – answered at on 9 February 2026.
Simon Hoare
Chair, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Chair, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Chair, Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Chair, Liaison Sub-Committee on National Policy Statements, Chair, Liaison Sub-Committee on National Policy Statements
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of places of worship liable for VAT on repairs in comparison to the number who will receive a grant to cover this additional cost from the listed Places of Worship fund.
Ian Murray
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Listed Places of Worship Scheme was run on a first come first served basis. The new Places of Worship Scheme will instead target funding at areas of the most need, and Places of Worship will go through a proportionate application process. We are currently designing the criteria with experts from the sector, and have not made an estimate of numbers eligible, which will partly depend on the size of grants applied for. The fund will deliver £92 million over 4 years.
Yes1 person thinks so
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
