To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, how much has been paid in (a) National Lottery Funds and (b) Government grants to Church of England bodies including (i) dioceses, (ii) parochial church councils, (iii) cathedrals, (iv) the Church Commissioners and (v) the Churches Conservation Trust in each of the last five years.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
20 October 2021
Dioceses, parochial church councils and cathedrals:
The Church Commissioners do not hold figures broken down by Church of England diocese, parochial church council or cathedral, for National Lottery Heritage Fund or Government grants.
Grants from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to Church of England churches and cathedrals over the past five years are as follows. Brackets indicate the number of grants awarded:
2016 £ 49,292,200 (166)
2017 £ 25,264,900 (184)
2018 £12,458,450 (144)
2019 £11,652,300 (57)
2020 £3,376,200 (67)
Government (DCMS) figures for grants equal to the value of VAT for works to listed Church of England places of worship over the past five years are:
2016 £20,689,034
2017 £23,839,469
2018 £24,773,038
2019 £24,522,362
2020 £24,665,225
This website, maintained by DCMS, contains details of the Listed Places of Worship Scheme and recent total disbursement: http://www.lpwscheme.org.uk/
Grants to Church of England listed places of worship under the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund in 2020-21 totalled £54,387,240, broken down as follows:
Building type | Number of grants | Total amount of funding |
Cathedral | 107 | £29,424,529 |
Major Parish Church | 154 | £14,903,597 |
Parish Church | 484 | £9,889,114 |
Church Commissioners:
The Church Commissioners do not receive funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund or Government grants.
Churches Conservation Trust:
The Churches Conservation Trust is an independent charity reporting to both Parliament and the General Synod. It receives income from donations from individuals, trusts and foundations, and core funding from Government (DCMS) and the General Synod of the Church of England via the Church Commissioners. Funding for the last five years is as follows:
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | |
Lottery Grants | £1,325,882 | £683,053 | £537,795 | £1,394,687 | £2,193,611 |
Government Grant Funding | £2,749,000 | £2,738,001 | £2,604,000 | £2,608,000 | £4,533,451 of which £2,788,000 grant in aid |
Church Grant Funding | £1,355,000 | £1,355,000 | £1,655,000 | £1,430,000 | £1,430,000 |
The Annual Report and Accounts of the Trust are laid before Parliament and are available at https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/what-we-do/about-us/annual-report-accounts.html
The National Churches Trust October 2020 report ‘The House of Good’, found that the total economic and social value that church buildings generate in the UK amounted to at least £12.4 billion per year, an average of around £300,000 per church. The report can be viewed here: https://www.houseofgood.nationalchurchestrust.org/