Sir Gavin Williamson has called for the Government to reverse their “damaging cuts” to the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme, following a visit to All Saints Church in Sandon.
The Government has made the decision to cap the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to £25,000 per building per year. While the previous Government allocated up to £42 million per year, the Minister has announced that the funding available has been reduced to £23 million.
Previously, the Grant Scheme enabled All Saints Church to recover VAT on past works carried out on the Grade I listed church. In the Church’s budget, the delivery phase is an amount of £98,000 in recoverable VAT. If the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme is not extended beyond March 2025, there will be a significant gap in the Church’s funding.
Janet Dawson, Treasurer of Sandon and Burston Parish Council said: “On behalf of the PCC we were delighted to welcome Sir Gavin to All Saints’ Church in Sandon. As our MP we wanted to share with Sir Gavin our conservation story of work over the past decade and our current project to conserve the historic artefacts in the church including Elizabethan monuments, tombs and wall paintings, our Stuart Royal Coat of Arms and Victorian stained glass windows.
“We also wanted Sir Gavin to be aware of the impact on our project of the introduction of an annual claims limit of £25,000 per church for VAT recovery claims to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Fund in the 2025/26 tax year.
“Our project budget includes around £90,000 of recoverable VAT for work in the next tax year and we are therefore facing a serious funding shortfall in 2025/26. For a small church community which has worked hard to raise funds for the conservation of the church for future generations this is a major setback. We are grateful to Sir Gavin for both his visit and his concern about this issue for us and for other churches and cathedrals which are a valuable and irreplaceable part of our heritage.”
Sir Gavin said: “I was delighted to be given a tour of All Saints Church and learn more about its significant history as well as the events/services which are held to bring together the local community.
“I share the Church’s concern regarding the Government’s damaging cuts to the Listed Places of Worship Grant scheme. It is very disappointing that the Government has taken the decision to reduce the funding available to the scheme and install a cap on grants of £25,000 per building per year.
“Without appropriate support, churches across Staffordshire will be left with spiralling restoration costs and crumbling buildings. I will continue to urge Ministers to increase available funding to enable churches to be enjoyed by future generations to come.”
