Osborne unveils £30m package to help churches

Samstag, 19. Mai 2012

Osborne unveils £30m package to help churches

George Osborne has announced a £30 million package to help churches hit by the planned imposition of VAT on alterations to historic buildings.

The Chancellor said agreement had been reached with the Church of England to provide the money in a grant to the Listed Places of Worship scheme.

The move would be "100 per cent compensation" for places of worship hit by the so-called "church tax" in the Budget, Mr Osborne told MPs.

From October this year the Treasury will charge VAT at 20 per cent on approved alterations to listed buildings – work which is currently exempt from the tax.

Mr Osborne made the announcement in response to Tory MP Tony Baldry, who represents the Church Commissioners in Parliament.

Mr Baldry said the Church estimated that the cost of the tax change would be £20 million a year.

The Chancellor, who has been in talks with Mr Baldry about the change, said he had committed in the Budget that churches would not be hit by the VAT change.

Mr Osborne also had discussions with Bishop of London the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, representing the Church of England.

He told the Commons: "I can confirm today that we have reached an agreement with the Church.

"The Government will provide £30 million of grant to the Listed Places of Worship scheme.

"That will be 100 per cent compensation, exactly as we promised in the Budget, for the additional cost borne by churches for alterations and should also go a long way to helping the situation with repairs and maintenance where in recent years they have not been able to get 100% compensation for those repairs and maintenance.

"We think it will deliver 100% coverage for repairs and maintenance as well."

Labour MP Frank Field, chairman of the planning authority for English cathedrals, welcomed the move.

Mr Field told Mr Osborne: "Can I congratulate you on the way you have dug yourself out of a hole into which you placed yourself."

The Chancellor said: "We were very clear in the Budget that we wanted to fully compensate churches for the impact of this change and I'm glad that we have done so."

The Church of England welcomed the agreement with the Government over the future funding of alterations and repairs to its 12,500 listed buildings.

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS) will enable the equivalent to the VAT bill to be paid out on all alterations and repairs to listed church buildings.

Dr Chartres said 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, chairwoman of the Church Buildings Council, said: "The fact that the Treasury offer went from £5 million to £30 million 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."

Shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman said: "This Government's U-turn is a victory for the campaign by churches and local communities against a wrong-headed proposal in the shambolic Budget.

"But it won't help the National Trust, all the museums, galleries, theatres, libraries and community centres that are in listed buildings, and which are important for heritage, tourism and local communities.

"They will still be clobbered by the 20 per cent tax increase, so George Osborne must think again on this.

"We also need to see a U-turn on other measures in the botched and unfair Budget, like the tax rise on millions of pensioners and the tax cut for millionaires.

"And with our economy pushed into a recession made in Downing Street, we urgently need the Government to rethink its failed economic policies."

Claire Walker, chief executive of the National Churches Trust, welcomed the announcement but said the funding was only guaranteed for the duration of the Parliament.

She said: "Many listed churches apply to us for funding to extend the use of their buildings for the benefit of their congregations and to enable their use by the wider local community.

"Often this involves practical solutions such as the provision of toilets and kitchens.

"The planned imposition of VAT on such projects would have increased their cost by 20%.

"The Government's £30 million compensation package means that listed places of worship will now find it easier to carry on with projects which enable them to open up more fully to the community, a process which both serves local people and helps sustain the life of listed church buildings.

"We will, however, need to see how effective the Government's compensation package will be in practice as funding allocated is cash limited. We will also press that the compensation package remains in place for the long term as the scheme will be guaranteed only for the duration of this Parliament."

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Samstag, 19. Mai 2012