Written evidence submitted by the
Association of English Cathedrals
This submission is made by the Association of English Cathedrals (AEC) which represents the 42 Anglican cathedrals in England and two Royal Peculiars (Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel, Windsor). The cathedrals range from those of international importance (such as St Paul’s Cathedral) and those in World Heritage Sites (Canterbury and Durham Cathedrals) to less well known cathedrals such as Blackburn, Bradford and Southwell. Of the 42 cathedrals, 38 are Grade I and four Grade II* listed. The primary purpose of a cathedral is to be a place of Christian worship but it is also often the most historic and architecturally important building in its environment, as well as the oldest building in continuous use in its surrounding area, and of significance to the heritage and culture of the area it serves.
There has been recent coverage in the media of the financial challenges faced by cathedrals, including an emergency appeal by Peterborough Cathedral for support to enable it to remain open 365 days a year. The financial pressure on cathedrals to meet operating costs is considerable, and there is further pressure to raise enough money to keep the buildings in good repair and to preserve them for future generations to enjoy. We would welcome a national discussion about how our great cathedrals can be funded so they are sustained into the future.
The most significant challenge facing the Chapters of cathedrals is raising money for the repair and maintenance of the built heritage assets in their care. These include the cathedral churches themselves and their ancillary buildings and also historic properties in cathedral closes. Cathedrals are increasingly innovative in the uses they make of their buildings to generate income, but recent adverse factors (Brexit, the pandemic, increase in energy costs, cost of living crisis, and employer National Insurance increases) have both reduced income and increased operating costs to the point where income generated is absorbed in keeping cathedral doors open and cannot adequately fund repairs and maintenance of cathedrals’ built heritage assets. Cathedrals depend on continuous fundraising efforts to raise the money needed to keep their buildings in good repair and open to the public. The fundraising climate is difficult as grant makers face growing numbers of strong applications for their assistance. While the continuation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme for a further year is welcome, the cap of £25,000 for each place of worship will result in increased costs for cathedrals for the repair work and a reduction in the quantity of work done within the available budget, affecting the length of time it will take to do repairs and the jobs and training of the skilled craftspeople who carry them out.
The recent appeal by Peterborough Cathedral for funds to meet operating costs demonstrates the pressures on the cathedral sector. One option for Peterborough, and for other cathedrals facing similar pressures, is to close their doors for part of each week for the first time in their histories. Whilst helping reduce operating costs, local people and visitors would lose access to their cathedrals, with adverse economic and social impacts on the communities in which they are situated.
So far as cathedrals are concerned, the effectiveness of current funding and finance models for the sector’s built heritage is limited by their spasmodic and uncertain nature. Long-term repair and maintenance projects, for cathedrals spanning decades, do not fit well with the funding available from grant makers, which is one off or short-term. Government grants to cathedrals from the World War 1 Grant Scheme and Cultural Recovery Fund were very welcome, but time-limited and required immediate action from ready-to-go projects. Even the longest continuously running government grant scheme for cathedrals, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, may not continue beyond 31 March 2026, and it has been subject to frequent extensions for a few years or one year at a time. The uncertain nature of government funding streams, feast or famine, presents challenges in planning for work and in managing the skilled workforce of craftspeople. For example, the World War 1 Grant Scheme, with its requirement that work be completed within tight timescales, generated sudden demand for scaffolding, creating supply and resource problems (not enough scaffolding and not enough skilled scaffolders to erect it) and raising prices.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced that it is planning to give grants of £100m to places of worship over the next three years, but has specifically excluded cathedrals, recognising that cathedrals’ funding needs and the scale of works required could utilise this sum and more. Cathedrals have to apply in the general grants section, competing with other projects from many other parts of the heritage sector.
Cathedrals have benefitted and continue to benefit from philanthropy, with major projects funded by grants from grant making trusts, gifts from high net worth individuals, and also wider giving from congregations and communities. But fundraising is an art not a science and it is challenging to raise the money necessary to carry out essential work.
We would welcome a fresh conversation around how cathedrals are funded if their role as custodians of the nation’s spiritual and historic heritage is to be sustainable.
Cathedrals are often the most historic and architecturally important buildings in their environments and of significance to the heritage and culture of the areas they serve. Research undertaken in 2021, ‘The Economic and Social Impact of England’s Cathedrals’, commissioned by the AEC, showed that the cathedrals, by attracting visitors, supporting local businesses and economies, and creating local jobs, gave rise to approximately £235 million in local spending in 2019. Cathedrals also play an important social role by: engaging with their communities, providing pastoral care and outreach activities, and acting as venues for numerous events, concerts, ceremonies and other activities; giving opportunities for 15,000 volunteers who fulfil a wide range of roles; and providing formal and informal learning opportunities with over 308,000 learners participating in organised educational activities in 2019.
The presence of a cathedral in a city or town can be fundamental to the sense of place and of importance to people’s appreciation of their environment. ‘Spiritual Capital: The Present and Future of English Cathedrals’ included research showing that 76% of local people felt their cathedral was relevant to their daily lives, and 79% recognised that their cathedral contributed to their local community. The first group to respond to Peterborough Cathedral’s recent appeal for funding was the Muslim Council of Peterborough. The role of cathedrals in facilitating community identity transcends religious affiliation.
As part of the Church of England, cathedrals are committed to the Church’s target to be carbon neutral by 2030. All cathedrals are participating in A Rocha’s Eco Church initiative, undertaking steps to reduce their carbon footprints and care for creation, with four having achieved gold status so far. A small but growing number of cathedrals have installed solar panels on their roofs, when planning consent has been given, and cathedrals are undertaking other work where possible and affordable to instal energy saving measures in the heritage buildings they own.
The 5% reduced VAT rate for charities for energy-saving materials is welcome, but we consider an extension of the current zero rate for residential accommodation to charity-owned buildings would increase the amount of work that could be done from the available funds. The cost of work needed to bring historic residential and commercial buildings in cathedral closes up to the government’s energy rating requirements will be extremely difficult for cathedrals to fund as such work has limited donor appeal and cathedrals do not have the resources to pay for it themselves. There is a danger that buildings will be boarded up and deteriorate because of lack of funding, increasing costs in the long-run.
Cathedrals are subject to two planning regimes. Permission to make changes to cathedral churches and their ancillary buildings within the ecclesiastical exemption red line is granted by the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England (CFCE) whereas permission for work to other historic buildings in cathedral closes has to be obtained from both the CFCE and local authority. Careful planning and familiarity with the system for the most part ensures that this dual control does not delay work but it is a lengthy and a resource intensive process which requires the two planning authorities to come to a common mind on what works can be done. Simplification of the system might reduce costs.
Whilst the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, in its uncapped form, has been beneficial for cathedrals, we note that the government has discretion, since the UK is no longer bound by the terms of the EU’s Principal VAT Directive 2006/112 which banned the introduction of any further reduced rates of VAT, to replace the Scheme (and make the system administratively simpler by eliminating the costs to claimants and DCMS of running the Scheme) to zero-rate repairs to listed places of worship and other listed buildings owned by places of worship. We consider such a change would make work on cathedrals and the historic buildings in their care administratively easier and projects less expensive over all. If such a change were not possible, then we would welcome a return to a Scheme where all VAT on repairs to listed places of worship is reimbursed.
Cathedrals both directly employ skilled craftspeople (such as stonemasons, stained glass conservators, plumbers and carpenters) and indirectly employ them through specialist building, restoration and conservation businesses. All cathedrals have a conservation architect to care for their fabric and also appoint an archaeologist to advise and assist with heritage both above and below the ground. Those cathedrals with workshops have active apprenticeship programmes and between them have established the Cathedral Workshop Fellowship, a charity which provides training for craftspeople including a foundation degree.
If there were consistent committed funding for the work in which these people engage, cathedrals would be able to employ, whether directly or indirectly, more craftspeople and offer more apprenticeship opportunities. The lack of such funding results in cathedrals taking on the maximum number of people they know they can keep busy at the level of activity they can afford rather than the greater number they would like to train and employ to progress projects faster.