Written evidence submitted by
The Church of England Diocese of Hereford

1. What are the most significant challenges facing owners and operators of built heritage assets, and how are they affecting what those sites can offer? What interventions are needed to prevent the managed decline of heritage assets on publicly-owned land? What can the Government do to make it easier for communities or local businesses to take ownership of historic buildings?

In our case the major issue is that the ‘owners’/trustees are all volunteers, and many of those volunteers are elderly and/or frail and lack the necessary knowledge and expertise. Lack of funds is the other major issue. The Parochial Church Councils of the Church of England are custodians of a vast percentage of the nation’s architectural treasures, for example, in Hereford Diocese 90% of our 400 plus churches are listed. Sir John Major and Sir Michael Palin have both made the case that HM Government should offer financial support either direct or through a scheme, in order to share the financial and administrative burden. There needs to be more of a sense of shared commitment rather than leaving it all up to the volunteer trustees.  In addition to repairs, churches face huge insurance bills (c£800,000 across our diocese).  In the cases where churches are no longer needed for worship and are closed there are problems finding alternative uses due to the significance of the buildings and their location in very rural areas.  The new Mission and Pastoral Measure going to General Synod in February for first consideration will attempt to address changes in ownership.

2. How effective are the current funding and finance models for built heritage? What should long-term public funding for the sector look like?

Not at all in our case as we don’t receive public funding and funding comes largely from the churches’ own resources and fundraising, or from grants, which are almost always oversubscribed.  While recognising that it is harder to make the case for public funding, (especially in times of financial challenge) for paying for building repairs and restoration than for, e.g., health, education, or social care, if the nation has designated buildings as of national significance by listing them, then HM Government needs to work with the Church of England’s Third Estates Commissioner to develop a more realistic funding model.  Currently congregations, often tiny and poor, carry the weight of raising funds to manage the very expensive building.  These buildings cannot continue to run on good will alone.  The recent changes to the National Heritage Lottery Fund’s strategy have been encouraging, but the time and expertise required to complete forms and manage project is beyond most PCC’s.  The potential increase in funding to churches from the NHLF has also been partly undone following the recently announced changes to the Listed of Places Worship Grant Scheme.  Larger projects will need additional help to cover the shortfall in the amount of VAT that can be reclaimed, which will mean the NHLF will be able to support fewer projects.  This represents a lack of joined up thinking on behalf of government. 

3. What role does built heritage play in the regeneration of local areas and in contributing to economic growth and community identity?

The National Churches Trust’s update in 2021 to their House for Good report showed that churches provide social benefit to the UK to the value of £55 billion every year and over £16 of social good is created in communities for every £1 invested in churches. The same research shows that the UK’s churches take an immense amount of pressure off the NHS and provide essential support services that it would cost an extra £8.4 billion a year to deliver. This is equivalent to nearly 4% of UK health spending.

In rural areas churches are often the only community building and they are the keepers of their community’s local heritage and a key part of community identity.

How can heritage buildings be supported to increase energy efficiency and contribute to the Government’s net zero targets?

We have our own CofE processes for this and our churches are working towards being net zero by 2030. To this end the CofE has released some funding to help congregations meet the cost of this.  There is also potential for churches to be venues for EV charge points, especially in rural areas.

4. What are the financial, regulatory and practical barriers to preserving built heritage? What policy changes are needed to make restoring historic buildings easier and less expensive?

Essentially there is not enough easily accessible money to take care of our heritage churches, which account for 45% of all Grade I listed buildings in England.  Any strategy that does not take seriously the challenges currently facing church buildings is not going to adequately deal with the issue of maintaining the country’s heritage.

In terms of practicalities, we operate under our own ecclesiastical processes for regulation, which removes much of the burden of regulating changes and repairs to church buildings from the secular planning system.  Again, this is not recognised in any financial way.  Our equivalent to planning committees are also made up of a diminishing pool of appropriately qualified volunteers.

Especially in rural areas there is a lack of ecclesiastical architects, tradespeople and craftspeople with the required knowledge and skills.  This shortage is partly due to the lack of funding available for church projects, which means that it is not a commercially attractive area of work to heritage professionals.

5. What policies would ensure that the UK workforce has the right skills to maintain our heritage assets?

Increasing funding for apprenticeships and training in the heritage sector. 

A general increase in the funding to church repair projects that means there is more work in the sector, which will help make it a more attractive option to architects and contractors.  Churches are complex buildings and provide great experience to architects and tradespeople that will be applicable to other heritage buildings.

There needs to be recognition that volunteering is in decline as people work longer before retiring and more women (the unappreciated backbone of local volunteering for decades) are in full time employment.  This is an issue that is wider than churches and heritage buildings.  If as a country we want to maintain our heritage buildings the slack will need to be picked up by paid professionals, which will require more funds and more support to the remaining volunteers.