Listed Places of Worship Scheme Update

We have received the first information from the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to suggest the likely payments that churches will receive from the scheme. The scheme previously repaid the whole cost of VAT on repairs to church buildings. From March 2011 the budget has been capped to £3 million per quarter due to cuts within the department of Culture, Media and Sport. In the first two quarters of 2011/12 financial year (running up to 30th September) churches have received 71.7% of the amount they have claimed for.

Unfortunately, because of the huge demand for the scheme before March 2011 money from the 2011/12 budget has been taken to pay for shortfall, which has meant the budget will be pushed even further.

The key things to remember when making a claim to the scheme from now on is that claims have to be made within a year and that the 2011/12 budget will be £7 million in comparison to the £12 million budget for 2012/13. Therefore, of your claim can wait it might be worth putting it in after March 2012. As we have not seen a whole year of applications it is currently difficult to be able to suggest which of the quarters is best to put a claim in but I will continue to update you on the figures as they are released.

Protecting Your Church from Metal Theft Seminars

Next month we shall be running two seminars to give you practical guidance about how best to protect your church from metal theft. There will be representatives from Ripon and Leeds Diocese, Ecclesiastical Insurance, English Heritage and the police.

The first seminar will take place at the Ripon and Leeds Diocesan Office in Leeds between 3pm and 6pm on Wednesday 16th November.

The seminar will also be held at Holy Trinity Church, Ripon on Wednesday 30th November between 6pm and 9pm.

To book a place for either event you can email me at Alice.Ullathorne@riponleeds-diocese.org.uk or phone me on 0113 2000544.