Churches Tourism Association

Vat Refund Scheme Spared

The Department for Culture Media and Sport have announced that the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which reimburses VAT on repairs to listed places of worship, will continue.

However, the additional concessions on professional fees, organs and bells, secured in 2006 and already withdrawn, will not be reinstated.  Read more here.

Other news: 

Spending cuts affecting CTA's areas of interest include VisitBritain cut by 26% over four years, Visit England by 34%, English Heritage by 32%, and the Churches Conservation Trust by 20%. 

A knock-on effect of the abolition of Regional Development agencies is that many of the local tourism partnership organisations are having to re-think their operations, and some are considering closure or merger with other bodies. This could affect support for church tourism projects at the local level.

Please let CTA know if you have any news about specific threats - or indeed new opportunities that might emerge.

The LPWGS was introduced in April 2001, and to the end of June 2010 has paid back over £107 million to listed places of worship across the UK. It has provided great relief to places of worship faced with raising enormous sums for maintenance and repair, and has enabled those who look after these valuable heritage and community buildings to maintain them for future generations.