§ Mr. Cormackasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now take steps to ensure that all premises which are designated as places of worship, and used exclusively for that purpose, should be exempt from rates.
§ Mr. Giles ShawAs I told the House in response to the Adjournment debate on 20 January—[Vol. 35, c. 575.]—we are studying carefully the implications of the Court of Appeal's recent decision bearing on the exemption of places of public religious worship from rates. Any change that might be made to the existing law would need to avoid creating new anomalies.