HL Deb 15 February 1995 vol 561 c41WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have any reason to doubt the statement of the Lord Bishop of Norwich that "when we repair our ancient churches the Government receive more than twice what they give" (H.L. Deb., 31st January, col 1399), and whether they keep figures of such amounts.

Lord Henley

The Government do not have figures to prove or disprove such a statement.

Repairs to all buildings have been liable to the standard rate of VAT since 1973. The VAT paid on repairs is charged by registered builders throughout the UK, who periodically declare to Customs the total VAT charged by them to all of their customers. There is no further analysis of these figures.

This year English Heritage made £10.5 million available in grant assistance to church repairs and a further £4.3 million for cathedrals.