§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will advise English Heritage that when an application is made for spot listing of a church or other place of religious worship it will suggest to the applicant that an application should first be made for a Building Preservation Notice to enable the owners of the building to enter into dialogue with English Heritage before a final decision is made. [78742]
§ Mr. Alan Howarth[holding answer 31 March 1999]Applications for listing buildings of special architectural or historic interest are made to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, who must consult English Heritage before he reaches a decision. A local planning authority may serve a Building Preservation Notice (BPN) where it considers that a building is of special architectural or88W historic interest and is under threat of demolition or alteration. When my right hon. Friend decides not to list a building which is the subject of a BPN, the local authority is liable to the payment of compensation for any loss or damage directly attributable to the effect of the notice. Local planning authorities tend therefore to serve BPNs only in exceptional circumstances and I do not believe that an extension of their use in the manner suggested would be appropriate.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list for each of the past 10 years and the current year the number of buildings listed, the spot listings and Building Preservation Notices issued by his Department for buildings for religious worship or former religious worship, indicating how many spot listings became Grade II or starred buildings. [78741]
§ Mr. Alan Howarth[holding answer 31 March 1999]The Department's records do not indicate whether buildings for religious worship which are listed are still in use. Details of listings in respect of such buildings are as follows:
Year Grade II Grade II* Grade 1 Total 1989 172 6 3 181 1990 80 3 — 83 1991 65 3 — 68 1992 74 4 — 78 1993 127 8 1 136 1994 159 4 — 163 1995 119 3 — 122 1996 77 6 — 83 1997 59 1 — 60 1998 119 7 — 126 1999 up to 24 March 1999 22 2 — 24 Building Preservation Notices are served by local planning authorities; the Department's records do not indicate which of these received were in respect of buildings for religious worship.