The Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced the replacement scheme to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on the 21st January.

The National Church Institutions welcomed the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund and await details of how it will operate with interest. The operational details are yet to be published, and the current scheme ends on the 31st March 2026. The full press release from the National Church Institutions can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media/news-and-press-releases/national-treasures-common-good-new-repairs-fund-announced

The Diocese of Hereford and the Diocese of Lichfield are still examining the implications of the new scheme. They continue to work closely with the National Church Institutions on the best strategy to maximise the help available to local parishes.

The Lord Bishop of Hereford asked a question in the House of Lords about the operation of the new scheme on Monday, 26th January, 2026 In response, the Rt. Hon. Lord Livermore, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said “the details of the new scheme would be published soon”. In subsequent correspondence with the Minister, the Bishop of Hereford has sought assurance that the new grant scheme would keep to a minimum the administrative burdens on parishes. The Church welcomes the Government’s indication that it would it will work with the National Church Institutions to ensure the scheme wais fair and transparent.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced the replacement scheme to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme on the 21st January.

The National Church Institutions welcomed the new Places of Worship Renewal Fund and await details of how it will operate with interest. The operational details are yet to be published, and the current scheme ends on the 31st March 2026. The full press release from the National Church Institutions can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media/news-and-press-releases/national-treasures-common-good-new-repairs-fund-announced

The Diocese of Hereford and the Diocese of Lichfield are still examining the implications of the new scheme. They continue to work closely with the National Church Institutions on the best strategy to maximise the help available to local parishes.

The Lord Bishop of Hereford asked a question in the House of Lords about the operation of the new scheme on Monday, 26th January, 2026. In response, the Rt. Hon. Lord Livermore, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said “the details of the new scheme would be published soon”. In subsequent correspondence with the Minister, the Bishop of Hereford has sought assurance that the new grant scheme would keep to a minimum the administrative burdens on parishes. We welcome the Government’s indication that it will work with the Church of England to ensure the scheme is fair and transparent.

Since August 2022, Lichfield Cathedral has received £161,242 through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, and Hereford Cathedral has received £27,639.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has also supported both of these Cathedrals. Lichfield Cathedral has received £1,707,762 since 1996.Hereford Cathedral has received £6,135,300 since 2003.

The Church Commissioners are in regular contact with the Dioceses of Hereford and Lichfield. During the winter of 2022-23, due to dramatic increases in energy costs, £3million of Church Commissioners’ funding was made available through the Archbishops’ Council to support additional ministry hardship funding for clergy and lay workers, and a further £15million was similarly made available in energy cost support funding for dioceses to allocate primarily to Parochial Church Councils. This money was in addition to the dioceses' own ministry hardship funding and discretionary funding.

There is no plan to offer a similar scheme this year over and above the money already available through diocesean discretionary and hardship funds.

In the last six months, 44 direct trains from London Paddington to Hereford have been cancelled, and 18 part-cancelled usually meaning termination at Worcester or Great Malvern. This equates to proportions of 4.55% on Mondays, 5.68% on Tuesdays, 10.12% on Wednesdays, 11.73% on Thursdays, 14.04% on Fridays, 10.19% on Saturdays and 16.33% on Sundays. The greatest proportion of cancellations by time have been seen during the hours of 0900-1000, 1100-1200 and 1900-2000. I have asked Great Western Railway to write to you directly with the full set of data in due course.

In the last six months, 9.94% of Great Western Railway’s (GWR’s) direct London to Hereford services were cancelled. GWR confirm that 38.7% of these cancellations were caused by matters relating to Network Rail, and 3.8% because of other train operators. I have asked GWR to write to you directly with the full set of data in due course.

There are no specific written or oral history heritage projects supported by the Church Commissioners in the dioceses of Hereford and Lichfield. However the Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Archbishops’ Council is in regular contact with parishes across the region to support them in the care of their buildings and local community heritage assets. More general advice is available from the ChurchCare website: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/churchcare which gives information about grants, building management and best practice.

Across England the Church of England manages 12,500 listed buildings out of a total of 16,000 churches. Many of these are considered to be nationally important buildings and are maintained by the generosity and goodwill of local volunteers and donors.

The Church Commissioners are providing £11million in funding for 2023-25 to support a new “Buildings for Mission” programme to provide support, through dioceses, to local parishes with the challenges they face in maintaining their church buildings

The Church is grateful to the Government for its support for cathedrals and major churches during the pandemic when the Culture Recovery Fund made over £60.6m available to 582 parishes and cathedrals. The Church advocates for the continuation of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, worth up to £42m a year, until a suitable alternative can be found. The National Church Institutions are working closely with Government, heritage partners and philanthropic funders, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund in response to its recent strategic review and has continuing dialogue with Government about the financial needs involved in maintanining such important places of worship.

The Church awaits the response of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to the recommendations made by the Government’s independent review led by Bernard Taylor into the sustainability of Church buildings, which was published in 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/english-churches-and-cathedrals-sustainability-review

Diocesan resourcing of mission and ministry is supported by congregational giving, historic investments and other income. Additional support is provided from national funds generated by the investments of the Church Commissioners and distributed by the Archbishops' Council.

The Diocese of Hereford has received:

• £1.172m of Lowest Income Communities Funding over 2020-22 to support mission and ministry in areas of low economic activity.
• £113k of Strategic Ministry Funding to help fund curates costs.
• £120k in 2020 to support work on congregational giving.
• £525k of Strategic Development Funding was awarded in 2017 towards a 5-year project supporting missioners in six parishes in the Diocese, including 3 of its market towns, focusing on reaching children and young people. More details can be found here.

The Diocese of Lichfield has received:

• £6.23m of Lowest Income Communities Funding over 2020-22 to support mission and ministry in areas of low economic activity.
• £850k to support diocesan finances in the light of the impact Covid-19.
• £1.690m of Strategic Development Funding in 2019 for a 6-year project to support ministry and mission in Telford, focusing strongly on social engagement and reaching children and young people. More details can be found here.

Through the Government's Culture Recovery Fund, parishes and cathedrals of the two dioceses have also received:

• Lichfield: 14 grants to parishes, totalling £379,141, and two grants to Lichfield Cathedral, totalling £152,900
• Hereford: 12 grants to parishes, totalling £304,678, and two grants to Hereford Cathedral, totalling £284,400

Rural parishes make up around 60% of the Church of England's footprint with approximately 10,000 buildings. These parishes serve about 17% of the population, with 91% of rural churches being listed. These rural churches are an important community asset as they are often the only public building left in their community and serve multiple purposes in addition to being a place of worship.

The Association of Festival Churches (The Association of Festival Churches) was recently formed with the express purpose of supporting mostly rural churches to expand community use of their church buildings, working with pre-existing specialist resources such as the Arthur Rank Centre to provide targeted guidance and advice for rural churches.

The Church Commissioners and National Church Institutions are in discussions with dioceses during this challenging period, including on the evolving financial impact. A series of structured interviews have been held with every diocese, including with the Diocese of Hereford at the end of April. Though too early for detailed conclusions, it was clear that the financial challenges will be significant.

The Church announced a national package of financial support for dioceses on 27 March, providing funds to support liquidity in dioceses where this was needed, with a further announcement following on 14 May. See: https://mailchi.mp/churchofengland.org/update-financial-support-for-dioceses-and-cathedrals-in-light-of-the-coronavirus?e=fbaf3379f3 We are continuing to consider how best dioceses can be further supported in terms of both immediate needs, and in strengthening their long-term missional health and financial sustainability

Although the Department for Transport does hold some information on passengers carried on the Hereford to Paddington Line, this has been provided on a commercially confidential basis so cannot be released. However, station usage statistics published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) show the estimated number of passengers using each station in Great Britain, including Hereford, and can be found at the link below:

http://orr.gov.uk/statistics/published-stats/station-usage-estimates

The Department does not hold the information in the format requested.

Analysis of anticipated demand and capacity is a key part of Network Rail’s planning for the rail network and the recently published Western Route Study provides analysis of much of the route between Hereford and London.

The Western Route Study is available at the following web address:

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/long-term-planning-process/western-route-study/

Under Control Period 4 (2009 - 2014) Network Rail has doubled the Cotswolds line at a cost of £70m. This involved around 20 miles of track re-doubling from east of Charlbury to Ascott-under-Wychwood, and from Moreton-in-Marsh to west of Evesham, as well as upgrading Worcester Foregate Street station with local growth funds. £895m is being invested in the Reading station area to deliver capacity, capability and performance improvements – and this work is now nearing completion.

Further investment is being delivered in Control Period 5 (2014 – 2019). This includes electrification of the Great Western Mainline from London Paddington to Oxford. Network Rail is delivering significant capacity and passenger improvements at Oxford Station and also delivering significant infrastructure works on sections of this line in preparation for the new Intercity Express, Crossrail, and EMU fleets all being introduced over the next 5 years.

The Department does not hold this detailed information for the Hereford to Paddington line as it is an operational matter for Network Rail. The Hon. Member may wish to write to Network Rail’s CEO at the following address:

Mark Carne, Chief Executive Network Rail, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.

The Department does not hold this detailed information for the Hereford to Paddington line as it is an operational matter for Network Rail. The Hon. Member may wish to write to Network Rail’s CEO at the following address:

Mark Carne, Chief Executive Network Rail, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.

The Department does not hold this detailed information for the Hereford to Paddington line as it is an operational matter for Network Rail. The Hon. Member may wish to write to Network Rail’s CEO at the following address:

Mark Carne, Chief Executive Network Rail, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.

The Department does not hold the requested information to that level of granularity. For those train operators which operate the Delay Repay compensation scheme, the Department holds the total compensation paid by year, but not by line, nor route, nor journey.

Hereford county court is a highly effective and important local institution. However, there is a break clause in the lease for the court premises for this next year. If the court has to move, has the Secretary of State considered co-locating it with other public services in Hereford? Can he reassure local people that, whatever happens to the premises, Hereford will continue to have a county court?

I can tell my hon. Friend that Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service is aware of the break clause in the lease for Hereford county court’s premises for next year. The Courts and Tribunals Service continues to keep the use of its estate under review to ensure that it meets operational needs.