Cuts to our cultural institutions will only save a minimal amount of money, but could do a significant amount of harm.
Last week, the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) announced that it will be giving £4.68 million to support the Church of England’s Conservation Grants Scheme over the next five years. The aim of this scheme is to protect the important contents of our historic parish churches, including monuments, wall paintings, stained glass and organs. Match funding further raises the amount of money that is available to more than £5 million.
All this may be a drop in the ocean of need, but the award is welcome to Athena in part simply because it represents such a positive change in the outlook of the NLHF towards churches. The award is the first to have been made through one of its four strategic initiatives: ‘Heritage in Need: Places of Worship’ promises an investment of £15 million over the next three years to help places of worship ‘become more sustainable, share their heritage and welcome people from all backgrounds, including those who rarely visit’.
This excellent news comes at what otherwise feels like a bleak moment for the cultural sector at large. There is growing nervousness as to what the October Budget holds in store. It’s already a concern for some institutions and charities that private donations of money are at low levels and that membership renewals are falling, as with the National Trust (despite record visitor numbers). A tough Budget might accentuate these trends.
‘This damaging decision illustrates the ability of the Treasury to pursue a narrow financial agenda without thinking very hard about the consequences’
At the same time, there is real concern that the Government’s self-imposed fiscal rules, combined with the pledges it has made, hopelessly restrict its freedom of action to raise revenue. The stage feels set, therefore, for a clear-out of smaller concessions and expenditure. In the grand scheme of things — rather like adding VAT to school fees — the financial impact of such changes from the Treasury’s perspective will not be great. In a cash-strapped sector, however, they might have massive and hugely destructive consequences.
A case in point is the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS), a grant system run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that refunds VAT on repairs and alterations to places of worship costing more than £1,000. The scheme presently runs until March 31, 2025, and there is grave concern that it might be withdrawn. How absurd it would be if the NLHF’s initiative was followed within weeks by something as proportionately damaging (and which saves the Treasury next to nothing).
It’s also salutary to remember that, in its present form, the LPWGS, first introduced in 2001, was a response to the introduction of VAT on repairs and alterations to listed buildings in 2012. Rumour has it that this far-reaching change to VAT arrangements was made almost without consideration as to its impact. Whatever the case, the fact of this damaging decision illustrates the ability of the Treasury to pursue a narrow financial agenda without thinking very hard about the consequences.
Athena is the magazine’s Cultural Crusader and writes a column in the magazine each week.
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