In January this government announced that we would extend the Scheme for one year with an overall budget of £23 million in recognition of the importance of listed places of worship both in terms of heritage and to their local communities. Funding after March 2026 for all listed places of worship will be considered as we work through the output of the Spending Review and Departmental business planning process.

Alongside the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme there are other sources of funding available for listed places of worship of all faiths via the Department’s Arm’s-Length Bodies. For example, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has committed to investing around £100m between 2023 and 2026 to support places of worship. This investment includes £15 million to support large-scale projects that tackle broad needs and challenges, fostering greater sustainability and security within the sector. Ongoing support for places of worship will also be provided through National Lottery Heritage Grants, helping to improve their condition and equip the sector with the expertise, people, and skills necessary to preserve this heritage for the future. Over the next three years, it is expected that approximately £85 million will be awarded to support this goal.

Parts 11 and 12 of the Electronic Communications Code provide rights to fly lines over land and set out when and how someone can object to these installations. The aim is to balance the efficient deployment of overhead networks with the interests of those affected by them. The provisions under Parts 11 and 12 relate primarily to fixed-line infrastructure deployment.

Part 11 was amended through the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 to support greater infrastructure sharing, providing alternatives for network expansion. The measures in that Act received Parliamentary scrutiny and were subject to a published De Minimis Impact Assessment.

A separate assessment of these provisions has not been completed, but the impact of all the 2022 changes will be assessed in due course.

Newcastle’s Swing Bridge is a Scheduled Monument and Grade II* listed structure. Support for the refurbishment of the bridge and other industrial heritage may be available through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms-Length Bodies.

Historic England, DCMS Arms-Length Body and government’s statutory adviser on the historic environment, also offers grants for the repair and conservation of historic buildings, monuments, and landscapes that are of national importance. Historic England is currently involved in ongoing discussions on restoring movement to the bridge and is supporting relevant stakeholders in its repair.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund awards grants ranging from £10,000 up to £10 million for projects that conserve and enhance heritage, making it accessible to everyone. Last year it invested £330 million in the nation's heritage.

DCMS ministers have recently met with both Church representatives and Historic England, however discussions have not covered the specific issue of increasing flexibility in the renovation and adaptation of listed churches for community use and accessibility improvements.

Through the Ecclesiastical Exemption, many denominations are already able to manage alterations to their own listed buildings, including adaptation to community use and greater accessibility, through internal permission systems.

Our arms-length body Arts Council England (ACE) is investing £176,345 over three years in Bridport Arts Centre as part of their National Portfolio 2023-26 (NPO). In 2024/25 ACE granted a further £20,000 to Bridport Arts Centre from their Area Funds to explore the lease/ownership of the building which will have a direct impact on their ability to address energy efficiency and accessibility.

In 2024/25 ACE invested £12,650 in Dorchester Arts through their open-access National Lottery Project Grants to deliver a festival of scriptwriting. All recipients of ACE funding remain fully responsible for their operations, artistic programme, and the day-to-day management of their activities.

The Spending Review sets out DCMS’s high-level funding settlement, and individual decisions on how to invest departmental resources will be determined in due course. The Spending Review does, however, commit to significant investment into Arts, Culture, and Heritage infrastructure. Across the spending review period DCMS will be delivering funding across its major capital programmes, supporting local institutions and leveraging economic growth across the regions.

DCMS has not had any recent discussions with Bridport Arts Centre or Dorchester Arts directly, however, in September 2024, ACE held discussions with Bridport Arts Centre about their lease on their Grade II listed building as the contract end approaches.

On 23 June, an ACE Annual Progress Review took place to assess Bridport Arts Centre’s progress against the objectives set out in their ACE funding agreement over 12 months. This included consideration of their contribution to ACE’s Environmental Responsibility Investment Principle which includes energy efficiency.

Both organisations are eligible to apply to ACE’s current round of capital funding, and more information can be found on their website here: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/developing-creativity-and-culture/capital

The location of Home Office masts that have been upgraded for the Shared Rural Network (SRN), including six additional masts activated for the programme since the press notice was published, can be found in the table below. We plan to upgrade over 40 more sites in England, Wales and Scotland by March 2026, but the details of these masts cannot be shared until a site is confirmed to form part of the programme.

The location of Home Office masts that have been upgraded for the Shared Rural Network (SRN), including six additional masts activated for the programme since the press notice was published, can be found in the table below. We plan to upgrade over 40 more sites in England, Wales and Scotland by March 2026, but the details of these masts cannot be shared until a site is confirmed to form part of the programme.

We have not made specific funding available for public amenities damaged during Storm Arwen, but responsibilities for public amenities fall to many departments, each of which has different arrangements for repairs. DCMS, for instance, funds Arts Council England to deliver the Museum Estate and Development Fund, which is open to accredited museums across England and has distributed over £87m since 2021, with a further £25m due to be allocated in 25/26.

The Government does not undertake formal assessments of the delivery methods employed by broadband operators. Where and how operators deploy their networks is a commercial matter.

Existing regulations require operators to use underground lines where reasonably practicable, with certain exceptions.

In its Connected Nations 2024 report, Ofcom states that “providers have ordered around 176,000 km of duct routes (101,000 km of which has been delivered) and approximately 1.2 million attachments to poles (750,000 of which have been delivered) to deploy networks.”

Draft regulations to commence sections 61 – 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 are currently subject to a technical consultation. The consultation, which launched on 7 May and is open until 23.59 on 2 July 2025, can be found on the gov.uk website.

The government recognises that access to high-quality and reliable broadband is essential.

Operators have a statutory responsibility to take measures to identify, prepare for and reduce anything that compromises the availability, performance or functionality of their networks and services.

DSIT regularly engages Ofcom, the independent regulator of telecommunications services, who created the voluntary compensation scheme and any changes to the scheme is a decision for Ofcom.

We will continue to work with Ofcom to monitor the market to ensure that consumers are receiving reliable services and recourse for when things go wrong.

The Department has no plans to reconsider the £25,000 cap. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by the change.

Future Government spending is a matter for the Spending Review.

Future Government spending is a matter for the 2025 Spending Review.

The government recognises the importance of cinemas as part of the UK’s film industry and as community assets, and we continue to work closely with the British Film Institute (BFI) and the cinema sector. The Government’s tax incentives, including the new Independent Film Tax Credit, are bolstering the slate of films available to be shown in British cinemas.

The BFI’s Film Audience Network (BFI FAN) is a collaboration of 8 film hubs, managed by leading film organisations and venues around the UK which provides support to cinemas on a local level. Film hubs are centres of expertise and support that connect cinemas, festivals and creative practitioners. Further information on BFI FAN can be found at: https://www.bfi.org.uk/get-funding-support/bring-film-wider-uk-audience.

DCMS and its arms-length bodies offer a range of grants and support to restore heritage assets.The Secretary of State announced in February £15 million of additional funding for Heritage at Risk, building on Historic England's existing Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk programme - providing grants for repairs and conservation to heritage buildings at risk, focusing on those sites with most need, and a new £4.85 million Heritage Revival Fund to enable local people to take ownership of heritage they love and bring historic buildings back into use. The National Lottery Heritage Fund also delivers project-based heritage funding. Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has distributed £8.6bn of National Lottery funds to more than 47,000 projects.

Historic England has published advice online to help owners of historic buildings to streamline the installation of energy efficiency measures, and works with partners including Government to support the wider retrofit of historic buildings.

The government believes that a fit-for-purpose cultural infrastructure, which increases access for all, is part of this sector's success.

At the Autumn Spending Review government prioritised support for our cultural institutions so that they can continue to be world-leading. This settlement includes investment of over £270 million through the Arts Everywhere Fund for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector to boost growth and cement Britain’s place as a cultural powerhouse. £85 million will be available through the Creative Foundations Fund, which will support urgent capital works to keep cultural venues across the country up and running.

In addition, DCMS and the Department’s Arm’s-Length Bodies provide a range of financial support for culturally significant buildings. These include the Theatres Trust, who provide small grants to theatres for building work; the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; the National Lottery Heritage Fund, who have committed to investing around £100m between 2023 and 2026 to support places of worship; the Churches Conservation Trust, which funds repairs and maintenance of over 350 churches in the CCT portfolio; and Historic England's Heritage At Risk grants, funding £9 million worth of repairs to buildings on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register between April 2024 and March 2025.

All that being said, there has been no MEND or ACE Capital funding in Surrey Heath constituency in the last five years.

The importance of Newcastle Swing Bridge, spanning the River Tyne, is recognised through its designation as a Scheduled Monument and as a Grade II* listed structure. Historic England, DCMS Arms-Length Body and government’s statutory adviser on the historic environment, is involved in ongoing discussions on restoring movement to the bridge and is supporting relevant stakeholders in its repair.

DCMS leads on heritage policy covering a wide range of historic buildings; representatives from the churches have largely restricted their comments to matters of repair and renovation works to listed places of worship.

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was established to provide grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship. Based on past claims we estimate that 94% of applications will not be affected by the £25,000 cap.

On the 22nd of January, I was pleased to announce that the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme would continue from March 2025 to March 2026 with a budget of £23m.

Further details can be found here in the Written Statement.

As I said in his Westminster Hall debate on the subject, based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by the change.