The Lord Bishop of St Albans

My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Sater, for securing this debate. A number of elements of the recent Budget are to be welcomed, such as the continuation of Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief and the cultural infrastructure funding. However, many of us were disappointed that there was no update on the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which is such a lifeline for so many of our historic buildings. The Church of England and other churches are trustees of some of the most important buildings in this country. We have to raise, voluntarily, tens of millions of pounds, and we really need to find ways to help very many pressurised local communities. These buildings are not used just for worship; many of them are the local concert venue. They have all sorts of music-making going on and they are places where music lessons are given. Many of our schools come into the churches, and they are used for all sorts of reasons beyond Sunday and midweek worship. I hope that DCMS will make a decision on this in the coming weeks, and I urge the Minister to ensure its future. I want to say a few words about the impact of the introduction of VAT on school fees for cathedral choir schools. These schools are often not well known but, by and large, they are not in the top rank of schools for the privileged. Many of them offer an outstanding musical education for local pupils. Often, we have to raise money for bursaries to keep them going. They are running on very tight budgets, but they are a fundamental part of providing musical education. Many of this country’s leading composers over the last 200 years started their lives in church choirs, on organs or learning through local music-making. This pipeline is really important in bringing such people through. There has already been a great deal of concern. The increase in employers’ national insurance contributions announced in the Budget has contributed further to the financial uncertainty facing these valuable institutions. I am sure the Minister will be aware of previous comments made by my colleague, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwark, and by John Glen, who spoke on this in the other place. About a decade ago, Country Life published a list of 60 things that make Britain great, and the choral tradition was on that list. There is a real threat to this, as we look at the resources, and a danger that, should choir schools be forced to close, state-funded schools will not be able to plug the gap. Does the Minister appreciate that choral music is an essential part of our heritage and agree that we need to do all we can to ensure that it is preserved?