Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Access to Places of Worship

Thursday 17 October 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Local authorities are not required to consider building new places of worship but can include them as community buildings in development projects.
  • The Church Commissioners seek to promote the inclusion of places of worship in development projects by local authorities.
  • The Church Commissioners are involved in place-making and have sought a meeting with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss strategic land for new homes.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Blake Stephenson Con Mid Bedfordshire
Local Government Religion & Faith
Context

Residents in new towns and villages should have access to religious facilities as part of community development. The question addresses the lack of a legal requirement for local authorities to consider building new places of worship.

Question

What steps is the Church taking with developers and local authorities to ensure that residents in new towns and villages have access to places of worship?

Answer from Marsha de Cordova

Local authorities are not currently required to consider building new places of worship, but under national planning policy they can include these as community buildings in development projects. The Church Commissioners seek to promote such facilities when local authorities include them.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not provide specific steps or commitments from the Church on working with developers and local authorities for new places of worship.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Blake Stephenson Con Mid Bedfordshire
Community Security Local Government Religion & Faith
Context

The question builds on the initial query, emphasizing that community development should include places of worship to support residents' spiritual needs and enhance overall quality of life.

Question

Development should be about building places and communities where people can live fulfilling lives, not just building houses, and places of worship play an important role in that. Will the hon. Member work with Ministers to ensure that the Government's new towns commission incorporates the creation of places of worship in new towns?

Answer from Marsha de Cordova

The Church Commissioners are involved in place-making and have sought a meeting with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss strategic land for up to 70,000 new homes. The diocese of St Albans provides examples of community-building through religious facilities.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not address the specific request to work with Ministers on incorporating places of worship into the new towns commission framework.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)