For more than 20 years, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme provided a straightforward and effective way of supporting historic churches and other places of worship.

By refunding the VAT paid on essential repairs, it helped local volunteers carry out routine maintenance early, cheaply and responsibly, protecting buildings that remain central to community life.

Since my election, I have discussed this repeatedly with the rectors of Farnham and Haslemere, and with clergy and churchwardens in Bordon, Liphook and villages across the constituency. The message has been consistent. These buildings are cared for by volunteers who plan years ahead, fundraise locally and manage tight budgets. What they need most is certainty.

The Government is right to recognise the importance of religious heritage and to commit significant funding. A new £230 million package for heritage, including a £92 million Places of Worship Renewal Fund, is substantial in headline terms and should be welcomed. This is not an argument against investment.

The concern lies in how that investment is being delivered – as is common with this government. From the end of March, churches will no longer be able to reclaim VAT on repairs. Every roof repair, tower restoration or drainage fix will now carry an unavoidable 20 percent tax cost.

Sir Philip Rutnam, chair of the National Churches Trust, has put this starkly. Ending the VAT rebate means local people will now be fundraising not just to repair roofs and towers, but to pay tax to the Government. He also points out an obvious unfairness: museums and galleries offering free admission are exempt from VAT on repairs, while churches will not be.

This matters all the more because the Government itself commissioned an independent evaluation of the VAT rebate scheme last year. That report found the scheme delivered good value for money, enabled repairs that would not otherwise have happened, brought work forward by more than two years on average, and unlocked other funding by acting as reliable match-funding. It was widely regarded, simple to use, and particularly effective for volunteer-run parishes.

In other words, the evidence was overwhelmingly positive.

Against that backdrop, it is difficult to understand why a proven, well-regarded mechanism has been removed before a genuinely equivalent replacement is even defined. Ministers admit that full details of the new scheme will be published “in due course”, yet the VAT relief ends now.

Conservatives were clear that a better approach was available: reverse the cuts, remove the annual cap and retain a system that evidence shows works, while improving support alongside it.

Historic churches are living buildings at the heart of our communities. Change can be positive, but ignoring your own evidence and placing an immediate extra tax burden on volunteers is not reform. It is an avoidable risk to buildings we cannot afford to lose.