PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Religious Buildings: Coronavirus (6 December 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of closing places of worship during the covid-19 pandemic on people’s (a) physical and (b) mental health; and if he will make a statement.

Asked by:
Sir Edward Leigh (Conservative)

Freedom of religion or belief and the freedom to worship are fundamental human rights.

That is why the decision to close our Places of Worship, alongside all other places where people gathered, was made with great reluctance in the very earliest stages of the pandemic.

Recognising the importance of our Places of Worship to the spiritual, mental and physical health of our communities, we worked hard to ensure that they were able to reopen as soon as possible.

Gradual reopening began in June 2020 when it was clear how risks to worshippers could be minimised and our Places of Worship were able to remain open for worshippers throughout the remainder of the pandemic.

Answered by:
Simon Hoare (Conservative)
13 December 2023