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<p>The National Church Institutions do not hold information centrally about the theft
of metal from Church of England churches, but records are kept at a diocesan level.
Anecdotal evidence points to an increase in instances of metal theft from churches
nationwide, with East Anglia and the Midlands being most affected.</p><p>Home Office
Counting Rules do not require the police to record if a theft is from a listed building.
The Church of England welcomes the July 2019 Sentencing Council proposals to introduce
new sentencing guidelines for arson, criminal damage and vandalism of national heritage
assets, including listed buildings, historic objects or unique parts of our historic
environment.</p><p>Money to fund repairs or adaptations to church buildings is raised
by local churches mainly through fundraising and local giving. There is no central
Government funding, except through grants in respect of VAT paid on repairs to listed
churches.</p><p>The following table for the Diocese of St Albans shows cases of metal
theft or attempted theft since 2015. The Diocese covers the majority of the Hertfordshire
and Bedfordshire area and contains 380 Anglican churches.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number
of Attacks</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The
Diocese provides advice to local churches on protective and preventative measures,
including forensic marking and roof alarms, working with the Beds and Herts Historic
Churches Trust and the Allchurches Trust. Grants of up to £3,000 per church have been
made available to more than 55 churches in the Diocese. In addition the Diocesan Board
of Finance allocated 29 roof alarm grants in 2017 and 2018 from small trust funds
for church repairs and maintenance. As a result there has been a significant reduction
in the number of cases of metal theft in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, though incidents
still occur. For example, in June 2019 St Mary's Church in Furneux Pelham north east
Hertfordshire, had 90% of its lead roof stolen or damaged over a single weekend.</p>
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