To ask the Minister of the Environment what support his Department can offer towards the maintenance and preservation of thatched roofs.

My Department has for many years provided a range of support and advice with regard to the conservation of heritage building and structures. Area architects, for instance, provide a range of advice on a daily basis to property owners and others, alongside providing consultation responses to planning authorities on planning applications. This advice is available when owners of heritage buildings contact my Department, or when my officials identify a particular need.

One element of this support has been grant-aid to contribute to the costs of repairing and conserving listed buildings. My Department’s listed building grant-aid scheme has since the mid 1980s provided support at an enhanced rate of 75% for thatched roof repairs, recognising that this category of building faces substantial conservation costs and requires frequent maintenance.

You will be aware of the severe budget cuts imposed on my Department. Under the final Budget for 2015-16, its budget was reduced by 10.7%, the highest percentage reduction of any Department. I highlighted in my Department’s budget consultation document that these cuts would have immediate and significant implications for a wide range of voluntary, educational and private sector bodies, and the termination of a range of key environmental and built heritage programmes. To help address this, I submitted a bid for built heritage funding in the 2015 June Monitoring Round, which was not acceded to by the Executive. Despite these reductions, I have however, been able to allocate £594,000 funding from the Carrier Bag Levy Scheme, to assist with repairs and maintenance of buildings that provide facilities for community access and use. Privately owned buildings are unable to avail of this particular strand of support, and the extent of the budget cuts has meant that I have not been able to offer other listed building grant-aid this year.

In respect of the specific grant-aid element of the broad mix of support and advice that I have outlined, the criteria for accessing support are that the listed building must be of an eligible grade and that generally, grant-aid assistance is provided towards the repair and maintenance of the original fabric of historic listed buildings, where it can be demonstrated that the works are necessary. Normally the qualifying elements of work will be: roofs and chimneys; external walls windows and doors; damp-proofing and timber treatment; floors; joinery; plasterwork, and land drainage (around the property only). This list is not exhaustive.

Homeowners have been able to avail of this support by making a formal application for listed building grant-aid; however this is currently only available to assist with repairs and maintenance in some buildings that provide facilities for community access and use, including listed churches.

My officials are working on proposals for future support arrangements for heritage buildings and structures that recognise reduced budgets and focus on priority categories. I hope to publish draft proposals for comment early in the New Year. Any such arrangements will then fall to be considered within the overall budget available to Departments for 2016-17 and beyond.