LONDON, ENGLAND.-Plans to give Churches and other religious groups greater flexibility in managing their church buildings were unveiled today by Minister for Culture, David Lammy. The proposals strike a balance between the changing needs of church communities and their importance to the nation's built heritage.

New Heritage Partnership Agreements will be introduced to allow denominations to build partnerships with local authorities and English Heritage, and to take a longer-term view of how they want to develop sites. The Agreements will mean that churches may not need to seek separate consents every time they wish to make changes to their buildings.

Minister for Culture, David Lammy, at St. Paul's Church in Bristol, said: "Church buildings are a hugely important part of our heritage. We need to recognise that churches are primarily places of worship, but we should also remember that they are magnificent historic assets that impact upon whole communities.

"Our proposals build on the magnificent work done by the churches in safeguarding our heritage, while ensuring that their buildings meet the needs of congregations."

Historic church buildings belonging to the major Christian denominations are exempt from Listed Buildings Controls under the Ecclesiastical Exemption. Heritage Partnership Agreements will be available for listed places of worship of all faiths.

Pilot studies to look at how the new arrangements will work are starting during autumn 2005, in advance of a Heritage Protection White Paper in 2006.

The Government's Heritage Protection Review aims to simplify and clarify the system of recording and protecting all historic buildings. It is the largest review of England's heritage protection system in a generation.