Memorandum by the Heritage Lottery Fund
(UWP 112) (Continued)
12. OUTCOMES
AND IMPACT
Whilst some evaluation of time limited small
grant schemes has been possible, the impact of the substantial
extra investment in regeneration which Lottery funding through
HLF has enabled, will take time to begin to bear fruit. It is
also important to evaluate over a period to ensure that the benefits
are sustained. HLF has initiated a comprehensive evaluation of
all the projects to which it has awarded grants. We have also
commissioned the first major long-term evaluation of an entire
grant programme from Oxford Brookes University to evaluate the
impact of the Townscape Heritage Initiative over a 10 year period.
This is the longest such reserch study of an area conservation
scheme carried out to date.
13. LOOKING TO
THE FUTURE
We believe that Lottery funding for the heritage
can and should continue to play a significant role in delivering
support for urban regeneration initiatives across a broad front.
— We will continue to maintain both
a broadly based capital and revenue programme for universal access
but will also want to develop further the more targeted approaches
manifest in the Townscape Heritage Initiative and the Urban Parks
Programme approach.
— In doing so, we will want to take
account of the developing national and regional agendas, including
the Urban White Paper, as well as our own research, including
work on the economic impact of cultural and heritage tourism and
heritage audit exercises which link with economic impact studies.
— We are working with the Regional
Development Agencies and Regional Cultural Consortia as they establish
regeneration priorities and opportunities.
— We also attach importance to the
contribution which our revenue and community programmes can make
to building community capacity.
In all of this HLF will want to continue to
work closely with statutory agencies such as English Heritage,
and its sister agencies elsewhere in the UK. Many capital projects
funded by HLF include an element of EH grant as partnership funding.
While English Heritage grants are largely restricted to the preservation
of the physical fabric of historic buildings, HLF has a wider
remit and can make awards which do not simply increase resources
available for their preservation. Crucially, this allows us to
emphasise people and activities within the historic context, ensuring
that the physical heritage is adapted to serve new uses and is
accessible to the widest possible public.
Heritage Lottery Fund
March 2000
|
