Memorandum by the Heritage Lottery Fund
(HIS 35)
THE ROLE
OF THE
HERITAGE LOTTERY
FUND
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) distributes
money from the National Lottery to heritage projects across the
United Kingdom. HLF has committed £2.8bn to 14,051 heritage
projects across the UK since 1995. Our primary aims in distributing
this funding[36]
are:
— to encourage more people to be involved
in and make decisions about their heritage;
— to conserve and enhance UK's diverse
heritage; and,
— to ensure that everyone can learn
about, have access to and enjoy their heritage.
A further aim is to:
— bring about a more equitable spread
of our grants across the UK.
Government has also asked us to address regeneration
in our Policy Directions[37],
which include:
— the scope for reducing economic and
social deprivation, at the same time as creating heritage benefits.
Our Strategic Plan specifically states that
we will seek to promote heritage conservation as an integral part
of urban and rural regeneration.
HERITAGE AND
REGENERATION
Our approach differs from that of other heritage
agencies in that our definition of heritage is broader; it includes
buildings, parks, landscapes, museums, archives, townscapes, waterways
and archaeology, whether of local or national importance, as well
as intangible heritage such as language or oral traditions. We
also emphasise the need to deliver benefits to people as well
as to places. We challenge our applicants to deliver not just
conservation, but greater access and involvement for communities
and new economically sustainable uses for historic places.
Places—buildings, landscapes or townscapes—are
part of that wider heritage. People often relate strongly to the
places where they live or were brought up. Historic buildings
or features contribute to the distinctiveness and identity of
places, and can be a source of history and meaning for people.
Heritage adds depth, character and value to places. Individual
owners may bear the cost of caring for a historic place, but the
benefits accrue to the wider community. This is why there is often
a case for subsidy or regulation to correct market failure. HLF
primarily funds not-for-profit organisations and an important
principle of all of our funding is that we need to ensure that
any potential private gain is outweighed by benefit to the public
at large.
People are concerned about the heritage of their
local area and what is happening to it, and do see the preservation
of historic buildings and parks as important. In a recent MORI
survey consulting 1500 adults, 92% felt that "it is important
to keep historic features wherever possible when trying to improve
villages, towns and cities"[38].
Indeed, as this survey shows, concern about the state of buildings
in their local area often acts as a motivation for people to take
a greater interest in the heritage.
HLF GRANTS FOR
AREAS IN
NEED OF
REGENERATION
We operate a number of different grant schemes,
of which the most relevant to this inquiry are:
Heritage Grants Scheme
Grants of £50,000 or more can be given
to projects that relate to the national, regional or local heritage
of the UK. This is the programme under which the bulk of larger
capital grants for the repair of historic buildings have been
allocated. A good example is the Nottingham Lace Market (see Appendix
Two).
Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI)
This is the most obvious means by which we contribute
to urban regeneration. We support schemes led by partnerships
that aim to regenerate the historic environment in towns and cities
across the UK. Together with other organisations, often led by
local authorities, we contribute to a common fund, managed by
the partnership to allocate funds towards conservation work on
individual projects. It explicitly targets areas of social and
economic deprivation. The important thing is that THIs address
conservation needs as part of (and not isolated from) wider area
strategies.
Public Parks Initiative
This programme is directed towards public parks,
which means a designed green space, whether large or small, rural
or urban. They are usually owned and managed by a local authority
as a public open space. Projects we have funded not only repair
and enhance the historic character of parks, but have also created
new facilities to meet the needs of today's parks' users.
Repair Grants for Places of Worship
These schemes, operated since 2002 in Scotland,
Wales, Northern Ireland and England, target listed places of worship.
Between 1996 and 2002, places of worship in England were funded
under the Joint Scheme for Places of Worship, administered in
partnership with English Heritage (1996-2002). For a time, 1999-2002,
the HLF contribution was specifically targeted on local authority
areas which contained deprived areas as determined by the Index
of Multiple Deprivation. We reviewed these grants during 2001,
and decided that we could not meet heritage needs by focussing
only on these specific areas of deprivation. There is a high demand
for these grants, and they are now available anywhere in the country,
but only for urgent structural repairs, and where there is demonstrable
need.
About 44% of the total funding of all the above
programmes has been to projects in the most deprived areas of
the UK. Many projects are not located within areas which are formally
identified as being in deprived wards but nevertheless are in
need of regeneration. Two examples are:
Coalfields
We have targeted coalfields as areas in particular
need[39],
and in partnership with the Coalfields Community Campaign and
the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation, we have focused
funding in those areas. We have given a total of £342.8m
to 1040 projects in coalfield areas to date.
Seaside towns
The recent CABE publication, Shifting Sands[40],
highlighted a number of projects funded by HLF that have contributed
to the creative regeneration of English seaside towns. As the
number of seaside trips has fallen, the need to invest in these
areas has risen. One of the projects praised by the report was
Marine Gardens Clacton (HLF grant of £416k). We have given
£143m to 316 projects in England.
Development Teams
In order to encourage more applications from
communities which have to date received the least funding and
fewest grants from us, and which are in areas of economic and
social deprivation, we have established Development Teams in each
of our regional and country offices.
THE CONTRIBUTION
OF INDIVIDUAL
HLF-FUNDED PROJECTS
TO REGENERATION
Individual projects illustrate more specific
ways in which funding for heritage can contribute to regeneration.
They show that our funding can:
— Provide a community focus for
regeneration
An HLF contribution of nearly £1m to the
community-led conversion of a red-brick Victorian building in
Halton, near Widnes, has resulted in the provision of a library,
Sure Start nursery, youth club, a base for Halton's Workforce
Development project, a cyber café and an adult learning
suite, and has built momentum for the wider regeneration of the
area.
The regeneration of Chatham Dockyard with £12.3m
of grant from HLF, has helped to attract 100 businesses, employing
over 1,000 people. The historic attractions have already attracted
1.5 million visitors and improvements to the site have already
had wider regeneration implications for the Thames Gateway area,
in which Chatham is situated. Research by the Southern Tourist
Board concludes that the Historic Dockyard is worth £20 million
for the local economy.
— Contribute to attractive living
and working conditions
Birmingham Cathedral Square is one of the key
open spaces in the city. HLF grant of £2 million has restored
the physical fabric of the square and provided a high-quality
open space. This has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration
of the surrounding area and contributed to a fall in vacancy rates
in the nearby business premises. When the square was neglected
and run down, vacancy rates were high; since the improvements,
office space surrounding the square has been in high demand and
a number of premises have been refurbished. As a result, it is
estimated that around 1,200 jobs have been created by firms relocating
to this area of the city
— Encourage sustainable tourism
HLF has contributed grants of more than £5m
towards the restoration of HMS Trincomalee in Hartlepool
and to the conversion of the South Docks into a major visitor
destination and commercial area. The area is actively promoted
by Hartlepool in its Europe-wide campaigns to attract visitors
to sample UK mini-break cities.
— Enhance people's quality of life
Lister Park in Bradford has been transformed
with £3.2m of HLF funding from a vandalised space, not regarded
as a safe place to play, into the focus for many community activities,
including the Bradford Festival in July, with involvement from
all sections of the community.
— Contribute to social inclusion,
learning, health and safe environments
The refurbishment and conversion of St Luke's
Church, Canning Town (£800k HLF grant) has led to a range
of important new facilities and services being made available
to the residents and has rescued from blight the only historic
building surviving in this Docklands location, providing office
facilities for business start-ups, three GP surgeries, a child
care facility, computer access, a community education training
suite and a café. Docklands Recruitment, First Call Training
Force, Families at Canning Town and Powerhouse are all based at
St Luke's and their services and advice have helped hundreds of
people to find employment.
— Contribute to local distinctiveness
by linking a place with its industrial past
Within the overall figure of £342.8m quoted
above as our awards in coalfields areas, HLF has made substantial
awards to key mining museums at Caphouse Colliery, Wakefield,
at the Lady Victoria Colliery (the Scottish Mining Museum), Chatterley
Whitfield in Stoke on Trent, Woodhorn Colliery in Northumberland,
and at Big Pit, Blanaevon. We have also funded restoration and
improvement works to places of worship, schools, libraries and
institutes, and by funding the recording of physical and oral
heritage to reinforce this sense of history and local distinctiveness.
A THI grant to Denbigh (£1.3m HLF grant)
has not only brought historic buildings back into use as residential
units and commercial floorspace but has also has been used to
raise awareness of traditional skills in the area. Events such
as the Denbigh Open Heritage weekend have been held to illustrate
their practical application to local professionals and contractors.
The work carried out to date has vastly improved the historic
building stock of the town and generated increased economic activity.
RESEARCH FINDINGS:
HERITAGE IN
REGENERATION SCHEMES
Our research is beginning to provide useful
information about the impact of our programmes and how effective
they are in delivering wider objectives, such as regeneration.
Economic benefits
HLF joined English Heritage and the East of
England Development Agency in a study of the impact of heritage
funding[41].
It found that every £10,000 levered in an average of £45,000
of match funding from private sector and public sources.
The impact of Townscape Heritage Initiatives
An interim evaluation of 17 THI[42]
projects has found that in the majority of schemes THI had been
a catalyst for regeneration which would not have otherwise happened,
or would have happened more slowly. The investment generated in
the majority of the THI areas was genuinely new and there was
little evidence that it would have gone elsewhere had THI not
existed. THIs did create some of the conditions for sustaining
regeneration locally—some of the partnerships that were
initiated have become the focus for further regeneration initiatives;
and in many cases new skills in conservation projects and partnerships
were developed.
It was important to have an experienced partnership
who were aware of the challenges, and THI staff who were skilled.
The programme needed to allow enough time to commit other funding
sources and it was vital that projects were monitored to uphold
standards.
Problems were encountered where there were many
different owners or where there was a lack of local conservation
skills. THI funding alone could not overcome fundamental economic
problems such as the closure of local industries.
Achievements through the funding of Public Parks
Similar issues emerged from an evaluation of
the Urban Parks Programme[43],
where the most successful projects were those with a clear strategy,
skilled staff and strong local champions. The study also found
that the distribution of funding matched need. Over 50% of grants
had gone to the 10% most deprived districts in the country.
Some of the wider public benefits emerging from
parks projects included:
— a positive impact on local social
and economic conditions;
— reduced crime or fear of crime;
— greater community involvement in
parks.
For example, at Vernon Park in Stockport, reported
incidents of crime fell steadily after the award of our grant.
COMMENTS ON
THE ROLE
OF HERITAGE
IN REGENERATION
— The repair of historic buildings
makes a positive contribution to urban regeneration by contributing
to the quality and distinctiveness of local areas. Repairing historic
buildings also addresses a principal source of public concern
about their local areas.
— We believe that the contribution
that heritage can make to regeneration goes beyond historic buildings—parks
and other green spaces are vital as are works to the public realm
as well as waterways and canals. Indeed any heritage project in
a deprived area—including museum and activity projects—may
have the potential to contribute to regeneration through enhancing
and opening up what people most value.
— We have learnt that in order to be
effective, a heritage regeneration project (such as a park or
THI) needs to have very clear conservation objectives. It needs
to be big enough to make a visible difference to an area (or the
funding needs to be concentrated in one place). The local authority
needs good conservation skills and experience, and it is important
that there is staff continuity during the project. Local community
involvement is a key to sustainability.
— THI funding, which is offered up
front, in advance of other commitments, acts as a catalyst for
other funding sources. Committing funding for five years also
allows time for other funders to come on board.
— Our applicants report some problems
in co-ordinating the different packages of funding available for
area regeneration, particularly those that involve tight timescales.
We would see the RDAs as playing a critical role in co-ordinating
regional strategies for urban regeneration that involve heritage.
— In the past, heritage schemes have
focused very much on physical repairs to property. In addition
to this, we ask that there should be a sustainable use for the
property and that there should be strong community involvement
in the scheme. Funding training and skills as part of projects
also contributes to long term sustainability.
— Funding for heritage cannot, in isolation
from other measures, reverse endemic economic problems but can
be a catalyst for changing perceptions of an area. Experience
shows it is most effective when deployed as part of a wider regeneration
strategy.
— There is a delicate relationship
between any regeneration funding and the operation of the local
property market. Initial investment may change perceptions of
an area which can then create a speculative property market where
properties are bought up and left empty in the hope of a rising
market. Local authorities can break this cycle by using Compulsory
Purchase Orders.
— The quality of conservation work
is an important element in the success of physical regeneration.
Our monitors report that heritage standards are variable across
the country, and in areas where the economy is not strong it may
be that high standards of conservation are seen as not achievable.
Well conserved buildings and spaces can add value to a place—poor
conservation can erode the character and quality of an area just
as easily as poor new design.
— The impact of funding for individual
projects can only be sustained if local authorities operate the
system of statutory heritage protection effectively and fairly,
including statutory consent, enforcement, repairs notices, compulsory
purchase orders and directions. It is also vital that there are
sufficient resources within local planning authorities to deliver
conservation objectives. Whilst initial funding can change the
perception of the area, the ability of local authorities to protect
this investment in the long term is the platform on which funders
like HLF can build with confidence.
Heritage Lottery Fund
November 2003
APPENDIX ONE: HLF FUNDING IN AREAS OF
DEPRIVATION
The total number of grants approved by HLF at
31 October 2003: 14,051
The total amount of funding approved by HLF: £2.8bn
The following table shows HLF funding to programmes
that make the greatest contribution to physical regeneration in
the most deprived areas of the UK.
1 January 1995—3 October 2003
| Grant Programme |
Total number
of projects | Total number of
projects in
deprived areas
| Total
funding (£) | Total funding
in deprived
areas (£)
|
| Conservation area partnerships (to 1998) |
113 | 61 (54%) | £25m
| £13.2m
(53%) |
Townscape Heritage Initiative (from 1999)
| 120 | 52 (43%) | £74.1m
| £36.7m
(49.5%) |
Heritage Grants (including its predecessor Standard Grant programme)
| 3,511 | 921 (26%) | £1.6b
| £603.1m
(37.7%) |
Public Parks Initiative (including its predecessor Urban Parks Programme)
| 394 | 160 (40%) | £310.6m
| £192.8m
(62%) |
Repair Grants for Places of Worship and Joint Places of Worship (England)
| 699 | 297 (42%) | £60.4m
| £42.6m
(71%) |
Total (programmes listed above)
| 4,837 | 1,491 (31%) | £2.1b
| £888.4m
(44%) |
We have defined deprived areas as follows:
— In England we have used Office of National Statistics
guidelines (the baseline is the 50 most deprived local authorities
as defined by the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit).
— In Northern Ireland, we have used the Deprivation
Index 2003—any local authority with at least one ward ranked
in the 45 most deprived wards is classed as deprived.
— Scottish local authorities are classed as deprived
using the Scottish Deprivation Index 2003—any local authority
with at least one ward in the ranking of the 100 most deprived
places.
— Welsh local authorities are classed as deprived
according to the Welsh National Assembly's definitions.
All figures include both approved and completed projects.
Monetary values represent the sum of actual grants awarded and
do not include stage 1 offers. Figures for Repair Grants for Places
of Worship in England are to April 2003.
APPENDIX TWO: NOTTINGHAM LACE MARKET
HLF regeneration projects vary in scale and character. An
example of one of the biggest and most effective projects is Nottingham
Lace Market.
Nottingham Lace Market
HLF investment of £6 million—combined with Private
Finance Initiative (PFI) funds—enabled the conversion of
the Adams Building—a Grade II listed former textile factory—into
a busy campus for New College, Nottingham, with around 3,000 students.
HLF also contributed £4 million to converting the former
Shire Hall into the Galleries of Justice, home to the National
Centre for Citizenship and the Law (NCCL), which works with the
Youth Justice Board to help young offenders and children excluded
from school. HLF funding for these two buildings is widely acknowledged
to have been the starting point for the urban renewal of the Lace
Market district, which is today renowned as the city's "creative"
or "cultural quarter", a reputation supported by a survey
undertaken in 1996 by Crewe and Beaverstock, which revealed that
80% of the 450 firms that had recently located to the Lace Market
were engaged in cultural production or consumption.
36
Broadening the Horizons of Heritage: The Heritage Lottery Strategic
Plan 2002-07. Back
37
Directions issued to the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial
Fund under section 26 (1) and (2) of the National Lottery etc.
Act 1993. Back
38
Making heritage count. English Heritage, Department for Culture,
Media and Sport, Heritage Lottery Fund (October 2003). Back
39
HLF Memorandum to the ODPM Select Committee Inquiry into Coalfield
Communities (October 2003). Back
40
Shifting Sands: Design and the Changing Image of the English Seaside
Towns. English Heritage, CABE (2003). Back
41
Heritage Dividend (East of England Region 2003). Back
42
Townscape Heritage Initiative Schemes Evaluation: Interim Report
Summary, Department of Planning, Oxford Brookes University (October
2003). Back
43
SQW and Land Use Consultants, Urban Parks Programme Evaluation
(2003). Back
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