Memorandum by the Heritage Lottery Fund
(HLF) (CC 02)
INTRODUCTION
Since the publication of the ODPM Report in
March 2004, and the Government's response in June, the Heritage
Lottery Fund has continued, within the strategies set out in its
2002-07 Strategic Plan, to concentrate its funding on key heritage
needs and opportunities which deliver education, access, conservation
benefits, and lead, where possible, to greater involvement of
people in the heritage which is of value and meaning to them.
HLF awards are made to projects which promise to deliver benefits
in line with the aims we have set out. Because of the differing
needs of heritage projects, the goal of equity of expenditure
across the whole of the UK, including former coalfields, is impossible
to achieve. But we continue to take steps in the following areas
to focus our resources on coalfields areas, in the work of our
development teams, the grant awards we make, and in the support
we give post-award.
DEVELOPMENT WORK
— We continue to focus our work
to encourage applications—particular to our grant programmes
aimed at local heritage or at work with young people—from
areas which have received a lower number of grants.
— Since October 2003 up to the
beginning of March 2005, we have dealt with 780 pre-application
enquiries from local authorities with coalfields areas within
them.
— We welcome the recent announcement
of further funding for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, and
have continued to work with them and others, including other lottery
bodies and CISWO and the Local Authorities in joint marketing
and support for coalfield community applicants.
— Our current list of 60 areas
which are cold-spots so far as our grant awards are concerned
will continue to be a primary target for special development work
until at least the end of the 2002-07 Strategic Planning period.
Mid-term indications are that our concentration on these areas
is raising considerably the awareness and success of communities
and applicants here.
— As an example, in follow up
to "Spotlight on St Helens" in 2001-02, we have undertaken
further development work which has resulted in recent grant awards,
and we have also approached the Local Authority to enlist their
further support in identifying a strategic portfolio of projects.
AWARDS AND
POST-AWARD
WORK
— An updated table—for comparison
with the table in the HLF's original Memorandum to ODPM Select
Committee is appended on the full number and value of Heritage
Lottery Fund Awards made to Coalfield local authority areas up
to the end of February 2005.
— This shows that in the 18 months
since HLF's previous report, there has been a steady increase
in the number and value of awards to coalfield authorities, with
652 awards with a total value of £117,728,082 made in that
period.
— These figures show some considerable
success for coalfield local authorities in some regions—in
the NE 56% of our awards for our smaller grants programmes Your
Heritage and Young Roots—34 out of 61 funded projects, were
made to coalfield areas. One project was the restoration of Miners'
banners and three of the restored banners where part of the Durham
Miners' Gala last year, with more in the pipeline for this year.
— In December 2004, a stage I
approval of £4.234 million with development funding of £192,000
was made to the Creswell Heritage Trust for a major project of
refurbishment of the museum at the prehistoric site at Creswell
Crags.
— Our Townscape Heritage Initiative
continues to be focussed on promoting conservation as an integral
part of urban deprivation. In the round of bids made to us during
2004, applications from coalfields areas did not figure as strongly
as they have done in the past, but we were still able to make
grant awards to towns in two coalfields local authorities, Wigan
and Stoke-on-Trent.
— Work has now begun (in December
2004) on the new Northumberland Local Studies and Archives Office
on the site of Woodhorn Colliery, with £10 million of grant
from HLF.
<lh1> <rr
Region
| No of Local Authorities | Number of
Awards Made
|
Total Grant |
| <lh0> East Midlands | 16
| 646 | £100,484,381
|
| North East | 11 | 356
| £56,427,311 |
| North West | 2 | 61
| £15,859,653 |
| South East | 2 | 79
| £11,542,660 |
| West Midlands | 10 | 238
| £17,742,720 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 8
| 602 | £126,067,464
|
| England Total | |
1,982 | £328,124,189
|
| Scotland | 12 | 496
| £64,225,633 |
| Wales | 11 | 323
| £38,921,979 |
| Scotland/Wales Total |
| 819 | £103,147,612
|
| UK Total | | 2,801
| £431,271,801 |
<xr<lh1>
|
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NB: The funding data for coalfields communities is captured
by Local Authority not ward level and therefore a Local Authority
with only one coalfield ward will be included on our list as a
coalfield area. The selected Local Authorities equate to the ODPM's
2003 revisions, "Zone A" which is based on the original
Task Force 1991 definition using employment in mining in 1991
as the key criteria. However, unlike "Zone A" our data
excludes the Wear Valley, Copeland and Forest of Dean (and therefore
the South West Region) but includes coalfield communities within
Scotland and Wales.
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