Memorandum submitted by the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport
SUMMARY
Heritage means different things to different
people. DCMS, ODPM and Defra work closely to drive forward the
Government's policy on the historic environment, published in
A Force for Our Future. This includes work on the Heritage Protection
Review. Making our nation's heritage accessible to all is a Government
priority and is being taken forward through programmes like free
entry to the National Museums, Renaissance in the Regions, Outreach
programmes including Heritage Open Days and Engaging Places. Provisional
findings from the Taking Part survey show that 70% of all adults
visited a designated historic site and 43% visited a museum/gallery
at least once in the last 12 months. The heritage sector is made
up of a rich mix of publicly funded, charitable and voluntary
organisations as well as private owners. Local Authorities have
an important role to play too. DCMS provides in excess of £600
million a year to support the nation's heritage.
INTRODUCTION
1. This memorandum has been submitted by
the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It includes inputs
from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) who share
policy responsibility for the historic environment, as well as
the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
It aims to provide the Committee with general background to inform
its inquiry into Protecting, Preserving and Making Accessible
our Nation's Heritage. The note also includes information on the
specific points highlighted by the Committee as issues it wishes
to address.
DEFINITIONS
1.1 Heritage is a word that means different
things to different people. The Heritage Lottery Fund has the
widest understanding of "heritage" which for them includes
buildings, museums, natural heritage, archaeology and the heritage
of cultural traditions and language. For the purposes of this
memorandum, we will also refer to the historic environment which
embraces all the formally designated historic assets (listed buildings,
scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens and so on, as
defined in Heritage Counts (www.english-heritage.org.uk/heritagecounts.org.uk).
This is the remit of English Heritage. We will also refer separately
to archives, museums and galleries.
BACKGROUND
1.2 In December 2001, the Government published
its policy statement on the historic environment "A Force
for Our Future"". This set out an ambitious vision to
unlock the full potential of the historic environment. A wide-ranging
programme of reform is underway, including the modernisation of
English Heritage, the Heritage Protection Review and Engaging
Places, a DCMS/DFES programmes to develop built environment education.
Also since 2001, there has been free admission to our sponsored
museums and galleries which has led to a 75% increase in visitors.
We have also launched Renaissance in the Regions a programme for
regional museums to enable them to realise their potential as
centres of learning and creativity for their communities. The
Secretary of State's essay Better Places to Live also addressed
some of the issues raised by the Committee. These were debated
further at a conference Capturing the Public Value of Heritage
on 25/6 January 2006.
Issue One: What the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport should identify as priorities in the forthcoming Heritage
White Paper
BACKGROUND
2.1 The heritage protection system is often
difficult to use and understand. With this in mind in 2003 the
Government published a consultation Protecting our historic environment:
making the system work better which set out a series of broad
proposals for improving the system. The response to the consultation
was published in June 2004 (Review of heritage protection: the
way forward). This set out a package of fundamental reforms of
the heritage protection system in England.
PROPOSALS
2.2 The Government's proposals for heritage
protection reform aim to create a new system that is simple, open
and flexible, enabling historic assets to be better understood
and managed while still enjoying appropriate protection. The reforms
are grouped around three priority areas: designation, management
and regulation.
KEY REFORMS—DESIGNATION
2.3 There will be a new unified Register
of Historic Sites and Buildings of England, (the Register). This
will bring together the systems of listing buildings, scheduling
archaeology and registering parks, gardens and battlefields, all
of which are currently governed by different pieces of legislation,
into a single system. Currently, some historic assets are both
listed and scheduled. This dual designation will be removed. The
new Register will provide comprehensive information about why
a historic asset has been designated. This information will be
important for owners of historic sites, and will help inform decisions
about future protection and management.
2.4 The introduction of the Register will
be linked to other improvements to the designation system. To
simplify the system, responsibility for designating historic assets
will be transferred from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media
and Sport to English Heritage, with new appeal and call-in procedures.
The grading system will be simplified. The designation process
will be made more open, with new notification and consultation
with owners, linked to new interim protection measures to protect
historic assets while they are being considered for designation.
At the same time, the criteria used for designation will be revised
and clarified to improve understanding of why a site is suitable
for designation. Owners of historic assets will be provided with
information about the assets in their care and the responsibilities
of owning a designated property.
2.5 To simplify and streamline the system
further, consideration is also being given to the issue of "spot-listing"—last-minute
applications to list buildings—which is perceived by many
as a process that can hold up existing plans for development and
regeneration.
KEY REFORMS—MANAGEMENT
2.6 A new management option will be introduced
for extensive or complex historic sites. This new option, called
a Heritage Partnership Agreement, will enable owners and local
authorities to take a more proactive approach to the management
of a site over the longer-term. Minor works that would otherwise
each require a separate consent application can be pre-agreed,
and the principles that would underpin any major works discussed.
The introduction of these Agreements should also reduce the burden
of individual consents for owners and authorities alike, provide
enhanced certainty and clarity about the development of a site
and develop a better sense of partnership between owners, managers,
local authorities and heritage bodies..
KEY REFORMS—CONSENTS
2.7 Current heritage consent regimes can
create confusion for the owners of historic assets, who may have
to apply for a number of separate consents when carrying out relatively
minor works. The proposed reforms will implement a new unified
heritage consent regime that will bring together the currently
separate systems of Listed Building Consent and Scheduled Monument
Consent. This new streamlined consent will be delivered by local
authorities, with input from English Heritage as appropriate.
It will bring greater clarity and efficiency to the consent process
while enabling the appropriate management of different types of
asset, maintaining the distinction between archaeology, useable
buildings and landscapes, but be administered by one organisation
on a single application form.
2.8 In addition to this revised consent
regime, the Government is also reviewing the Ancient Monuments
(Class Consents) Order 1994 in order to improve the protection
of nationally important archaeological sites from the damaging
effects of ploughing.
PROGRESS
2.9 A number of the Government's proposed
reforms are already underway. In April 2005, English Heritage
took over the administration of the current listed building system
from DCMS. A public consultation on the criteria used when deciding
whether a building should be listed is currently underway.
2.10 At the same time, English Heritage
has been running a number of pilot projects to develop and test
the Governments key reform proposals. Evaluation of the pilot
projects is currently being carried out and is due to report in
March 2006. Initial results suggest that the proposed reforms
have the potential to deliver a system that is simpler, more open
and more flexible. Research has also been undertaken to assess
the capability of local authorities to deliver the reforms.
2.11 DCMS is liaising with Cadw in the Welsh
Assembly Government, who are considering the adoption of the proposals
into the Welsh heritage protection system. Historic Scotland and
Department of Environment Northern Ireland are conducting their
own reviews and are being kept informed of progress with the process
in England.
2.12 DCMS will publish its detailed proposals
for reform of the system in 2006.
Issue Two: The remit and effectiveness of DCMS,
English Heritage and other relevant organisations in representing
Heritage intersts inside and outside Government
3.1 Within Government, the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport shares policy responsibility for the
historic environment with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster.
We also work closely with the Department of the Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs with a view to ensuring an integrated approach
to the natural and historic environment. This relationship manifests
itself in a range of practical ways. The three Departments are
working in close partnership on the Heritage Protection Review.
In addition, all three Departments are co-signatories to the English
Heritage Funding Agreement, in recognition of the contribution
EH make to the delivery of the objectives of the three Departments.
A number of Defra programmes and policies have delivered direct
benefits for heritage. For example, in the past five years, with
support from English Heritage, the agri-environment schemes have
contributed over £100 million on maintaining, protecting
and restoring historic features under the England Rural Development
Programme. The new Environmental Stewardship Scheme launched last
year will take Defra's investment on heritage even further. Under
Environmental Stewardship not only will farmers be able to receive
grants as incentives to change farming practices to safeguard
and manage environmental features, but they will also now be rewarded
for undertaking environmental practices including requirements
to protect scheduled monuments, stone walls and other environmental
features.
3.2 In addition, we work closely with the
Department for Education and Skills on specific education initiatives.
See issue four.
ENGLISH HERITAGE
3.3 English Heritage is the Government's
statutory adviser on the historic environment. As well as its
advisory role, its provides expert advice and guidance to Government
Departments on policies which will have an impact on the historic
environment. It provides grants to third parties, some in partnership
with other funding bodies such as the HLF. It also manages over
400 historic sites, the majority on behalf of the Secretary of
State. It receives some £130 million from the DCMS which
is about 75% of its total income. The remainder is self generated
through activities such as ts membership scheme and private investments.
Other relevant publicly funded heritage organisations
are:
Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)
3.4 The Museums, Libraries and Archives
Council (MLA) is the national development agency working for and
on behalf of museums, libraries and archives and advising government
on policy and priorities for the sector. MLA's roles are to provide
strategic leadership, to act as a powerful advocate, to develop
capacity and to promote innovation and change.
3.5 Museums, libraries and archives connect
people to knowledge and information, creativity and inspiration.
MLA is leading the drive to unlock this wealth, for everyone.
MLA receives funding of over £14 million from DCMS
Renaissance in the Regions
3.6 The Renaissance in the Regions programme
is a government-funded programme administered by the Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) to raise standards in regional
museums. It is a national programme set up in response to previous
under-funding and underachievement for museums in the regions.
It aims to unlock their potential principally through groups of
key museums (Hubs) that work together for the benefit of visitors
in ways that they could never do alone. The vision is to bring
about real benefits for visitors, supporting their cultural, social
and learning needs, through the long term transformation of museum
services across England. The Regional Hubs will receive over £100
million between 2005 and 2008.
The Nationals Museums and Galleries
3.7 There are over 3,000 museums and galleries
in England. DCMS directly sponsors 22 museums. Collectively these
museums and galleries are the keepers and conservators of the
nation's art and heritage. They receive over £400 million
from the DCMS.
3.8 The main responsibilities of national
museums and galleries are to:
— Care for, preserve and add to the
collections.
— Secure that the collections are exhibited
to the public.
— Secure that the collections are available
to persons seeking them for study or research.
— Promote the public's enjoyment and
understanding of art, history and science by means of the collections
and such other means as they consider appropriate.
3.9 The museums and galleries' collections
cover a wide range of areas including:
— Art and antiquities from ancient
and living cultures.
— Fine Art, 20th Century and Contemporary
Art, British Art and portraiture.
— British Maritime History.
— Twentieth and twenty-first century
conflict involving Britain and the Commonwealth.
— Industrial heritage, science and
technology.
— Art and Design including ceramics,
fashion, furniture, glass, metalwork, paintings, photographs,
prints, sculpture, and textiles.
The Churches Conservation Trust (CCT)
3.10 The Churches Conservation Trust was
established in 1969 under ecclesiastical legislation to preserve
Anglican churches of outstanding heritage importance, no longer
required for regular worship. Over 330 churches are vested in
the Trust and about 3-4 new ones are vested each year. DCMS provides
70% of the Trust's statutory funding, currently £3 million
per year. The remainder of the Trust's statutory funding is from
the Church Commissioners.
The Royal Parks
3.11 The Royal Parks is an Executive Agency
of DCMS. The Royal Parks comprise St James's Park, The Green Park,
Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and The Regent's Park (with Primrose
Hill) in Central London; Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and Bushy
Park. They cover an area of 5000 acres (2,000 hectares) and contain
280 buildings, statues and memorials (many of which are listed);
49 miles of boundary walls and fencing; 100 miles of roads, footpaths
and cycle tracks; 21 lakes and ponds and a 13-mile river; as well
as gates, railings, gas and electric lighting, fountains and riverbanks.
It currently receives £26.2 million in funding from the Department.
Last year its self generated income (excluding grants) was £6.6
million.
Others
3.12 There are a number of other smaller
organisations which receive funding to care and maintain aspect
of our heritage. These include the Greenwich Foundation for the
Old Royal Naval College, The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust,
Somerset House Trust and the Occupied Royal Palaces.
Historic Royal Palaces
3.13 Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) was established
by Royal Charter as an independent charity in 1998 and is contracted
by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to manage
the unoccupied Royal Palaces on her behalf; the Palaces are owned
by The Queen on behalf of the nation. HRP is responsible for the
care, conservation, and presentation to the public of the Tower
of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace State and other
apartments plus the Orangery, the Banqueting House at Whitehall
and Kew Palace with Queen Charlotte's cottage. HRP is a Public
Corporation and receives no public revenue funding—all costs
are met by self-generated income.
Other key players in the heritage sector are:
The National Heritage Memorial Fund/Heritage Lottery
Fund
3.22 The National Heritage Memorial Fund
was set up in 1980 to save the best of our national heritage as
a lasting memorial to those who gave their lives for the UK in
the armed conflict. Since 1980, the Fund has spent £220 million
on more than 1,200 acquisitions. It is an endowment fund which
is supplemented annually by grant in aid which is currently set
at £5 million a year but will rise to £10 million in
2007-08.
3.23 The Heritage Lottery Fund was established
in 1994, under the auspices of the National Heritage Memorial
Fund to be the distributor of lottery funding for heritage. Since
then it has awarded over £3.3 billion to over 16,000 projects.
Heritage Link
3.24 Heritage Link was set up in 2002 to
give the many and diverse independent heritage organisations in
England a collective voice. It has 80 members ranging from the
National Trust through the statutory amenity societies to the
smaller heritage interest. Like Heritage Lottery Fund it membership
reflect heritage in its widest sense. Heritage Link itself and
many of its members organisations receive funding from English
Heritage.
Local Authorities
3.25 Local authorities play a fundamental
role in caring for, and managing change in, England's historic
environment. Through operation of the planning system, the provision
of advice, guidance and grant aid to property owners and managers,
and the maintenance of records, they are responsible for administration
relating to 95% of England's historic environment, including assets
in their own portfolios.
Issue three: the balance between Heritage and
development needs in planning policy
PLANNING POLICIES
AND PLANS
4.1 The Planning and Compulsory Purchase
Act 2004 introduced a new framework in which the planning system,
which operates controls over both development and the historic
environment, is delivered. It introduced a statutory purpose for
planning—that of the achievement of sustainable development.
The introduction of Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) and Regional
Spatial Strategies (RSSs) has facilitated a more responsive system
better able to develop the necessary policies and programmes to
effectively balance the needs of the historic environment and
the development needs of the local community.
4.2 The historic environment makes a vital
contribution in enabling the planning system to achieve its statutory
objective. It plays a key role in delivering sustainable development
by promoting economic prosperity, environmental protection and
enhancement, as well as social inclusion and community cohesion.
The planning system provides the mechanism which ensures that
the historic environment is preserved appropriately, as well as
enabling historic buildings and other elements of the historic
environment to play a productive part in regeneration. Planning
Policy Guidance Note 15 (PPG15) Planning and the Historic Environment
provides a full statement of Government policies for the protection
and use of the historic environment. It makes clear that the historic
environment is a valuable material resource that should be covered
by an effective system of protection, but that this should not
prevent appropriate economic use of assets, whether alone or as
part of a regeneration scheme.
4.3 In any region there is a wealth of archaeological
and built heritage which may range from local to even international
significance, such as World Heritage Sites. Those assets of sub-regional
importance and above should be considered as part of an overview
of environmental constraints and opportunities for improvement
of the region. RSSs should preserve and enhance those assets of
regional or sub-regional importance and consider whether there
is a regional planning dimension to managing their potential,
for example, for tourism. In doing so regional planning bodies
(RPBs) should have regard to PPG15 and Planning Policy Guidance
Note 16 (PPG16) Archaeology and Planning. RPBs should also
consider whether there are appropriate opportunities to be taken
forward in development plans, in conjunction with the Regional
Development Agencies' economic strategies, for the sensitive exploitation
of the built heritage to assist in sub-regional regeneration.
4.4 However, the main instance in which
the historic environment will be considered is at the local level.
LDFs comprise a folder of documents for delivering the spatial
strategy for the area. This will include a core strategy, site
specific policies, and detailed area action plans. The LDF documents
should set out clear policies for the preservation and enhancement
of the historic environment, in general conformity with the RSS.
They should contain policies regarding the preservation of the
historic environment, as well as identifying opportunities for
the historic environment to act as a driver for regeneration.
Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) Delivering Sustainable Development
makes clear that "development plan policies should take account
of environmental issues such as the preservation and enhancement
of built and archaeological heritage". Through this process,
local authorities are able to come to an appropriate balance between
the development needs of the area, and the preservation needs
of the local historic environment.
4.5 One of the key aims of the new system
is that of greater community involvement, in order to ensure "ownership"
of the local plan and that all groups are able to participate
in the planning process. Statements of Community Involvement set
out the standards to be achieved by the local authority in involving
the community in the preparation, alteration and continuing review
of all local development documents and planning applications.
The statement should be a clear public statement enabling the
community to know how and when they will be involved in the preparation
of local development documents and how they will be consulted
on planning applications.
4.6 Local planning authorities should involve
the community at an early stage in the preparation of local development
documents. This is essential to achieve local ownership and legitimacy
for the policies that will shape the future distribution of land
uses and development in an authority's area. It also allows the
opportunity for the local community to discuss particular aspects
of plans, such as policies on the historic environment, and to
ensure appropriate account is taken of these in wider policies.
PROTECTION OF
THE HISTORIC
ENVIRONMENT
4.7 There are several controls over the
historic environment. The planning system includes planning permission,
listed building consent and conservation area consent. The listing
of a building, or the designation of a conservation area, is a
marker of significance and indicates that special consideration
needs to be given to the future of that building or area because
of its special nature—hence the additional controls. These
additional controls are the mechanism that enables authorities
to balance local development needs but at the same time consider
the impact on the historic environment in an appropriate manner.
It is not intended that the additional controls indicate that
an historic asset should be "frozen in time".
4.8 In addition to paragraph 4.7, local
authorities must also take into account all material considerations
when deciding a planning application. So an historic designation,
such as "World Heritage Site", would need to be taken
into account in deciding whether to grant permission. In the case
of listed buildings, a local authority must have regard to whether
a planning application would affect the building or its setting.
4.9 There can be a particular tension when
considering the balance between heritage and development needs
in relation to the countryside, rural communities and farming.
Flexibility, as well as sensitivity, is needed in considering
the future use of some isolated listed farm and other buildings.
Issue Four: Access to Heritage and the Position
of Heritage as a Cultural Asset in the Community
5.1 The DCMS Strategic Priority 2 is to:
— Increase and broaden the impact of
culture and sport, to enrich individual lives, strengthen communities
and improve the places where peoples live, now and for future
generations.
5.2 Access to Culture, including heritage
is thus a Departmental priority. This is reflected in our PSA
targets. These include the following:
— By 2008, increase the take up of
cultural and sporting opportunities by adults and young people
aged 16 an above from priority groups by:
— Increasing the number accessing museums
and galleries collections by 2%.
— Increasing the number visiting designated
Historic Environment sites by 3%.
5.3 In order to better understand current
levels of participation in culture, DCMS has commissioned the
Taking Part survey. This is a continuous national household survey.
Provisional results are available for the first three months of
the survey. These show that during the past 12 months:
— 70% of all adults attended a designated
historic site and 43% of all adults attended a museum/gallery
at least once;
— 45% of adults from black and minority
ethnic groups, 57% of adults with a limiting disability and 58%
adults from lower socio-economic groups (C2, D, Es) made at least
one visit to a historic site; and
— 34% of adults from black and minority
ethnic groups, 32% of adults with a limiting disability and 31%
of adults from lower socio-economic groups (C2, D, and Es) made
at least one visit to a museum or gallery.
FREE ACCESS
TO NATIONAL
MUSEUMS
5.4 The introduction of free admission to
the DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries in 2001 has been a huge
success:
— Three years since the introduction
of full free admission visits are up by 76% (six million) at the
former charging DCMS national museums and galleries.
— Visits to those nationals that remained
free were up by 9% over the same period (nearly two million)
— There were 8.9 million child visits
to the DCMS national museums and galleries in 2004-05, the highest
on record. Of these, an estimated 2.4 million were in organised
education sessions either onsite on in outreach programmes.
— Child visits are 90% higher than
in 1998-99, the last year before free admission for children was
introduced on 1 April 1999.
— There has been a 27% increase in
visits by C2DE's on the 2002-03 baseline (6,820,939 in 2004-05).
— Six of our sponsored museums are
among the top 10 most popular tourist attractions in the UK.
PROMOTING GREATER
ACCESS
5.5 The policy of introducing free admission
to national museums was just a first step to ensuring greater
access to museums and galleries more generally. We are now looking
to further increase participation by (adults) from priority groups
for museums and galleries in England as a whole.
5.6 In parallel, the Museums, Libraries
and Archives Council has sought to achieve through the Regional
Renaissance programme greater diversity among the visitors to
regional hub museums in each of the nine regions of England and
to increase visitors from priority groups.
— In 2004-05 of Renaissance there were
1,853,696 new visitors of whom 804,504 were from social class
C2, D, E and from Black and Ethnic Minorities.
— DCMS also operates regional strategic
commissioning under which sponsored museums and regional museums
enter into partnerships to deliver specific projects aimed either
at improving education or broadening access. This programme is
operated jointly with DfES.
BROADENING ACCESS
TO THE
HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT
5.7 The original DCMS PSA target was to
"Attract a total of 100,000 visits by new users from minority
and socially deprived groups to the historic environment by 2005-06"
English Heritage were responsible for the delivery of this target.
By 2005, they had succeeded in attracting 323,478 new visitors
to the historic environment from priority groups. English Heritage
achieved this through events, outreach activities and the partnership
with Heritage Open days.
5.8 The current PSA target is being delivered
on a sector wide basis. Some 25 projects and programmes have been
identified which will aid in the increased participation by priority
groups. These include the following:
— English Heritage (EH) will deliver
a minimum of 40 community projects engaging 30,000 people across
the country, in partnership with local agencies.
— The National Trust's Untold Story
project is a three-year pilot that explores ways of using the
performing and creative arts to involve youth and community groups
with built and natural heritage. The Untold Story project has
been running since 2003 and so far has involved 15 National Trust
properties, with a further three taking part before the end of
the project in February 2006.
— Historic Houses Association (HHA)
is to implement a pilot project in partnership with the Black
Environment Network (BEN) to increase dialogue and engagement
with the BME communities of Leicester. If successful, the model
will be applied to projects in other regions.
— The Churches Conservation Trust aims
to develop several projects, which include an exhibition for Black
History Month 2006 and a project in Bolton to engage participation
from the local Asian community.
HERITAGE OPEN
DAYS AND
LONDON OPEN
HOUSE
5.9 Heritage Open Days and London Open House
allow the public to make free visits to buildings of architectural
interest (historic and contemporary), that are either not normally
open to the public, or charge an entrance fee. In 2005 over 800,000
people visited over 2,400 properties open to the public by over
26,000 volunteers. Heritage Open Days and London Open House are
part of the European Heritage Open Days programme and together
are England's most popular cultural event.
5.10 The Royal Parks also play an important
role is reaching out and linking to communities. The Royal Parks
are more than simply areas of historical interest, they are important
historic landscapes that provide iconic settings for a range of
special buildings—Buckingham Palace, the Nash Terraces,
The Royal Observatory, Admiralty Arch. They also contribute positively
to national and local life in a wide variety of other ways, as
follows:
— they provide the setting at the heart
of national ceremonial and celebration—The Mall, Horseguards
Parade;
— they include nationally important
wildlife habitats (Richmond Park SSSI and National Nature Reserve,
falcons and herons nesting in Regent's Park);
— they provide essential recreation
and sport facilities (Regent's Park is the largest open air sports
facility in central London);
— they encourage participation of local
communities through active volunteering programmes—Bushy
Park restoration project;
— they contribute to the education
of both adults and children through courses linked to the National
Curriculum and through Continuous Professional Development courses;
— they are actively involved in facilities
for disabled people of all ages through, eg, Cycling for the Disabled,
the Holly Lodge Centre in Richmond Park; and
— they are an active partner with other
organisations in raising the profile of historic parks and gardens
and providing training schemes for apprentices in the heritage
horticulture and landscape industries.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
EDUCATION
5.11 In September 2003 DCMS and DfES set
up the Joint Advisory Committee on Built Environment Education
(JACBEE) to explore ways to promote and develop the educational
potential of the contemporary and historic built environment.
The JACBEE committee, chaired by Gillian Wolfe, Head of Education
at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, was made up of experts from a
wide range of cultural organisations with interests in heritage
and the built environment.
5.13 DCMS's long term goal in setting up
JACBEE was to bring the sector together to think of ways of empowering
current and future generations to become more confident and aware
of their roles and responsibilities as citizens and consumers
of heritage, buildings and public space.
5.14 In September 2004 the JACBEE committee
reported to Ministers their conclusions. JACBEE argued that the
poor level of cultural engagement from schools and communities
with the historic and contemporary built environment was due to
the built environment sector lacking a joined up, holistic strategy
to learning and public engagement.
5.15 To help DCMS and DfES address this
problem JACBEE offered a package of recommendations to join up
the wide range of providers and to develop a common approach to
learning. The principal recommendation was for CABE and English
Heritage to collaborate with the wider sector to create a One
Stop Shop for Built Environment Education that will provide tools,
resources and support for schools to engage with the fabric of
their local communities.
ENGAGING PLACES
5.16 It has now been agreed that to take
forward the one Stop Shop concept thought an exciting new project
called Engaging Places. Its aim is to unlock the educational
potential of the historic and contemporary built environment.
Supported by a partnership between English Heritage and CABE,
Engaging Places will seek to address the issues that the Joint
DCMS/DfES Advisory Committee on Built Environment Education identified
as hindering wider public engagement on issues concerning heritage
and the built environment.
5.17 Taking a holistic view of the built
environment Engaging Places will enable built environment cultural
organisations develop a strategic learner-led approach to public
engagement. DCMS is confident that Engaging Places will be a valuable
tool to help the Architecture and Historic Environment sector
increase the number and diversity of people who actively engage,
support and contribute to the built environment.
5.18 September 2006 will see the start of
Phase 1 of Engaging Places. Phase 1 will be a pilot project in
three regions (London, the SE and Yorkshire and the Humber) and
will aim to streamline the supply of built environment learning
resources to intelligently meet the demands of teachers and schools.
As well as creating the start of a holistic network for cultural
organisations with an interest in the built environment, Engaging
Places will also begin to advocate the benefits of wider public
participation with buildings and space.
5.19 Phase 1 will conclude in July 2007,
and a report will go to DCMS and DfES ministers with recommendations
and strategy on the future of built environment education.
MUSEUM AND
GALLERY EDUCATION
5.20 Museums and galleries across the country
provide a vital resource for education and learning from cradle
to grave. Working in partnership with the sector, and with local
government, DfES, MLA and others, DCMS invests strategically to
help unlock the full learning potential of museums. Our primary
goal is to enable museums to enhance and enrich the school curriculum
for children between the ages of five and 16, and in doing so
to inculcate a lifelong appreciation of culture, science and the
humanities among young people. The collections of our museums
are also increasingly used to support the teaching of citizenship
and to address questions of personal, national and cultural identity
and heritage. The wealth of knowledge in our museums and galleries
also supports family learning, further and higher education and
our national museums lead the world in research in many scientific
and cultural disciplines.
Issue Five: Funding, with Particular Referenfe
to the Adequacy of the Budget for English Heritage and for Museums
and Galleries, the Impact of London 2010 Olypmics on Lottery Funding
for Heritage Projects, and Forthcoming Decisions on the Sharing
of Funds from Lottery Sources Between Good Causes
6.1 DCMS provides in excess of £600
million a year to support the heritage.
MUSEUMS AND
GALLERIES
6.2 Over the five years from 2000-01 to
2004-05 over £1.3 billion was allocated to DCMS sponsored
museums and galleries sponsored by DCMS. Within that £1.3
billion we provided around £140 million provision in compensation,
which enabled our museums to allow free admission.
6.3 As a result of the 2004 Spending Review,
DCMS resource funding for the sponsored museums and galleries
will rise by 1.7% in real terms from £384.9 million in 2004-05
to £423.4 million in 2007-08. This above-inflation rise will
guarantee that our museums and galleries continue to offer free
admission for the next three years.
6.4 Capital funding will rise by 142.6%
in real terms over the same period, from £15.1 million in
2004-05 to £39.7 million in 2007-08. This substantial increase
in capital funding will help ensure that museum buildings are
in good shape to welcome the increase in visits brought about
by free admission.
FUNDING TO
ENGLISH HERITAGE
6.5 English Heritage did not receive an
inflation-based uplift between 2002-05. This was because it was
undergoing a radical modernisation programme, following a Quinquennial
Review. The expectation was that this would result in savings
which could be re-invested into front line activity. It also received
£3.1 million from DCMS to help with costs of the modernisation
programme.
6.6 For the period 2005-08, English Heritage
received an extra £16 million, bringing its grant in aid
to almost £130 million a year. This includes £12 million
for capital investment in its property portfolio. In addition,
English Heritage receives funding from ODPM and Defra on a project
basis. This has included:
— £13 million from Defra's Aggregates
Levy Sustainability Fund over the past three years (2002-03, 2003-04,
2004-05); and
— £100,000 from ODPM towards costs
of its local authority capacity building project.
6.7 All publicly funded bodies have been
tasked with achieving efficiencies. As the sectors can re-cycle
their efficiency savings into better performance and delivery
the scope for new spending can be as high as 9.5% for Museums
and galleries. Similarly, English Heritage has identified up to
£28 million of efficiencies. This will be invested in front
line services and enable English Heritage to absorb the effect
of inflation over this period.
LOTTERY FUNDING
6.8 The national heritage was one of the
five good causes named in the National Lottery etc Act 1993 and
has received an income stream since the Lottery began to operate
in autumn 1994. Under the 1993 Act, the National Heritage Memorial
Fund (NHMF) became the sole, UK-wide distributing body for money
raised by the Lottery for the heritage good cause. Known as the
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), it remains the sole distributor today.
6.9 The UK National Lottery has outstripped
all early expectations and is one of the most successful national
lotteries in the world. By the end of September 2005, the Lottery
had raised a total of £3,223 million (including investment
earnings) for the heritage good cause. By the same date, HLF had
made 12,706 Lottery awards with a total value of £3,323 million.
These awards had generated partnership funding of an additional
£2,608 million, in other words an extra 78% over and above
the amount awarded by HLF.
6.10 At present, the HLF receives one-sixth
of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery operator,
together with a share of the investment earnings on the balance
held on behalf of all distributing bodies in the NLDF. On current
projections, HLF's income from the Lottery is likely to be approximately
£260 million in the current financial year (2005-06), and
between about £220 million and £225 million in each
of the following three financial years (2006-07 to 2008-09 inclusive).
6.11 These figures take into account sales
diversion to the new Olympic Lottery games, whose sales are projected
to pick up significantly from 2006-07 onwards. The figures also
assume that the provision in the National Lottery Bill, currently
before Parliament, to change the way in which investment earnings
on NLDF balance are shared between distributing bodies, takes
effect from beginning of 2006/07.
6.12 In the four financial years from 2009-10
to 2012-13, the Government has indicated that it is willing to
divert up to £410 million, if needed, from the proceeds of
non-Olympic Lottery games to the public funding package for staging
the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012. This should,
however, be seen in the context of likely income for Lottery good
causes totalling between £5.5 billion and £6 billion
during those four years.
6.13 The share of that diversion which the
heritage good cause will bear cannot be forecast yet because the
Government's guarantee to maintain at least the one-sixth shares
of Lottery proceeds which go to each of the heritage, arts, sport
and charitable good causes expires in early 2009. Last year, however,
the Secretary of State at DCMS announced that the existing Lottery
good causes, including the heritage, would continue after the
expiry of that guarantee, and that no other good causes would
be set up. The DCMS launched a public consultation exercise on
25 November on how Lottery funding should be divided between the
heritage, the arts and sport and what the priorities for Lottery
expenditure in those three sectors should be. The consultation
closes at the end of February.
6.14 Moreover, the success of the London
Olympic bid need not be seen as a threat to the national heritage
or to the other established Lottery good causes. Interest in British
culture and our national heritage will be stimulated by the four-year
Cultural Olympiad from 2008 to 2012 and by a range of celebrations
in 2012. Hosting the games will focus attention on Britain and
enable us to showcase the best of that culture and heritage.
Issue Six: what the roles and responsibilties
should be for English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery fund, local
authorities, museums and galleries, charitable and non-governmental
organisations in maintaining the nation's heritage
7.1 The nation's heritage is in the care
of a wide range of organisations and private individuals. For
example, over 2/3 of the built heritage is in private ownership.
Other key players are the National Trust, Local Authorities, English
Heritage, Government Departments who between them own several
thousand historic assets, as well as small independent trusts
and community groups.
7.2 In terms of formal responsibilities,
museums and galleries are managed by a wide variety of organisations—local
authorities (direct provision and/or support to "independent"
museums; museums are a non-statutory service), universities, hospitals,
charitable trusts, through other NDPBs (English Heritage runs
a number of sites as both "historic buildings" and registered
museums) or as NDPBs in their own right (the national museums),
and their specific roles will stem in part from this.
7.3 The heritage industry is heavily dependent
on the contribution made by its volunteers. England has at least
107 national voluntary bodies and umbrella groups devoted to some
aspect of the historic environment. There are over 150,000 heritage
volunteers, contributing unpaid work worth at least £25 million
a year. They are responsible for opening historic sites to the
public, providing education, and preserving our heritage. Volunteers
are active in the work of both national and local heritage societies
and contribute to the process of historic building restoration
through building preservation trusts. It essential that these
volunteers who make such an important contribution to the care
and presentation of our heritage have a voice. Heritage Link has
emerged as an effective umbrella organization for the voluntary
and community sector.
7.4 Given this, there is a need for clearly
defined roles and responsibilities and strong partnership between
the players. English Heritage is at the heart of all these relationships
and it is right that it should be the lead body for the historic
environment sector.
Issue Seven: whether there is an adequate supply
of professionals with conservation skills; the priority placed
by planning authorities on conservation; and means of making conservation
experties more accessible to planning offices, councillors and
the general public.
THE DEFICIT
IN HERITAGE
CRAFT SKILLS
8.1 There is a short of heritage craftsmen
and women. In June 2005 the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG)
published a comprehensive skills needs analysis of the built heritage
sector, with support from English Heritage. This illustrated the
scale and nature of skills shortages in the sector, and for the
first time identified variations across the English regions. It
showed that:
— 86,000 people currently work in the
built heritage sector;
— 5 million pre-1919 buildings, including
0.5 million listed buildings, require the skills of traditional
building crafts people;
— £3.5 billion was spent in the
last 12 months on conservation and restoration of historic buildings;
— the industry needs to recruit an
additional 6,500 people in the next 12 months to meet immediate
demand—including over 500 specialist bricklayers, carpenters
and slate and tile roofers; 400 joiners, lead workers and stonemasons;
and 300 painters and decorators and thatchers;
— most owners are reactive in their
approach to repair and maintenance; and
— demand generated by the domestic
market is far larger than that generated by the public/commercial
market, but domestic owners are less likely to see the need to
employ heritage specialists to do the job.
CURRENT ACTION
TO REDUCE
SKILLS SHORTAGES
8.2 Key aspects from NHTG Skills Action
Plan which are being tackled by English Heritage and others include:
— participating in GCSE Construction
and the Built Environment pilot and providing support material
on the built heritage and thus increasing awareness of this sector;
— re-vamping the Careers in Building
Conservation and Restoration brochure and electronic information
to be launched at an information event in February 2006 to recruit
young people and career changers to the sector;
— a Training the Trainers scheme is
underway to improve knowledge and skills of FE college tutors
to improve current poor up-take of NVQ Level 3 Conservation Units
and establishing a mechanism for grant support for tutors and
students (expected to result in a 20% increase in up-take by 2007);
— regional seminars to create regional
ownership and unlock regional funding for skills development between
RDA's, LSC's, cultural consortia, historic environment fora and
contractors, completed by January 2006; and
— establishing a nation-wide system
accredited register of historic building contractors as for the
electrical and gas sectors.
8.3 In January 2006 the HLF announced the
beneficiaries of its £7 million initiative to create training
bursaries in a diverse range of traditional skills. In total these
awards will deliver over 400 apprenticeships.
These include:
— £900,000 to fund a partnership
between English Heritage and the National Trust that will create
80 placements within the traditional craft and built heritage
sector across England and Wales.
— £1 million to enable the Institute
of Conservation to offer 60 bursary placements in the conservation
of objects and collections—from books and textiles to metalwork
and architectural details.
— £730,000 to enable the Institute
of Field Archaeologists to offer 32 archaeology placements across
the UK.
— £721,000 to fund a partnership
of 17 heritage organisations led by English Heritage to offer
placements that develop conservation skills for historic parks,
gardens, designed landscapes and their plant collections.
— £714,500 to The Broads Authority
to provide training in the Norfolk area for reed and sedge cutting
and millwrighting heritage industries.
— £180,500 to The Guild of Cornish
Hedgers enabling 30 apprentices to be trained on a one to one
basis with a skilled Cornish hedger.
— £1 million to help Historic
Scotland offer masonry conservation skills to 154 people in Scotland
and Northern Ireland.
— £677,500 to enable BTCV to run
the Natural Talent Training Bursary Scheme for 20 apprentices
in Scotland and Northern Ireland
— £360,500 to enable Hampshire
County Council to provide16 engineering training work placements
in transport heritage disciplines.
— £704,000 to help 36 trainees
learn about natural heritage conservation skills across the rural,
urban and costal environments of Herefordshire, Sheffield and
Devon.
8.4 HLF's bursaries are intended to counter
the shortage of accredited apprenticeships in heritage skills
and the diminishing numbers of experienced crafts people to train
others. They also seek to address problems the sector has in accessing
statutory funding, which is only available for work based learning
through accredited apprenticeships and is prioritised for the
under-25s and for basic training. In contrast, many crafts people
enter their profession mid-career and need specialist training.
CREATIVE AND
CULTURAL SKILLS
(CCS)
8.5 CCS was licensed as a Sector Skills
Council (SSC) in July 2005. Sectors covered include: advertising;
crafts; cultural heritage (including museums and archaeology);
design; music; performing, visual and literary arts; and, just
recently, publishing (jointly with Skillset—the SSC for
audiovisual, broadcasting and communications). CCS is part of
the Skills for Business network of 25 SSCs, including CITB-Construction
Skills and Lantra (Environment and land-based industries). All
the SSCs co-operate with each other wherever there are overlapping
skills interests.
8.6 On 9 January CCS announced its priorities
for 2006. These include Creative Apprenticeships; Management and
Leadership; and a Creative Knowledge Lab. CCS is leading the development
of Creative Apprenticeships in partnership with employers, DCMS,
DfES and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Development funding
has been secured from the Sector Skills Development Agency and
the LSC. It is hoped the first cohort of Creative Apprenticeships
will take up their places in September 2007, with national rollout
across CCS's sectors by 2010. This will dovetail with the completion
of the first Young Apprenticeships (16-18) in the cultural sector.
8.7 CCS is developing, together with Arts
Council England, DCMS, MLA (Museums Libraries and Archives Council),
and the Clore Leadership Programme, a £12 million Cultural
Leadership Programme. The funding announced in the 2005 Budget
is over two years and the full programme is expected to be launched
in March 2006. The focus will be supporting middle managers and
ensuring a more diverse workforce than at present. The programme
will benefit primarily the core cultural sector: crafts; libraries
and archives; museums and galleries; music; and performing, literary
and visual arts.
8.8 The Creative Knowledge Lab being developed
by CCS will enable it to establish itself as the leading authority
on skills and workforce development issues in the creative and
cultural sectors across the UK. CCS has appointed consultants
to help it provide the robust quantitative baseline data that
employers will need to make informed decisions about skills investment
in future. There will also be comprehensive qualitative research
into artistic and employers' skills needs and it is planned to
have an online and telephone advice service up and running by
March 2006.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
8.9 Heritage Counts 2003 identified that
local authorities were not giving sufficient priority to the heritage
in their care, both in terms of financial and human resources.
To raise the profile of heritage at local level, DCMS, ODPM and
English Heritage have encouraged Local Authorities to appoint
member-level Heritage Champions. With funding and support from
ODPM and DCMS, English Heritage is supporting the Local Authority
Heritage Champions with training. The Historic Environment Local
Management programme provides tailored information, training opportunities,
case studies and guidance to help those involved in making policy
and operational decisions about the historic environment. Further
details can be found on the HELM website.
8.10 DCMS, ODPM and Defra are working with
a wide range of partners in local government and in the historic,
built and natural environment sectors to look at local stewardship
on the historic environment including the skills needs, as part
of the Heritage Protection Review.
8.11 Successful implementation of the Heritage
Protection Review (HPR) will be dependent upon the right level
of skills and resources being available in local authorities.
8.12 The HPR anticipates that by 2010 local
authorities in England will:
— implement a unified heritage consent
regime and negotiate "heritage partnership agreements";
and
— maintain, or have access to, a Historic
Environment Record (HER).
8.13 The HPR also made reference to the
compilation of a local section of the Register of Historic Sites
and Buildings of England. DCMS Ministers are currently considering
this.
8.14 We are considering whether these objectives
are achievable, and if so, what needs to be done to ensure a smooth
transition to the proposed new system by 2010. Research is underway
to:
— evaluate current strategies for the
local delivery of historic environment services;
— assess the relative capacity of these
approaches to respond to the HPR, and to concurrent changes in
planning and agri-environment policy;
— consider what the HPR implies for
the relationship between HERs, the National Monument Record and
other databases;
— develop strategies to improve local
public service delivery, and to measure such improvements;
— inform engagement, including English
Heritage engagement, with local government pre- and post-HPR.
31 January 2006
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