Memorandum submitted by Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF)
1. 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 over £3.58 billion to more
than 25,000 heritage projects across the UK since 1995. Our primary
aims in distributing this funding are:
— to encourage more people to be in
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.
In our policy directions Government have asked
us to address regeneration, including:
— the scope for reducing economic and
social deprivation; at the same time as creating heritage benefits.
2. HERITAGE AND
TOURISM
Our approach to heritage differs from other
heritage agencies in that our definition of heritage is very broad.
It includes buildings, parks, landscapes, museums, archives, townscapes,
waterways and archaeology, 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.
There is a very close link between heritage
and tourism. Heritage attractions are amongst the most popular
tourism and recreational activities for the UK public. The 2001
ONS survey of 4,000 respondents found 38% had visited a museum
in the last 12 months and 21% an exhibition. A 2004 survey for
MLA interviewed 4,000 adults and found 37% had visited a well
known park/garden; 37% a museum/art gallery; 33% a famous cathedral/church,
32% a historic building. All of these are higher than the 28%
who said they visited a live sporting event in the past 12 months
and the 25% or less who visited zoos and theme parks. The most
recent GB Day Visits survey carried out in 2003 recorded 1.26
billion day visits to the countryside per year, with 62% of the
population claiming to have made a trip to the countryside in
the past 12 months.
In Heritage Counts 2006, English Heritage reported
56.4 million visits made to historic visitor attractions in 2006.
CABE has published that over half the UK population—some
33 million people—make more than 2.5 billion visits to urban
green spaces each year, and British Waterways has estimated that
160 million visits are made to the canal network each year by
10 million different visitors.
At the same time, revenue from tourism helps
to support and sustain much of Britain's heritage.
3. HLF GRANTS
FOR TOURIST
DESTINATIONS AND
ACTIVITIES
3.1 Heritage attractions
Of the 10 most popular attractions in the UK,
HLF has funded four: the British Museum; National Gallery; Natural
History Museum and Science Museum.
We've funded 10 out of the top 20 free attractions:
British Museum; National Gallery; Natural History Museum; Science
Museum; V&A; Tate Britain; National Portrait Gallery; Somerset
House; National Railway Museum; and the Imperial War Museum.[1]
3.2 Coastal towns
HLF has given over £234 million to 517
projects in towns that are formally designated as English Coastal
Resorts.[2]
That funding includes £104 million to coastal resorts in
deprived areas including Blackpool, Falmouth, Great Yarmouth,
Hastings, North Shields, Penzance, Redcar, Saltburn-by-the Sea
and Southport. Those projects include, for example:
— 41 public parks in resort towns including
the sea front gardens in Clacton;
— 43 projects to regenerate town centres
of coastal resorts in for example St Leonards, Cromer, Whitby
and Weston-super-Mare;
— £75 million to conserve historic
buildings in coastal towns such as the De La Warr Pavilion in
Bexhill;
— funding for ships such as HMS Trincomalee—the
oldest ship afloat in the UK—which has made a significant
contribution to the regeneration of the Hartlepool dockside, and
has featured in a national VisitBritain tourism campaign;
— funding for hundreds of museums such
as the National Maritime Museum at Falmouth, which has helped
strengthen the year round visitor economy, or the Tower Curing
Works at Great Yarmouth which has helped make Great Yarmouth a
year round destination.
This is in addition to our funding for wider
coastal heritage, including projects in cities such as Liverpool,
Southampton and Hull.
3.3 Countryside, parks and gardens
HLF funding has been a catalyst for new interest
in the role that urban parks can play in regeneration. HLF has
given over £437 million to over 300 public parks, such as
the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, which have played an important
part in the wider regeneration of the Victorian Spa town.
The countryside also plays a vital role in domestic
and inbound tourism. The National Trust has estimated that environmental
quality plays a key role in tourism related employment—in
the North East for example it generates around 38,000 FTEs and
around 40% of all tourism related employment is linked to the
high quality of the environment.
We have given over £238 million to help
sustain UK's natural heritage ensuring that as many people as
possible can have access to and enjoy the countryside. In the
Lake District, where 87% of the 12 million people who visit each
year walk the footpaths, we are funding repairs to 145 paths covering
200km, whilst many of the great country houses and landscaped
gardens we have funded, such as the National Trust's Hardwick
Hall in Derbyshire, are in easy reach of urban centres.
We have also supported a number of World Heritage
Sites, including several projects along Hadrian's Wall, not least
the creation of a long distance footpath. Eight hundred walkers
use the path each month, spending an average of £180 each
which helps local farm-based businesses along the route.
3.4 The heritage of tourism
HLF has also funded projects relating to the
history of tourism. For example, a group of Goole College students
has combined with Promenade Promotions to celebrate the heritage
of entertainers who worked along Yorkshire's coastal resorts in
an exhibition at Goole Museum. The HLF-funded project "We
do like to be beside the Seaside" records the disappearing
traditions of pierrot troupes and concert parties that were once
a familiar sight at holiday resorts.
4. VISITOR-RELATED
ECONOMIC IMPACTS
In 2005, we undertook research into the economic
impacts from tourism of a sample of completed HLF projects. The
projects were spread across the country and ranged in size from
a £2 million HLF grant for a National Trust property in Nottinghamshire,
to the major renovation of Somerset House in central London, where
HLF invested over £30 million in capital works. The research
revealed:
— Two projects where HLF funding had
contributed to the appeal of central London as an international
tourism destination. These were Somerset House and the Wellcome
Wing of the Science Museum, both of which attract a high proportion
of staying (including international) visitors. These projects
were found to be generating over £8.5 million for London
businesses each year and to have created nearly 300 jobs.
— Four projects which have made a contribution
to the local economies of areas in need of regeneration. HLF projects
at Chatham, Hull, Lewisham and Sunderland were found to have created
60 jobs.
— Three projects which were found to
have contributed to the tourism appeal of local areas which—though
not severely deprived—are experiencing structural economic
change. In the cases of the National Coal Mining Museum near Wakefield,
The Workhouse near Newark and the Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire,
the additional income generated for local businesses was estimated
at an annual £1.4 million, with around 90 new jobs created.
5. COMMENTS ON
THE AREAS
OF INQUIRY
5.1 Welcome > Legacy
HLF has not made a formal response to this document,
but some issues may be highlighted:
Welcome > Legacy notes the importance of access
for people with disabilities to tourist facilities. All of our
funded projects have increased access to the heritage for disabled
people. In addition, we have given more than £15 million
to over 450 projects directly involving disabled people.
Welcome > Legacy emphasises the importance
of skills within the tourism sector. As a champion for heritage
skills, we work with Government and other organisations to promote
the importance of retraining a skilled heritage workforce. Our
funding helps trainees and apprentices learn skills in traditional
building skills such as stonemasonry and flint knapping, but at
wildlife sites, museums and historic houses across the country,
our funding also trains heritage staff in interpretation, customer
service and skills needed to provide access for all.
Our investment of £11 million in the National
Museums of Liverpool was a key factor in the city's successful
bid to become European Capital of Culture 2008. HLF is currently
working closely with the Liverpool Culture Company and the Urban
Cultural Network of cities on a programme, "Portrait of a
Nation", that will engage young people in exploring their
heritage and identity, culminating in a showcase of their work
at the closing event of Liverpool Capital of Culture.
6. OTHER ISSUES
RAISED BY
THE COMMITTEE
HLF is keenly aware of the importance in domestic
and inbound tourism, as visitor numbers are often vital to the
long term business planning and sustainability of heritage sites.
However, HLF does not normally support new visitor attractions,
instead preferring to support improved facilities at existing
heritage sites.
6.1 Sponsored bodies
We are delighted that Regional Development Agencies
such as SEEDA and One North East are increasingly recognising
the importance of heritage in the distinctiveness and special
qualities of their regions, and many of the projects we fund are
also supported by Regional Development Agencies. We were pleased
to see that heritage is mentioned in Welcome > Legacy, and
hope that this is part of a positive trend that will see DCMS
recognising that heritage as a core part of the UK's very special
tourism offer.
6.2 Data on tourism
HLF works closely with English Heritage and
other agencies on the annual Heritage Counts document which provides
data on—amongst other things—visitors to historic
attractions. This data set is immensely important. Many of our
applicants rely on up to date data on visitor trends as a critical
part of their business planning. We have encouraged applicants
for public parks projects to compile standard visitor surveys
and are exploring ways in which we can encourage applicants to
capture better information about the impact and benefits of funding
for heritage.
6.3 Environmentally friendly tourism
HLF has already funded a number of innovative
"green" buildings including a new building at Weald
and Downland Museum. We have a policy on sustainable timber and
are currently looking at how we can encourage applicants to take
greater account of sustainability and the environmental performance
of buildings as part of our next strategic plan.
6.4 How to derive maximum benefit from 2012
and the Cultural Olympiad
HLF supports the London Olympics and Paralympics,
for the tremendous opportunity for heritage to be woven into an
accompanying Cultural Olympiad programme. We're working closely
with other Lottery and cultural organisations to contribute to
this important programme.
March 2007
1 These figures have been worked out using the Visitor
Attraction Trends England 2005 Report. Back
2
Heritage Lottery Fund Memorandum to the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee
inquiry into Coastal Towns. Back
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