Memorandum submitted by Historic Houses
Association
INTRODUCTION
The Historic Houses Association represents the
interests of Britain's historic houses, castles and gardens in
private ownership. The HHA has 1,500 member properties of which
more than one third are regularly open to the public. The only
criterion for membership of the HHA is that the member property
is listed.
The HHA estimates that approximately two-thirds
of the built heritage is privately owned and maintained. Between
them HHA members represent, collectively, one of the greatest
"ownership" of listed buildings in Britain: both I and
II* properties as well as Grade II properties, many being ancillary
buildings on large estates.
It is our members who manage much of the nation's
finest privately owned heritage, paying for it and securing its
future. Owners have extensive responsibilities in respect of the
maintenance of both buildings and land, often at great personal
cost.
Historic houses play a key role in local economies,
particularly in relation to tourism, the UK's fifth largest industry
and are often identified as hubs around which regeneration can
take place. They also contribute significantly to a sense of identity
among local communities and indeed to broader issues of quality
of life.
However, there is little sign that RDAs have
developed coherent strategies specifically aimed at supporting
the historic environment and the wider benefits that can flow
from its successful management.
Below is the response of the HHA to the specific
issues about Regional Development Agencies, raised by the Business
and Enterprise Committee.
THE NEED
FOR A
LEVEL OF
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/BUSINESS/REGENERATION
POLICY DELIVERY
BETWEEN CENTRAL
AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
1. The HHA supports the mission of the Regional
Development Agencies to spread economic prosperity and opportunity
to everyone in the nine regions of England and the original government
aspiration to "bring fresh vitality to the task of economic
development and social and physical regeneration in the regions",
through a business-led approach.
2. The RDAs see their role as providing
strategic direction for economic development, ensuring the needs
and opportunities for every region are taken into account and
making lasting improvements in the economic performance of all
regions to reduce the gap in growth rates between the regions.
3. In doing so, RDAs work with a large number
of other public sector bodies, from local authorities to government
offices of the regions and specialist organisations.
4. As a consequence, the potential for duplication
is substantial. For example, in Culture Counts, a recent
publication of the South East England Development Agency, intended
to highlight its role in culture, all the initiatives cited, such
as the South East Cultural Observatory and Cultural Olympiad,
are originated by other agencies. While this approach is not,
in itself, invalid, it raises questions about the unique value
of the role that RDAs play.
5. Equally, the substantial overlap between
the remit of public sector agencies may sometimes result in incoherent
or unwieldy strategy. In the field of culture, in which heritage
has an important role to play, county and district councils, the
regional cultural consortium, local strategic partnerships, the
government office of the region, the regional development agency
and a range of specialist bodies, such as the regional offices
of the Arts Council and the MLA, all believe they have an important
strategic role to play.
6. The development of strategy which can be agreed
and implemented by appropriate partners might well benefit from
less duplication at regional level. Neither the added value nor
an essential, effective role for RDAs in this area appear proven,
not least because of their remoteness, in most circumstances,
from delivery mechanisms.
THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF RDAS
7. RDAs readily acknowledge the importance
of historic houses. Yorkshire Forward, for example, states that,
"Yorkshire has more historic houses, castles and national
parkland than anywhere else", while South West England believes
that "South West England is the UK's favourite visitor location|with
more monuments, museums and historic houses than any region in
the country".
8. However, there is little evidence that
RDAs have any coherent strategy aimed at supporting the historic
environment, or the significant role that historic houses often
play in regional economies, particularly in terms of tourism.
9. Nevertheless, there are schemes promoted
by RDAs which can play a role in stimulating the rural economy.
For example, Yorkshire Forward's Rural Enterprise Investment Programme,
supports rural business growth by investing in farm diversification
and tourism "product" and the South East England Development
Agency offers schemes of targeted financial support, such as Rural
Redundant Building Grants.
10. Sometimes RDAs will be well-placed
to make an appropriate response to particular regional circumstances,
such as the effect of the 2001 Foot-and-Mouth disease outbreak
on the north-west. Rural Renaissance, the North West Development
Agency's six-year, £100m programme, was developed to broaden
the countryside's economic base, focusing on diversification,
including developing and promoting agricultural produce, developing
rural skills and strengthening and modernising the tourism sector,
while protecting the environment.
11. One specific example of good practice
is the Northwest Regional Development Agency's support for the
initiation of the Heritage Tourism Executive grant scheme. Relatively
small amounts of funding, currently totalling £100,000 p.a.,
have helped lever in more substantial partnership funds from other
sources to attract visitors to heritage sites in the north west.
Not only were improvements made to heritage sites and visitor
numbers consequently increased, but the initiative also played
a role in improving each organisation's business planning process.
12. RDAs are also capable of acting as an
important regional resource in terms of information, advice and
research. For instance, eligibility for grant aid frequently depends
upon an understanding of specific regional conditions and Yorkshire
Forward, for example, researches and provides information on European
Union, Business Link Yorkshire, Rural Development Programme England
and other grants for its rural areas.
RDA EXPERTISE
13. The RDAs see their role as principally
one of strategic planning and collaborative working with other
agencies. The expertise within RDAs tends to be based around strategic
planning and is inevitably strongest in this area and less strong
in terms of implementation and delivery.
14. There is limited specialist expertise
within RDAs and it is in many ways appropriate that the principal
specialist skills, for example in relation to the historic environment,
should remain within English Heritage and should not be duplicated.
However, RDAs need to make use of specialist expertise in the
development of cross-cutting strategies and it is important that
they should consult as widely as possible with national, regional
and local bodies before developing their strategic plans.
THE CONSEQUENCES
OF EXPANDING
RDA REMIT
15. The proliferation of public bodies with
overlapping strategic aims, suggests that the expansion of the
RDAs' remit is not the only viable option.
16. Indeed, given the lack of direct local
or public accountability and the limited opportunities to influence
RDA agendas, there must be questions about the desirability of
expanding RDA remits without fully exploring the alternatives.
17. Government plans to require Arts Council
England, English Heritage, Sport England and the Museums, Libraries
& Archives Council to work together to jointly deliver a core
set of shared priorities across the cultural agenda, also have
an impact on the role of RDAs. Given that these priorities include
Regional Strategies and Local Area Agreements, one logical conclusion
of the creation of this new strategic alliance would be the contraction
of any leadership role for RDAs in the field of culture.
18. Indeed, even where culture relates directly
to regeneration, the RDAs' lack of local accountability, specialist
knowledge or proximity to delivery mechanisms, indicates that
they are unlikely to be able to play a lead role in this area
in the new circumstances.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
OF RDAS
19. In terms of remit, expertise and accountability,
it is important that the RDAs have a clearly identifiable position,
distinct from, but complementary to, other government agencies
or regional offices, for example.
20. As a regional agency, regional accountability
is crucial to the RDAs' effectiveness and credibility. Each RDA
reports into its local Regional Assembly and consults with it
on the development of its Regional Economic Strategy.
21. However, their reporting structure means
that the RDAs' principal accountability is to the Department for
Trade and Industry. Yet Economic Development and Regeneration
are cross-cutting agendas which also impact on the remits of,
for example, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and
the Communities and Local Government Department.
22. The HHA has previously identified that
this reporting structure has a potential effect in relation to
delivery of legislation in respect of the planning system, for
instance, where accountability to the DTI alone is unlikely to
prove sufficient.
23. While each of the RDAs may have its
own plans for delivery and must ensure it has the capacity to
deliver those plans and manage performance, the performance-monitoring
process should be transparent. In practice, there is little opportunity
for communities to influence their RDA's plans for delivery, or
to scrutinise the outputs and outcomes.
24. The HHA has already expressed its serious
concern over the accountability and scrutiny arrangements for
RDAs in the CLG/dBERR consultation on the Review of Sub-national
Economic Development and Regeneration in June 2008. RDAs are in
an influential position, but have insufficient accountability
to the populations, including the rural populations, of the areas
they serve.
30 July 2008
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