Big Increase in Number of Archaeological Finds Found and Recorded by the Public

Heritage Update 210

Friday 17 june 2011
The Heritage Alliance is the largest alliance of heritage interests inthe UK, representing 90 member organisations, with the aim of promoting the central role of thenon-Government movement in the heritage sector.Heritage Update is our voice; to, and for, the sector. It is estimated that Update reaches approximately 12,000 mailboxes in the UK and internationally; with readers as far afield as Abu Dhabi, Antarctica, Istanbul and California. For more information visit www.theheritagealliance.org.uk
CONTENTS
HEADLINES
The Localism Bill and the NPPF: latest
Whatever happened to the principle of additionality?
Lively Westminster Hall debate on future of heritage assets
New ‘Challenge Fund’ to provide £2m boost for buildings at risk
HAVE YOUR SAY: CONSULTATION ROUND UP
NEWS
Heritage Alliance Heroes Award and English Heritage Angels Awards: entries open
Natural Environment White Paper published
Beleaguered but brave: A View from the Battlements
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards ceremony sees record turnout
European Heritage Label scheme to be launched in 2013
ALSO THIS FORTNIGHT…
Treasurers, how are your reserves?
EH publishes interim report on setting of heritage assets guidance

Big increase in number of archaeological finds found and recorded by the public

BIG funds Media Trust to deliver community news hubs

Augmented reality to bring Romans to streets of London

CAMRA National Pub Design Awards: winners announced
Historic Environment Traineeship Scheme: update
GutterClear: “making church maintenance easy”
PEOPLE
EVENTS
SITUATIONS VACANT
NOTES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
HEADLINES
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The Localism Bill and the NPPF: latest
The Localism Bill had itsSecond Reading debate in the House of Lords on7 June. In advance of this the Alliance's Parliamentary team briefed Peers,including Baroness Andrews (chair of English Heritage) and Lord Stevenson (Labour Party lead on heritage in the Lords) - both of whom spoke on heritage matters in the debate. Click here for the full Hansard transcript (col 170-172 / col 215).
The Bill now goes to Lords committee on 20 June, where it will be examined in detail. Further briefings will be posted on our website here, and you can keep up-to-date with the passage of the Bill here
Closely related to the Localism Bill is the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Practitioners Advisory Group (PAG), appointed by the Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark, held a meeting on8 June to discuss its draft of the NPPF, at whichGreg Clark was present with an audience of around 100 – including the Heritage Alliance. PAG members explained that their draft has attempted topromote botheconomic growth and sustainability, but some considered that a sustainable approach to planning was a low priority. The PAG encouraged the historic environment sector to propose amendments to its draft, which will be forwarded to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) - the Government’s own draft of the NPPF will be issued in late July for public consultation. Click here to see the Alliance’s initial comments on the PAG draft. Back
Whatever happened to the principle of additionality?
That was the question on the heritage sector’s lips as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) claimed in its response to the Select Committee’s report into Funding of the Arts and Heritage (see Update 206) that overall funding for heritage would only be reduced by 2.4 per cent.
The DCMS’s response to the Select Committee report, published last week, calculates this percentage by including the extra £50m a year that the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will receive due to last year’s welcome re-allocation of lottery shares to the ‘good causes’. The Alliance has strongly welcomed this extra funding for the HLF. The Alliance’s concern is that the principle of additionality – whereby Lottery funding should not be allowed to become a substitute for funding that would normally fall to mainstream Government spending - is being lost by this conflation of Government expenditure with public money.
In response to the Select Committee’s recommendation that it should commission research into reducing the rate of VAT on historic building repairs, the DCMS said this was “beyond UK Government powers” due to “longstanding agreements with European partners”, and that as such “we do not consider that research as to the impacts would represent a good use of resources.” The Heritage Alliance has written to the Secretary of State and the Minister for Heritage re-iterating the destructive impact of VAT at 20 per cent on repairs and maintenance but at zero on new build, to offer alternative suggestions for a way forward. Solving the VAT issue remains a top priority for the heritage movement.
Further issues raised in the response concern addressing the decline in Local Authority capacity, consideration of how to prevent the loss of CABE’s valuable local design centres, recognition that heritage volunteers cannot be expected to plug the skills gap left by the reduction in skilled professionals and further detail of the Government’s philanthropy strategy. Click here to read the full report. Back
Lively Westminster Hall debate on future of heritage assets
On 7 June a Westminster Hall debate took place on the future of heritage assets, called by Stella Creasy MP (Labour, Walthamstow) to quiz Heritage Minister John Penrose on his plans to tackle heritage at risk and make it easier for communities to “live our heritage, not just to look at it.”
Whilst focussing on assets within her constituency, such as the EMD Cinema and the Walthamstow Dog Track, Ms Creasy raised concerns about wider issues of heritage policy with regard to the effectiveness of powers to save heritage assets from neglect: “I have become concerned that current heritage regulations are unclear in their intentions or effectiveness. In particular I am concerned that where landlords fail to get permission to change the use of a listed building and allow it to fall into disrepair it is extremely difficult to act to protect these sites.” Mr Penrose agreed there was a need to look at achieving the "right mix of carrots and sticks” to develop more nuanced escalation powers to encourage intervention, and confirmed that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was already looking at why some Local Authorities aren't using intervention powers such as compulsory purchase orders or urgent works notices.
Detailing numerous examples of heritage-led regeneration of communities Ms Creasy highlighted how easily heritage buildings can be "anchors around which our future is shaped" if given the right mechanisms for intervention. Her Labour colleagues Gloria De Piero MP (Shadow Heritage Minister, Ashfield) and Tristram Hunt MP (Stoke on Trent Central) also called on the Government to see heritage assets as catalysts for economic regeneration, whilst highlight the disproportionate cuts the sector has suffered.
Other issues raised included incorporating “the principles of PPS5” into the NPPF and taking forward “some rather useful technical points” of the Heritage Protection Bill. Read the full transcript here or watch online here. Back
New ‘Challenge Fund’ to provide £2m boost for buildings at risk
This week saw the announcement of a major funding boost for historic buildings at risk across England, in the form of a £2m Challenge Fund. On Saturday (11 June) it was announced that the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation will be contributing £1m over five years to the new Fund, with a further £1m in match-funding from English Heritage bringing the total Fund to £2m.
The Challenge Fund will be managed by The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF – a member of The Alliance), an independent charity, which will disburse it in grants of up to £200,000 each over the next five years. The Fund will be targeted at the most important buildings at risk in England - those listed at Grade I and Grade II*, and which appear on the Heritage At Risk register. Support from the Fund, which is open only to registered charities or other not-for-profit organisations, will be primarily for capital grants. It is expected that money from the Challenge Fund will act as 'pump-priming' support to encourage organisations that have been inactive for some years, or have not previously tackled a project involving Grade I and Grade II* buildings, and promote financial support from other public and charitable sector funding bodies. Applications will also be considered for projects which have 'stalled' and where an investment such as that which the Fund could offer could lead to it being re-started.
Ian Lush, Chief Executive of the AHF and Alliance Deputy Chair, said: “Currently, of the 250 Building Preservation Trusts in existence, only about 100 are fully active. The rest are unable to find sufficient funds to take on a rescue or lack the expertise and confidence to tackle complex and demanding Grade I and II* buildings. Through the Challenge Fund we will be able to marry the terrific knowledge and skills of organisations such as the Prince’s Regeneration Trust or the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire with smaller Building Preservation Trusts, who have passion and commitment but less confidence, and who lack specialist skills in areas such as conservation, planning, fund-raising and project management.”
Click here for more on the Challenge Fund, and here for the Guidance for Applicants. Back
HAVE YOUR SAY: CONSULTATION ROUND UP
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See The Heritage Alliance’s consultation responses here
June
Inspiring the Big Society: a consultation on regulations under the Sustainable Communities Act. A DCLG consultation seeking views on regulations to govern the implementation of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007. Deadline 20 June.
Moving inland waterways into a new charity in England and Wales. A DEFRA consultation seeking views on the rationale for moving the management of the inland waterways in England and Wales out of the public sector and into a new civil society organisation, and the principles that should guide the Government in deciding on the way forward. Deadline: 30 June.
July
The Bishop Review of Built Environment Design Support. A Design Council-CABE consultation seeking views from all stakeholders on how to best support good design in the built environment. The feedback from the Review will help DC-CABE to map out a new way of working together, which should provide even greater benefits for local communities whilst making better use of the reduced resources available. Deadline mid July.
Independent Panel on Forestry: Call for Views. A DEFRA consultation seeking views on forests and woods in England, on what this part of our landscape can and should provide, now and in the future. Deadline: 31 July.
August
A new incentive for charitable legacies: A lower rate of inheritance tax when leaving 10% of an estate to charity. An HMRC consultation. Deadline: 31 August.
NEWS
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Heritage Alliance Heroes Award and English Heritage Angels Awards: entries open
Also launched on Saturday (11 June) was a new annual Awards scheme from English Heritage, the Heritage Angels Awards, designed to recognise and celebrate the efforts of local individuals or groups who have rescued or are currently rescuing heritage at risk in their local area. Supported by Andrew Lloyd Webber, ‘the Angels’ was unveiled as the leader of the weekend section in Saturday’s The Daily Telegraph – the media partner for the awards.
There will be four annual awards for the best rescues or repairs of historic buildings or sites on the Heritage At Risk Register - the best rescue or repair of a historic place of worship, the best rescue of a historic industrial building or site, the best craftsmanship employed on a heritage rescue, and the best rescue of any other entry on the At Risk register. The closing date for entries is 12 August. To enter and to read the eligibility guidelines, click here. For further information on the application process, email
The panel of judges, to be chaired by Andrew Lloyd Webber, will include Melvyn Bragg, Charles Moore of the Daily Telegraph and Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage. From a short-list of 16 entries from around the country they will choose four winners, one each for each category. The Angels will be presented at a reception held at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End in the autumn, hosted by Andrew Lloyd Webber – all short-listed candidates will be invited. The Daily Telegraph will showcase the shortlisted entrants and winners on their English Heritage Angel Awards page.
The launch of The Angels shines a welcome and well-deserved spotlight on the army of people across the country giving up their time in support of our heritage. The Heritage Alliance’s own Award scheme, Heritage Alliance Heroes, also celebrates the outstanding contribution to society made by heritage volunteers, from Alliance member organisations and their members. The Heritage Alliance Heroes 2011 will be presented at the Alliance’s Heritage Day event in December, by our Chairman Loyd Grossman OBE. Entries are now open– more information available here. The closing date for entries is 15 September. Good luck! Back
Natural Environment White Paper published
The Government’s Natural Environment White Paper was published on 7 June, entitled The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature. The document sets out the Government’s vision for the future of our natural environment, including the commitment that we should be the first generation to leave the natural environment in better condition than we inherited it, and the important concept of moving from a net loss of nature to a net gain.