Heritage Update 197
Friday 19 november 2010The Heritage Alliance is the largest alliance of heritage interests inthe UK, representing 85 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
CONTENTS
HEADLINES
Join us for Heritage Day at the Banqueting House, 8 December
Government response to Penfold Review published
DEFRA caps funding for traditional farm buildings as part of ES overhaul
DEFRA launches consultation on future governance of National Parks
BIG Lottery Fund to deliver new £100million government support for charities
Simon Schama: “My vision for history in schools”
Government Business Plans 2011-15
DCMS Business Plan
CLG Business Plan
DEFRA Business Plan
HHA President calls on Government to cut red tape to support historic houses
Chair of English Heritage: we must be “bolder about the role of heritage”
HAVE YOUR SAY: CONSULTATION ROUND UP
NEWS
Regional Growth Fund: Executive Summary published and bidding commences
Minister responds to CBA question on review of the Treasure Act
UK Association of Building Preservation Trusts comes of age
National Maintenance Week: today – 26 November
Historic piers to take centre stage at next year’s British Tourism Week
The Marsh Award for Traditional Building Skills 2010: apply now
2011 Awards for the Presentation of Heritage Research: apply now
Getting the most from Volunteers' Week 2011: resources and advice
ALSO THIS FORTNIGHT…
Heritage Afloat Wales launched at Cardiff Castle
Countryfile Magazine seeks your votes to find ‘Britain’s Most Romantic Ruin’
CABE: Winner of Areas of Outstanding Urban Beauty competition announced
BRE’s Victorian terrace meets Energy Performance target
EVENTS AND COURSES
SITUATIONS VACANT
NOTES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
HEADLINES
Back
Join us for Heritage Day 2010 at the Banqueting House, 8 December! Click here for info.
Government response to Penfold Review published
The Government has published its response to Adrian Penfold's review of non-planning consent regimes, which in July urged Government to take action to tackle a “complex and fragmented landscape” of non-planning consents - such as environmental permits, highways orders, and heritage consents.
Welcoming formally the review's findings, the response promises that Government will '”look for legislative opportunities to simplify existing consent regimes in the areas of heritage, conservation and environmental permitting and also use CLG’s new ‘Cut Red Tape’ initiative to source new ideas for simplification in the area of non-planning consents”.
It also commits the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Communities and Local Government (CLG) to merging conservation area consent with planning permission, and DCMS and English Heritage to working together ”to ensure that the existing heritage consent regimes operate as effectively and efficiently as possible” (including considering using the 1App planning application facility to allow concurrent submission of non-planning consent applications - such as scheduled monument consent - alongside planning applications).
DCMS and English Heritage are also “exploring the feasibility of consulting the Council for British Archaeology on relevant applications” for scheduled monument consent.
More on the Penfold Review and the full response can be found here. Minister for Business Mark Prisk has said a progress report will be published in Spring 2011.Back
DEFRA caps funding for traditional farm buildings as part of ES overhaul
On Tuesday (16 November) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced details of its “new Environmental Stewardship payment schedule”, which will cap funding for maintaining and restoring traditional farm buildings in favour of re-focusing “resources on key environmental issues such as protecting wildlife and reducing water pollution.”
Environmental Stewardship (ES) is an agri-environment scheme that offers payments to farmers and land managers in England for effective land management to protect and enhance the rural environment (including the historic elements of the rural environment) and wildlife. To “protect the historic environment” and to “maintain and enhance landscape quality and character” are two of the scheme’s five primary objectives; yet the Department has taken the decision to impose a cap of £150,000 over a three-year period on payments for the maintenance and restoration of Traditional Farm Buildings (TFB). According to the Department’s press statement “this will free up funds for other Stewardship priorities”, seemingly wildlife protection and the ‘natural’ environment.
Co-Chair of the Heritage Alliance’s Rural Advocacy Group, Jonathan Thompson, said: “The Heritage Alliance believes strongly that any such division between the historic and natural environment is artificial. The natural landscape cannot be treated in isolation from its cultural significance – an interplay that is recognised in the European Landscape Convention to which the UK Government is a signatory. The Alliance’s Rural Advocacy Group champions a holistic approach to rural policy whereby stewardship of the landscape as a whole – natural and historic elements together – is recognised and promoted.” Our Chairman Loyd Grossman, with the support of our Rural Advocacy Group, is writing to further these discussions. Clickhere to see DEFRA’s press release in full. Back
DEFRA launches consultation on future governance of National Parks
On 9 November the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) launched a consultation on the future governance arrangements for National Parks and the Broads.
The consultation is part of a review that will “look at ways to improve areas cared for by the National Park Authorities (NPAs), ways to make the NPAs more accountable to the concerns of local communities and consider the extent to which different arrangements are appropriate for different NPAs.”
The Department said: “Although the majority of the National Park Authorities have broadly similar governance arrangements, it is felt that the most effective way to undertake the Review is for each Authority to consult locally on potential changes which would work best for their areas, whilst at the same time reflecting the status of the Parks as national assets. This consultation does not therefore contain proposals for any particular structures or arrangements, but instead provides a remit for the Review on which each Authority will base local consultation.”
Comments should be emailed to for forwarding to the relevant Authority. Comments that are not specific to any individual Authority will be considered directly by DEFRA.The consultation closes on 1 February, and a response will be published in Spring 2011. For more information and to request a hard copy of the consultation, click here. Back
BIG Lottery Fund to deliver new £100million government support for charities
A new £100million fund to help the charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises that are most vulnerable to public spending cuts will be opened at the end of this month and managed by BIG Fund, announced Ministerfor Civil Society Nick Hurd on 5 November.
Mr Hurd said: “The Big Society agenda will give charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises more opportunities to secure stable independent funding. But we recognise that this will not happen overnight. To help address this problem, we have worked quickly to open a £100million short-term fund to help charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises make the transition to becoming providers to publicof services, to work with us to build a Big Society and make the most of the opportunities it will bring for them.”
The Government is also developing a Big Society Bank that will use money from dormant bank accounts to help capitalise the sector and build capacity. This is on top of around £470million, including the £100million transition fund, announced in the spending review to directly support the sector.
Peter Wanless, CEO of the BIG Lottery Fund, welcomed this new opportunity to support the sector: "BIG is delighted to be working with the OCS in administering this hugely important fund. We will work with them to ensure that this money helps excellent organisations throughout England prepare effectively for the future. We will be drawing on relevant expertise from ACEVO, and CapacityBuilders, among others, to achieve that.”
To find out more about this new fund, click here. Back
Simon Schama: “My vision for history in schools”
Last week, the Department for Education’s history adviser Simon Schama set out his vision for the future history curriculum in the Guardian.
Referring to history as “the cord…that binds us together as a distinctive community in an otherwise generically globalised culture”, Mr Schama advocated the introduction of a more “complete”, chronological history curriculum, “one that will not neglect Europe and the non-western world”, to ensure pupils leave school with a thorough understanding of Britain’s “island story”. Mr Shama said “the generations who will either pass on the memory of our disputatious liberty or be not much bovvered [sic] about the doings of obscure ancestors, and go back to Facebook for an hour or four” need history most, to understand where they came from and where they might end up. He also referred, albeit fleetingly, to the importance of heritage in the history curriculum - “the history community is – or ought to be – bigger than just its school lessons: it should involve and engage… [inter alia] the many devoted curators and custodians of historic sites and museums.”
The Heritage Alliance welcomes Professor Schama's statement and believes that heritage is in a good position to support what he and the Government would like to see. Our heritage can offer new narratives that extend pupils' knowledge of our whole island story, inspiration from the best of human creation by our forebears and a shared connection with our various heritages. Our Chairman Loyd Grossman, with the support of our Inclusion Advocacy Group, is writing to Secretary of State Michael Gove to explore this further. Click here for Simon Schama’s full article. Back
Government Business Plans 2011-15
All Government Departments published business plans on 8 November to set out the work of Government for the next four years. A searchable database of all business plans along with information on departmental structures and salaries, ministerial meetings and hospitality and other data can be found here. All set out a vision section underpinned by priorities with actions and milestones; they are to be refreshed annually. Back
DCMS Business Plan
Heritage’s lead Department – Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) - puts a safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games at the head of its priorities, followed by creating the conditions for growth for the creative and cultural, tourism and leisure economies: “we believe there should be public funding for arts and culture” but warns “funding should not be an excuse for dependence”.
Top of the Department’s delivery of Coalition Government priorities is to “protect our nation’s cultural heritage: preserve museums collections, archives, historic buildings, sites and monuments and maintain free access to national museums and galleries”; and further down confirmation that the Department will no longer sponsor museums “that should be the responsibility of local communities”.
The proposed Government tourism strategy is the most relevant action relating to heritage under creating conditions for growth, as is the publication of proposals to increase charitable giving in December 2010. Actions around reforming arm’s length bodies in the cultural sector focus as expected on the Arts and Film Councils and MLA rather than heritage bodies. Click here for the Plan in full. Back
CLG Business Plan
The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) has the leading role within Government for setting the agenda for decentralisation and localism. Its vision is to “make local decisions a normal part of everyday life, giving communities, neighbourhoods and individuals more say, choice and ownership of their local facilities” and to “decentralise power as far as possible, turning Government upside down and inside out”.
Its five priorities are to: decentralise power as far as possible; reinvigorate accountability, democracy and participation; increase transparency by letting people see how their money is being spent; meet people’s housing aspirations; and put communities in charge of planning. Under these headings the action plan therefore brings together a far more radical programme that will profoundly affect the way we care for our heritage.
Specific actions such as “make better use of existing public buildings, land and capital investment in public building projects” and transferring the functions of RDAs and Government offices, come with timescales. Click here for the Plan in full. Back
DEFRA Business Plan
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)recognises in its vision that “our long-term prosperity, economic success and quality of life are enhanced by our environment” but there is no reference to historic landscapes or heritage assets. However, several areas will affect our rural heritage. Under “support and develop British farming and encourage sustainable food production” the section on preparing farming for post-2013 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms includes actions todevelop affordable measures of support for hill farmers and make the case for significant reform of the CAP as part of the EU’s negotiations for the period beyond 2013.
Under its actions, the Plan confirms a campaign to increase tree-planting, the proposals to reform governance of National Parks and that British Waterways will be transferred from government to a new charity. Click here for the full Plan and see above for specific details on DEFRA’s plans for reform of the Environmental Stewardship scheme’s priorities. Back
HHA President calls on Government to cut red tape to support historic houses
Speaking at the Historic Houses Association’s (HHA – a member of The Alliance) 37th Annual General Meeting on Tuesday (16 November), its President Mr Edward Harley set out practical ways in which the Government could support privately-owned heritage at no extra cost to the taxpayer: “Just because there has been a spending review, it does not mean that there is not real scope for the Coalition Government to support our efforts. There are many areas where there is room to support the sector.”
Cutting unnecessary bureaucracy and the high cost of compliance in areas such as licensing, planning, signage and fire regulations would help greatly HHA members to maximise their income from visitors and commercial activities, Mr Harley said. He also noted that changes in tax and fiscal incentives could encourage greater efficiency in providing for maintenance funds to preserve historic houses and gardens, and cited tourism promotion as a key area for Government support - particularly where uncertainty remains over regional and local promotion following significant reductions in tourism funding. These measures and more would allow members to address the backlog of urgent conservation works at HHA houses, which now exceeds £390 million. Click here for more detail on the HHA’s proposals.
Following celebration of HHA members’ wide-ranging achievements in 2010, in conclusion Mr Harley addressed Government directly to develop the policy framework that would allow the sector to thrive: “If you are ready to take the necessary action to allow us, the owners, to secure the future of our historic houses and gardens, then we are ready to do our job, of making a unique cultural, economic and social contribution to the country as a whole.”
For more news from the event, click here. Back
Chair of English Heritage: we must be “bolder about the role of heritage”
Also speaking at the Historic Houses Association’s AGM on Tuesday (16 November), Chair of English Heritage Baroness Kay Andrews said the sector must work together in partnership “to tell a bigger story – and we have to win the case for heritage as a singular national asset.”
Baroness Andrews shared the sector’s opinion that heritage lost out to the national museums in the spending review: “why was English Heritage’s grant from government cut by 32% when the national museums were cut by a more modest 15%? I have to say that in my mind there is no doubt that those two figures were closely related to each other. The national museums have protected free entry. The rest of the historic environment now bears that cost.”
On the future post spending review, Baroness Andrews called for the sector to be “less diffident about the social and cultural benefits that heritage can bring” and “bolder about the role of heritage, and history in our national purpose and identity”. The next step, she said, is for the sector to “ensure that everyone has the evidence to hand – for local and national policy makers. Now – even when the spending review itself is over - we have to get this case across as never before.” Re-affirming EH’s commitment to working in partnership with the sector throughout this difficult time and beyond to achieve this, Baroness Andrews said: “our partnerships should be sustained. And they will.”