THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT 2018: AN OVERVIEW HERITAGE COUNTS THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT IN 2018: AN OVERVIEW 2018 was the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act which saw some of the first women gain eligibility to vote marked by events and activities throughout the year. 2018 was also the final year of the centenary First World War commemorations, ending in November with events up and down the country, from the Cenotaph to local village war memorials. It has been a busy year, with a number of important changes and announcements affecting the heritage sector. The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) established a new Heritage Council who met for the first time in May, providing “a voice for the sector across Government”. A revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework was published in July, enabling a greater push towards development; policy on the protection of heritage, however, remains largely unchanged. In October, archaeological work in advance of development for the High Speed (HS2) Railway began, and will be the biggest programme of archaeological work ever conducted in the UK. Moreover, there have been many major successes in 2018. Among these: n a commitment of £55 million in funding for heritage through the Future High Streets Fund, announced in the Autumn Budget. The fund will allow for the restoration of historic high streets, to be delivered through the Architectural Heritage Fund and Historic England; n the launch, in June, of the £20 million Cultural Development Fund by the Government to support culture, heritage and the creative industries in towns and cities across England; n National Lottery investment in a number of major projects, including a £3.8m grant for an innovative project to save bats and protect churches for future generations; n a second round of Historic England’s ‘Heritage Action Zones’; n 20 years of the Heritage at Risk Register; n Heritage Open Days continues to grow from strength-to-strength, engaging communities and volunteers with heritage; n the announcement that the National Heritage List for England had reached 400,000 entries in August, with the Grade II listing of the Raleigh Cycle Company offices in Nottingham; and, n the continued collaboration of organisations within the heritage sector through the Heritage 2020 initiative. 2 THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT IN 2018: AN OVERVIEW First World War Centenary. Armistice Day 2014. Fields of Remembrance, Westminster Abbey, London. © Historic England Archive ‘Brexit’ continues to be a major focus of the country’s political landscape; with the United Kingdom due to leave the European Union in March 2019, the impacts on heritage remain uncertain. A cabinet reshuffle in July saw the selection of Jeremy Wright QC as the new Secretary of State for Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS). While there has been a small but welcome increase in the numbers of Historic Environment staff this year following decades of decline, many local authority challenges remain from neglect of important heritage assets, access to historic environment expert advice and development pressures. Nevertheless, the sector continues to manage positive change to the nation’s heritage and influence the wider public’s appreciation of these irreplaceable assets. There are five main sections to the Overview: n Management of Heritage – covering major sector-wide developments over the past 12 months (p.4) n Changes to the Funding and Resource Landscape – concerning the financial situation of the sector (p.14) n Planning System – reviewing national and local planning policy changes (p.22) n Participation – presenting public engagement, volunteering and events (p.28) n Sector Insight – providing insight into heritage research and awards (p.34) THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT IN 2018: AN OVERVIEW 3 1. Management of heritage 1.1 Heritage 2020 from existing projects. Research into practices to improve diversity in governance and engagement nHeritage 2020 brings together organisations with National Citizen Service are in progress. from across the sector to address priorities for collaborative working which are set out in the – As the group that seeks to achieve a long-term Heritage 2020 Framework under five strategic shift in recognition of the positive contribution of themes. Highlights of the last year for each of the heritage to the economy and society, the Helping five working groups include: Things to Happen group has attempted to better understand and reinforce the evidence base so – The Capacity Building group has prioritised that it can be communicated to Government. A an integrated approach to the education, literature review and data messaging workshop training and continuing development of are leading to the development of infographics heritage professionals. Addressing the need to show the key messages around the value for a sustainable model for local authority (LA) of heritage. Work is continuing to set out the conservation and archaeology services is also a contribution of the heritage sector to the priority and work is underway to identify core LA Government’s Industrial Strategy. service provision. A sub-group, the Client Demand Task Group, is now looking at opportunities to nRegular updates on group activities can be found on stimulate and sustain the supply of heritage skills the website, through social media and The Heritage (see also section 4.3, p.24). Alliance’s ‘Heritage Update’ e-bulletin. – For the Constructive Conservation and nAs Heritage 2020 activities have grown over the Sustainable Management group, the focus has year, a monthly Twitter Chat, #HeritageChat, was been on the transfer and disposal of publicly owned launched providing the opportunity for people to heritage assets. The group is bringing together identify and discuss themes of common interest. sector advice and guidance, including mapping Topics covered have included innovation and sector activity to reveal areas that are covered entrepreneurship in the heritage sector, heritage and those that are weak. The group has also and its contribution to the economic health of prioritised a heritage-led response to the changing high streets, evaluating heritage projects, diversity, face of high streets. The results of recent work industrial heritage, and more. will be published on the Heritage 2020 website. nAn annual foresight event was held in March linked – The Discovery, Identification and Understanding with the publication of the Department of Digital, group has made ‘building bridges with the Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) ‘Culture is Digital’ higher education sector’ its priority area. It is report and opened by the Heritage Minister Michael drawing together sector knowledge to identify Ellis MP. the strengths of existing relationships and where there is a need to enhance relationships. The group supported a session on Early Career Researchers at the Chartered Institute for The Heritage 2020 project is funded by Historic Archaeologists annual conference. England and delivered through The Heritage Alliance under the oversight of the Historic – The Public Engagement group is taking forward Environment Forum. An interim evaluation has actions relating to inclusion in order to promote recently taken place to assess progress to date people’s entitlement to connect with the historic and to consider the effectiveness of the initiative environment. Youth participation is a particular and its impact. focus for work building best practice learning 4 THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT IN 2018: AN OVERVIEW Barrow Civic Society launch of six new plaques on buildings with local heritage importance. © Heritage Lottery fund THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT IN 2018: AN OVERVIEW 5 1.2 The Heritage Alliance nThe Alliance’s advocacy groups have continued to meet covering issues ranging from spatial planning nThe Heritage Alliance is the heritage sector’s largest to rural affairs, learning and skills, to funding and coalition of independent organisations with over mobile heritage. The Alliance is currently working on 130 members. It is uniquely placed to draw on projects looking at the links between heritage and members’ knowledge to help policy makers realise health, and on heritage and the creative industries. the potential of heritage. nKey work this year includes: 1.3 Historic England – Heritage Statement and Council: Following the nOver the last year Historic England (HE) engaged launch of the Government’s Heritage Statement the public in many of its campaigns; including at the Alliance’s Heritage Day in 2017, the Alliance its campaign and podcast series “Irreplaceable: became a member of the Heritage Council and A History of England in 100 Places”, sponsored has worked to represent the views of the sector by specialist insurers Ecclesiastical, and its in this cross-Government forum. The Alliance “Immortalised” campaign and exhibition debating led a sector wide response to the revised NPPF, who and how we remember. There has also been meeting with MHCLG to discuss concerns. public support for Historic England’s ‘Saving – Brexit: The Alliance has produced papers on England’s Mills’ campaign and for highlighting the impact of Brexit on the sector in areas such ‘nighthawking’ at Hadrian’s Wall. as migration and the Agriculture Bill, and has nHistoric England (and previously English Heritage) continued to stress how future agriculture funding has a longstanding record in place making. Historic policy should better protect heritage. The Alliance England Places Strategy, published this year, sets again met with Environment Secretary Michael out how HE will marshal the full range of services Gove to discuss rural heritage. and work in partnership with others to enable them – Diversity debate: The Alliance organised a popular to reveal and harness the value of their heritage. debate on diversifying the heritage sector in the nListing is an essential part of England’s heritage 21st Century, also attracting a diverse audience protection system, and recommending to the to this event. Follow on work is planned with the Secretary of State what should be listed continues to intention of offering practical support in this area. be a core part of Historic England’s work.