Heritage Protection Reform - Draft Heritage Protection Bill

Lord Bruce Lockhart, Chairman of English Heritage, said:

Lord Bruce-Lockhart, chair of English Heritage“Today’s publication of the draft Heritage Bill is a major step forward towards the way England's heritage is identified, protected and managed.

Although most people believe the present system has served us well, it has grown over the last 100 years through incremental legislation. We are left with a system which is over-complex with confusing overlaps andhard to understand. We now need reform which simplifies, which brings efficiency and effectiveness, which involves the public and adds clear and visible accountability.

Our Heritage is a glorious national asset that givesus a sense of belonging and of local and national identity. It helps us to understand who we are and to take pride in our past. Today over two thirds of the public visit and enjoy heritage sites. Our heritage is vital to tourism and our economy. It is central to successful regeneration. It is a unifying force for cohesion and a foundation for a self-confident future.

Strong and simplifying legislation will be of great value to all those in the public, community and private sectors who are involved together in managing our heritage. I welcome the publication of the draft Bill and look forward to its scrutiny by Parliament.”

The Draft Heritage Protection Bill published today (Wednesday 2 April), puts engaging with the public at the heart of heritage protection. The new system will close gaps in protection and see decisions made at a local level and by English Heritage instead of central government.

This Draft Bill is the result of years of research and advice from our own Heritage Protection department, and other experts within English Heritage and across the Sector. We are confident that the draft bill represents a system that is easier to work with and more open - and not a decrease or increase in protection. The system we currently use has built up through piecemeal legislation since the 19th century and has several different components that can overlap or leave gaps, can confuse and exclude the public, and cause staff unnecessary administration.

We hope that the final bill that emerges after Parliamentary scrutiny will continue to reflect our advice and simply give everyone a more modern tool for the job of protecting the historic environment.

Proposed Changes in the New Heritage Protection System

Identification of Historic Assets:

1. English Heritage will consult the public on the priorities for future places, sites and buildings to be designated.
2. Owners of historic places will be consulted when the site is being considered for designation and will also have a new right of appeal to the Secretary of State against English Heritage’s decision. Interim legal protection will be introduced for historic places being considered for designation to prevent damage or hasty demolition.
3. The new system will bring all of England’s heritage together in one single, publicly accessible register. This statutory register will be available online and will explain what is special and why. For the first time maritime wrecks and World Heritage Sites will be included. Currently, buildings, parks and gardens, archaeology and battlefields are recorded on separate systems. The different names and processes for recognising different types of site (which include listing, scheduling and registration) are over-complicated and often confusing to the public.
4. English Heritage will become responsible for decisions on designation and there will be a new right of appeal to Government. There will be a clear separation of roles between English Heritage and Government, instead of the current duplication of work. Currently, English Heritage advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who makes the decision on whether to designate a place.

Managing Historic Assets:

1. A single ‘Historic Asset Consent’ will replace separate Listed Building and Scheduled Monument Consent. Conservation Area Consent will be merged with Planning Permission. This simplification will also help alleviate conservation bottlenecks in the current system, which can create extra administration for conservation staff and slow down planning cases.
2. Local authorities will be given the powers to grant all new Historic Asset Consents - abolishing the role of central government in granting Scheduled Monument Consent (around 2% of all applications). English Heritage will give expert advice where applicable, as it does currently.
3. Heritage Partnership Agreements between owners, local authorities and English Heritage will let agreed work take place without the need for time-consuming, repetitive consent applications for large or complex sites – such as office blocks, university campuses, or groups of similar assets in single management, such as railway stations. Pilot projects trialling Heritage Partnership Agreements all over the country have been very successful and made life easier for owners and historic environment staff alike.

What next?

The draft Bill will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny before its passage through Parliament. If the Bill in introduced and passed in the 2008-09 session, the new system could be implemented in 2010.

Where do I get more information?

A summary of the draft Bill can be viewed on the DCMS website and if you want to discuss this interesting and important piece of legislation, you can contact the Heritage Protection Reform team at English Heritage at hprt@english-heritage.co.uk

The Impact Assessment accompanying the draft Bill can also be seen on the DCMS website at www.culture.gov.uk