Updates from The Heritage Alliance

How Much Do You Know About Our Work?

Over the course of this week, we’ve been unpacking the key elements of our 2021-2026 Strategy on social media. Our five-year strategy guides our work at the Heritage Alliance, which is focused around four interrelated objectives: Advocacy, Communicating & Connecting, Sustainability & Resilience and Insight.

Our vision is for a society in which England’s historic environment and wider cultural heritage is valued, supported and able to enrich everyone’s lives.

Our mission is to champion the heritage sector to policy makers and opinion formers, and to inspire and catalyse action – supporting independent heritage organisations to achieve their full potential.

Learn more on our website.

Policy Updates

• This fortnight, we’ve been keeping a watching brief on changes in Cabinet and are preparing to write to new Ministers, welcoming them to their new posts, and outlining our current priorities for heritage.
• We will be holding a special, expanded meeting of our Spatial Planning Advocacy Group to discuss what work member organisations are doing on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. You can read our latest briefings on the Bill here.
• Next week, the Senior Team and Trustees will be gathering for a Board Away Day at The Charterhouse – for which our Trustee Peter Aiers was recently made Master and Chief Executive.
• We continue to invite Alliance members to share any ongoing challenges relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please send your evidence through to Polly.

July Member Roundtables

On Tuesday, we held the first in a series of events for Alliance members: an expert-led roundtable with fundraising insight and tips from the Philanthropy Company [Alliance member]. In this Roundtable, Liz Purchase, senior fundraising consultant and arts and heritage specialist at the Philanthropy Company, shared her insight on the current fundraising landscape, took attendees  through examples of heritage and arts projects that are currently receiving funding and highlighted some funding opportunities.

Find out more about current member benefits here.

Rebuilding Heritage – Final Participant Case Studies

The full set of participant case studies from our Rebuilding Heritage programme have now been published. The full collection of case studies, insight reports, guidance, podcasts and webinar recordings are on the project website – and you can sign up to receive the most recent updates.

The latest case studies explore positive changes made by Alliance members Redhills CIO (who look after the historic seat of the Durham Miners’ Association) and The Victorian Society (a nationwide voice for Victorian and Edwardian heritage), with support from the programme’s activities.

Heritage Digital

Applications are open for free support for digital training through the Heritage Digital programme.

Heritage Digital Academy provides free and in-depth training over two Courses: 

Making a plan for digital - With a strong focus on innovation, enterprise and organisational planning, this course will help sector leaders better align and embed digital within their missions and values, as well as help better protect all your stakeholders and share knowledge on how to use digital to grow your audiences.

Designing digital services - this course is designed to equip heritage organisations with tools to make effective use of digital within their services and strategy. Our expert trainers will help walk you through exercises, templates, and resources needed to roll out your new or improved digital service.

Each course is broken down into four mandatory modules over two months. In total, the four modules collectively take 8.5 hours.

Heritage Chat

The next #HeritageChat will take place on Tuesday 19 July, 1-2pm as usual, and will focus on ‘Heritage Futures’. The @HeritageChat will be co-facilitated by Dr Emily Hanscam and Dr Leila Papoli-Yazdi, team members of the Unesco Chair on Heritage Futures at Linnaeus University in Sweden.  

We look forward to discussing this topic with you over on the @HeritageChat Twitter account. These are the questions we will discuss: 

1. What assumptions do we often make about heritage and its relationship to the future?
2. Historical legacies are what we construct and leave behind; which historical legacies do you think will benefit future generations the most?
3. How might the challenges we face today impact on the future of heritage?
4. What lessons can future generations learn from heritage?
5. How can the heritage sector be more future thinking

Heritage Sector Resilience Plan

A reminder that the Heritage Sector Resilience Plan has now been published. Produced by the Historic Environment Forum (HEF) with the support of Historic England, the Plan is designed to provide a clear roadmap to a more robust and resilient heritage sector.

It focuses on five themes under which sector organisations can work collaboratively: skills; strong governance; climate change; diversity and inclusion; and embedding heritage in wider policy.

Welcome to our New Alliance Members!

We are delighted to announce that Delapré Abbey and the Culture Communications Collective have joined as the newest members of the Heritage Alliance.

The Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust was established in 2012, with the purpose to re-open and imagine Delapré Abbey showcasing its 900 years of history. The Abbey sits within 550 acres of open space, on the edge of Northampton Town centre acting as a key gateway to the Town Centre.  With the Abbey opening in 2018, they are now refocussing efforts on broadening their reach and impact. 

The Culture Communications Collective is a collective of highly experienced public relations and communications experts, providing bespoke advice and support across the heritage, arts, culture, environment and science sectors. They develop fresh ideas and creative concepts to help raise profiles, increase visitor numbers, secure funding, overcome challenges and create lasting change. 

Share Your News with The Heritage Sector

Do you have news/jobs/courses/events to share with the 6500+ heritage professionals subscribed to Heritage Update? Please use our advertiser's form to send through content (maximum 70 words) for £165 (per item, per issue), or at no cost if your organisation is a member of The Heritage Alliance.

Read more in our step-by-step guide on sharing your content in Heritage Update.

Government News

Our summary of the latest announcements and guidance for the heritage sector.

Headlines

• New Cabinet Appointments

• £180 Million Brownfield Fund Announced

• Great British Railways Shortlist

• English Housing Survey – New Data

Cabinet Reshuffle

Last week, over 50 Ministers resigned from their positions, followed by the resignation of the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The ongoing Conservative Party leadership election will see a new Prime Minister appointed by 5 September. The BBC has shared a useful outline of the timeline, which was set by the 1922 Committee on Monday.

These resignations included two post holders at DCMS: Julia Lopez (formerly Minister of State) and Chris Philp (formerly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy).

New appointments have been made, most notably for the sector:

• Nadhim Zahawi MP – Chancellor (replacing Rishi Sunak MP)
• Matt Warman MP – Minister of State for DCMS (replacing Julia Lopez)
• Damian Collins MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for DCMS
• Greg Clark MP - Secretary of State for DLUHC (replacing Michael Gove MP, who was fired from his position)
• Marcus Jones MP – Minister of State for DLUHC
• Paul Scully MP – Minister of State for DLUHC
• Lia Nici MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DLUHC
• Steve Double MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DEFRA
• James Cleverly MP – Secretary of State for Education

A list of current Cabinet ministers, all ministers by department, and whips can be found here.

We will be keeping up with the latest announcements and reporting changes in future issues of Heritage Update, as well as unpacking key announcements on our Twitter channel.

DCMS & Culture

Rural Broadband Upgrades

The Government has announced that up to 3,000 rural primary schools are set to receive lightning-fast gigabit broadband, as well as surrounding homes and businesses.

A joint £82 million investment from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Department for Education (DfE) will go towards improving internet access in rural primary schools over the next three years.

Funding for up to 2,000 schools will be from the DCMS GigaHubs programme, which is part of Project Gigabit. Overall through the GigaHubs model, up to £110m of government funding will be invested into providing gigabit connectivity to up to 7,000 rural public sector buildings including libraries and other public buildings.

Recent DCMS Questions

Last week (on 5 July), the DCMS Committee questioned Nigel Huddleston MP, Minister for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, for their current inquiry into Promoting Britain Abroad. You can watch the recording here, and transcripts from previous oral evidence sessions can be found here.

Planning

£180 Million Brownfield Fund Announced

The Government has launched the £180 million brownfield fund (announced at the Spending Review 2021), through which it aims to create 17,000 new homes on ‘derelict and underused’ brownfield sites across England. Councils are now able to apply for the first £40 million, with a further £140 million allocated over the next two years. The funding will be administered through the One Public Estate programme.

English Housing Survey

New English Housing Survey 2020-21 reports have been published, setting out data on topics including: energy, feeling safe from fire and housing quality, leaseholders, older people's housing, with factsheets on regional housing trends and overheating.

The Survey collects information about people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England.

Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill 

Yesterday (14 July), the Heritage amendments are being considered by the Bill Committee. You can watch the discussion on Parliament TV from 14.00, either live or after the event, or read Hansard which will be produced today (15 July).

You can find a full list of amendments to the Bill here.

DLUHC has also published the Secretary of State’s response to the letter from the Chair of the LUHC Select Committee about the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. Clive Betts MP sent the letter on 21 June, raising questions related to external legal advice that had been publicly shared regarding the Bill.

Levelling Up & Community Funding Updates

Community Ownership Fund

• The application form assessment criteria guidance has been published for round 2 of the Community Ownership Fund. The first bidding window commenced on 10 June 2022.
• The slides and recording from the DLUHC webinar have been added to the guidance on the Fund, providing further information and content on round 2.

Levelling Up Fund

• The guidance for the Levelling Up Fund has been updated with new FAQs on Northern Ireland.

Proposed Street Name Changes

New measures have been announced, which will mean all councils in England will need to get agreement from two-thirds of people who live or run businesses on a street before changing its name. The Government hopes this will mean residents and business owners will have the final say over whether their street name can be changed, as a means of empowering local communities as part of its levelling up agenda. The announcement follows a recent consultation, through which over 90% of the public expressed their agreement with the plans.

New Building Regulations Now in Effect

Two new documents have come into force, marking changes to the Government building regulation statutory guidance on Part L (conservation of fuel and power).

Higher performance targets have been set (as of 15 June) with CO2 emissions are reduced by 31% for dwellings and 27% for other buildings – and a new emphasis on low carbon heating systems.

Section 5 of Approved Document L Volume 1 includes general guidance for replacement building services in existing dwellings. Approved Document L Volume 2 also sets out guidance on energy efficiency in historic buildings.

We recommend this article from RIBA [Alliance member], which outlines the recent changes.

Environment

Biodiverse Landscape Fund – Applications Open

Applications have opened for the Biodiverse Landscape Fund which will run from 2022 – 2029. The £100 million funding will be used to protect biodiversity as well as to reduce poverty and the impact of climate change. Details on how to apply can be viewed here.

Guidance – Applying for a Habitat Creation Grant

Guidance has been published on how to apply for the Nature-based Solutions for Climate programme through using public and private funding. This is aimed at projects who will achieve habitat creation and restoration. Details on how to apply are available here and the deadline is 12pm on 29 August.

Kendal Flood Risk Management Scheme

Construction is continuing on the Kendal Flood Risk Management Scheme. Busher Walk, and Benson and Sandes have been completed with construction being started on a flood wall from The Bridge Inn and from Stramongate Bridge to Gooseholme Park.

Highly Protected Marine Areas – policy paper & consultation

DEFRA has published a paper to outline the rationale for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), giving an overview of the candidate site selection process and providing consultation details.

The Department has launched a consultation (with a deadline of 28 September 2022) to seek views on the 5 candidate HPMAs proposed to be designated as pilot sites in English waters and to gather additional social, economic and ecological evidence to support the decision-making process.

Ivory – Guidance Updates

The guidance around buying or hiring an ivory item, dealing in items containing ivory or made of ivory and applying for an exemption certificate has been updated to reflect that the transition period for existing ivory transactions that started before 6 June has now expired.

Natural England - Framework Document

A framework document has been agreed between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Natural England. It outlines the responsibilities of Natural England as well as its structure, business plans, governance and accountability.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Framework Document

A framework document has been agreed between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This sets out the working relationship between both parties. It also highlights the financial responsibilities and governance and accountability framework.

Rural Economic Bulletin – June 2022

The latest edition of DEFRA’s quarterly Rural Economic Bulletin (June 2022) has now been published, covering indicators designed to provide evidence on the rural economy. The bulletin includes key statistics around employment rates and levels of economic activity.

Tourism & Hospitality

Choosing the Home of Great British Railways

Birmingham, Crewe, Derby, Doncaster, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and York have been shortlisted to become the home of the central headquarters for GBR. A total of 42 towns and cities applied and applications were measured against 6 key criteria:

• alignment to levelling up objectives
• connected and easy to get to
• opportunities for GBR
• railway heritage and links to the network
• value for money
• public support

Public voting has now opened, and the winning town or city will be announced later this year.

22-Point Plan to Tackle Aviation Disruption

The Government has published a 22-point plan to tackle aviation disruption ahead of summer season. The plan sets out all of the measures the government is taking to support the aviation industry, following calls on the industry to ‘run realistic summer schedules and alert passengers to any changes to flights as early as possible to minimise disruption for passengers'.

Cycling & Walking Investment Strategy

The Department for Transport has published the second cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS2) and the cycling and walking investment strategy 2022 report to Parliament.

The strategy includes the projection that in total, nearly £4 billion will be invested in walking and cycling over the CWIS2 period. The funding will be aimed at delivering new and improved walking and cycling routes across England and behaviour change programmes.

Education

Skills and Post-16 Education Bill: impact assessment

The Department for Education has published the final version of The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill impact assessment. The impact assessment outlines the expected costs and benefits of the reforms set out in the Bill, which provides the legislative basis for the reforms set out in the Skills for Jobs: lifelong for opportunity and growth white paper published in January 2021.

COVID-19

Rise in Covid Cases

Recent data from the ONS has shown that the number of COVID-19 cases has continued to increase across the UK, with 2.3 million people reporting positive results for the week ending 24 June – a 32% rise on the previous week.

Living in a COVID World: Government response

The Government has published a response to the COVID-19 Committee's March 2022 report "Living in a COVID world: A long-term approach to resilience and wellbeing".

This includes a response to Recommendation 34, relating to financial support for local authority leaders “to enable the establishment of work hubs, pop-up retail units and arts and culture provision in our towns and cities”.

Review our Guidance for the Sector

A reminder that we have collated relevant guidance for the heritage sector in our COVID-19 Hub.

And The Heritage Alliance Brexit Hub lists recent Brexit guidance of relevance to the heritage sector. You can also read our briefings on Heritage, Brexit and Immigration on our website.

Parliamentary & Other Government News

• National Insurance thresholds have been raised from £9,880 to £12,570 – meaning 70% of workers will now pay less National Insurance, which will reportedly save 30 million workers across the UK up to £330 per year.
• New guidance has been published on DCMS public appointments – listing the latest vacancies and recent announcements. The most recent appointments include:
  • New Board members for the National Lottery Community Fund
  • New Trustees for the Science Museum Group
  • Interim Chair for the Museum of the Home (John Shakeshaft)

Sector Digest

Read on for a breakdown of the latest news from across the sector.

Heritage Innovation Fund – Applications Open

Applications are now open for the pilot of the Heritage Fund’s Heritage Innovation Fund. The initial ‘Explore’ phase of the Heritage Innovation Fund will combine funding, non-financial support and cohort collaboration to help organisations nurture experimental new ideas and solutions to collective heritage workforce challenges. Grants of up to £25,000 are available to cover organisations’ time and exploration activities for six months.

Art Fund Reimagine Grants – Applications Open

Art Fund has opened applications to their Reimagine grants, aiming to help organisations with their ‘approach to engagement.’ The grants offered will be from £10,000 to £50,000 and there is only one funding round. Guidance, FAQ’s and the application form are available here on the website and the deadline is 5:30pm on 12 September.

ACE – Record Number of Applications Received

A record breaking 1,730 applications were received by Arts Council England by National Portfolio Organisations hoping to receive funding from the 2023-2026 investment programme. It is expected to be very competitive, and investments will be reduced in London to help level up other communities. The budget for this round has not yet been confirmed.

Risk of Metal Theft to Churches & Heritage Sites

Ecclesiastical Insurance [Alliance Corporate Partner] has published a guide on how to protect churches from metal theft. There are concerns that churches as well as heritage sites continue to be at risk due to high metal prices and previous damage to buildings.

Unpath’d Waters Project

A new three-year research project titled ‘Unpath’d Waters’ aims to make the UK’s maritime collections more accessible and share its connections with colonialism, slavery and immigration. This will be through audience research, cataloguing and other activities. It is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Creating Healthy Cities

The Commission on Creating Healthy Cities (CCHC) - run by the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation (GCHU) at Kellogg College, the University of Oxford [Alliance member], in partnership with The Prince’s Foundation [Alliance member] – has concluded this summer.

The Commission investigated the links between urban matters and health and wellbeing and has published a ‘Healthy Cities Toolkit’ and now their full report: What Creates Healthy Cities?

Video Game Recreates Steam Train Journey

A new video game, Train Sim World 2, Spirit of Steam, has recreated the 1958 steam train journey from Liverpool to Crewe. It is hoped that the mix of video games and heritage will inspire young people to volunteer with railways.

Net Zero Carbon Grade I Church

The Grade I listed church, St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, has become the first carbon neutral church in London. This was possible through repairs and installation of electric radiators and a heat pump purchased from a green supplier. More information on this environmental project is available here.

June Planning Bulletin from Historic England

Historic England has published the June 2022 edition of the Planning Bulletin, featuring new appointments, updates on emerging legislation, committees, consultations, important dates and more. Previous editions of the Bulletin are available here.

Historic England – Webinar on Energy Assessment

On 19 July, Historic England are hosting their next Technical Tuesday webinar titled ‘Energy Assessment: theory versus reality.’ Interested participants can register here and previous webinar recordings can be found on the website.

Instant Pulse - Weeks 5 & 6

The results from Week 5 of the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s [Alliance member] Instant Pulse show that 51% of participants agree that they have plans put in place to increase the diversity of staff and/or volunteer teams.  Further thoughts from respondents on this topic can be read here.

The question for Week 6 is ‘We need more support in order to play our part in tackling the climate emergency.’ The poll can be answered here.

Instant Pulse is a part of UK Heritage Pulse – a collaborative data and insight project for the heritage sector.

Cost of Living Impact on Sector Wages

Museums Association are carrying out a research project this summer to analyse the impact of the cost of living on the museum and heritage sector. They have published a further article showing that for some roles in the sector the hourly pay has decreased by 25% since 2011.

ACEVO Cost of Living Resources

ACEVO has published a list of helpful resources from civil society organisations, specialists and ACEVO’s corporate partners to support with the cost-of-living crisis. It includes information for charities as well as general financial advice on affording food and managing bills.

Alliance Member News

A snapshot of the current work of our members.

Consultations

Open Consultations (with closing dates):

• DCMS - UNESCO World Heritage Sites - UK Tentative List Review – 15 July

• DLUHC - Business Rates Revaluation 2023: Consultation on the transitional arrangements – 18 July

• DLUHC - Compulsory purchase - compensation reforms - 19 July

• DCMS - views sought to boost the security of UK data centres and cloud services – 24 July

• DfE - Regulating alternative academic and alternative technical qualifications at level 3 – 10 August

• DEFRA – Consultation on the principles of marine net gain – 30 August

• Cabinet Office - Standards for ethnicity data – 30 August

• Charity Commission – proposed changes to the Annual Return – 1 September

• DfT - High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Additional Provision 1 Environmental Statement and Supplementary Environmental Statement 1 Consultation – 1 September

• HM Treasury - Consultation on the proposed reform of the UK’s sovereign immunity from direct tax policy. – 12 September

• DCMS – Developing a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England – 21 September

• DEFRA - Highly Protected Marine Areas pilot sites – 28 September

Events

Upcoming Heritage Events - Quick Look

• 15 July: Special summer evening tour of the Medieval Merchants House Abingdon, OPT
• 11 – 17 July: London Rivers Week 2022 (CPRE London events & activities)
• 16 – 31 July: Festival of Archaeology 2022, CBA - in person/ online events
• 20 July: Engagement and outreach with youth audiences - Heritage Digital Academy, webinar

• 21 July: "Volunteer Strategies - a masterclass following Locomotion’s Approach”, HVG

• 6 Sept: Growing Your Community – A Visit to Carluke High Mill, HTN

• 12 Oct: STBA/SPAB Annual Conference: Sustaining Buildings 2022 - Edinburgh
• 12 – 14 Oct: AHI Conference 2022 - Y cysylltiad / The connection, AHI
• (Postponed: The 2022 Tourism Conference - Changes During Recovery – London)

Courses

Upcoming Heritage Courses:

• 6 Aug - 3 Sept: Tracing Your Female Ancestors, Society of Genealogists
• 6 Sept - 8 Nov: Lost in London, Society of Genealogists
• 7 & 14 Sept: Setting Up a New Museum (two-part workshop), AIM
• 15 Sept: An Introduction to Lime in Building, SPAB
• 16 Sept: Hot Limes in Building, SPAB
• 7 - 8 Oct: An Introduction to Plain Lime Plastering, SPAB
• 17 – 21 Oct: The Repair of Old Buildings Course, SPAB
• 17 Oct - 26 Nov: Understanding Your Old House Course, SPAB
• 5 Nov 2022 - 10 Dec 2022: Researching 17th Century Ancestors, Society of Genealogists
• 9 Nov - 14 Dec 2022: Heritage Interpretation Online, AHI

Jobs

Salaried

Unsalaried

Notes & Subscriptions

The voice of the independent heritage movement, Heritage Update is a free e-bulletin produced on a fortnightly basis by The Heritage Alliance.

You can also visit our website to access an archive of previous issues.

Advertise in Heritage Update

Heritage Update reaches an estimated 14,000 inboxes, is tweeted to our 22.8k Twitter followers, and is shared on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages.

Sharing news, events, courses and vacancies in Heritage Update is free for Heritage Alliance Members, or costs £165 per ad per issue for non-members.

Simply submit our online advertiser's form with the details and payment (if needed) ahead of the content deadline for an upcoming issue. The full instructions are on our website.

We also welcome image-based advertising for academic courses, projects and services of interest to the sector. This costs £75 for members (to feature an 'enhanced' member news item) and £185 for non-members.

Schedule of forthcoming issues:

• Issue 473 - Thurs 28 July (content deadline: 22 July)
• Issue 474 - Thurs 11 August (content deadline: 5 August)
• Issue 475 – Thurs 25 August (content deadline: 19 August)
• Issue 476 - Thurs 8 September (content deadline: 2 September)

If you wish to use or quote from items in Heritage Update, you should always check the accuracy and current position with the source. The Heritage Alliance cannot guarantee the accuracy of (or accept any responsibility for) the contents of Heritage Update.

Seeking Funding/Guidance for Your Heritage Project?

The Heritage Alliance is not a funding body, but we co-manage the Heritage Funding Directory with the Architectural Heritage Fund. This free resource for the sector includes a directory we have jointly collated, listing funding sources for heritage projects across the UK (and internationally), and includes some helpful guidance on fundraising.

We are currently updating existing records in the directory. If you are a funder and would like to list your fund in the Heritage Funding Directory, please follow this link to submit the details through our online form. We also welcome updates to existing entries through this form.

Support The Heritage Alliance

A donation to The Heritage Alliance will help us to champion, inspire, catalyse and support the independent heritage sector. Thank you.

Contact Us

Chief Executive
Lizzie Glithero-West
lizzie.glithero-west@theheritagealliance.org.uk

Advocacy & Communications Officer (Heritage Update Contact)
Daniella Briscoe-Peaple 0207 233 0800
comms@theheritagealliance.org.uk

Head of Policy & Communications
Polly Martin 0207 233 0700
policy@theheritagealliance.org.uk

Head of Development & Membership
Delphine Jasmin-Belisle 0207 233 0600
development@theheritagealliance.org.uk

A full list of our staff contact information can be found here on our website.

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Heritage Update is produced by The Heritage Alliance, with thanks to our generous sponsors the Historic Houses Foundation.

Image credits (in order of appearance): The Landmark Trust; Waterloo Uncovered; English Heritage; Heritage Open Days; Wessex Archaeology; The SPAB; National Historic Ships UK. Details of the header image are listed at the top of each issue.