Updates from The Heritage Alliance

New Project Manager – Rebuilding Heritage

This week, we are delighted to welcome Rebecca Fawcett to the team as our new Project Manager for Rebuilding Heritage.

Rebecca will be taking over from Caroline Peach, who will be moving across to work alongside our Head of Development & Membership Delphine on bid writing for the future of our sector support projects.

HRBA: Big Update

Last week, the HRBA (Historic Religious Buildings Alliance) held their annual Big Update event at St Peter’s church, Vauxhall, London. This year’s event featured a speech from our Chief Executive Lizzie on the broader political landscape for the sector and what the future holds for heritage.

The event also saw speeches from Alliance members Friends of Friendless Churches, the Churches Conservation Trust and the National Churches Trust, as well as a keynote speech from Sir Laurie Magnus, Chair of Historic England. Presentation and videos from the event are now available on the HRBA website.

At Big Update, HRBA also announced the launch of their new publication: Sustaining historic churches: what does recent research tell us? This publication summarises a selection of recent research reports directly bearing on the sustainability of historic churches.

What is #Heritage & How is it Responding to the Climate Crisis?

Our CEO Lizzie will be leading an upcoming heritage panel discussion (9 May) on Green Skills for Speakers for Schools, organised with the Historic Environment Forum team. Lizzie will be joined by Loyd Grossman, (Chair, The Royal Parks), Adala Leeson (Head of Socio-Economic Analysis and Evaluation, Historic England), Kelcey Wilson-Lee (Historian of medieval Britain and Head of Programmes, Architectural Heritage Fund) [Alliance member] and Rob Woodside (Estates Director, English Heritage) [Alliance member].

A reminder that Heritage Responds, drawn together by the members of the Historic Environment Forum COP26 Task Group, showcases how the sector is responding to Climate Change. Find it and the accompanying case studies here.

Policy Updates

• Our Chief Executive Lizzie signed a letter alongside Unesco-UK [Alliance member] and delegations from across the world calling for the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee to be moved so it is not held in Kazan or under Russian presidency.

• Lizzie also recently met with The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) for a discussion on #CutTheVAT.

•  Our Skills, Education & Engagement Advocacy Group (SEEAG) chairs will be leading the upcoming May #HeritageChat (17 May, 1-2pm on Twitter) on the topic of heritage skills. Please do share your questions and join the discussion.

• Parliament prorogued last week ahead of the State Opening of Parliament on 10 May. As part of the opening, the Queens Speech will be delivered, laying out the legislative agenda for the next 12 months. We will be listening to it live, and producing a summary of the key points for the heritage sector. 

Rebuilding Heritage

The Rebuilding Heritage programme has now entered an extension period (thanks to generous funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund), which will enable the team to deliver a series of check-ins for 1:1 support for those who received help through the programme, as well as a series of roundtables.

In case you missed them, we recently published a full set of insights from the programme outlining: 1) What We Did, 2) Who We Helped, 3) What We Learnt, 4) Future Needs for the sector.

Further resources are on the horizon – including a set of case studies highlighting the inspiring stories of some of the programme’s participants. You can sign up to the Rebuilding Heritage mailing list to get receive further news on project developments and receive new resources straight to your inbox.

Digital Heritage Hub – 100 Free Resources for the Sector

We are delighted to have jointly announced the formal launch of Digital Heritage Hub – a new tool for the sector offering 100 free resources on digital.

The resources, which include 40 produced by our Heritage Digital consortium,  are centred around 4 key topics: content, engagement, leadership, and planning.

#HeritageChat - Heritage Skills

May’s #HeritageChat will discuss Heritage Skills in collaboration with The Heritage Alliance’s Skills, Education & Engagement Advocacy Group (SEEAG).

Please share the questions you would like to see discussed here by 9 May.  The questions will be published ahead of the chat from the @HeritageChat account, and on the dedicated page on the HEF website.

Join us for the chat on Twitter on 17 May, 1-2pm!

Welcome to Our New Alliance Members!

We are thrilled to announce that TDR Heritage and The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company have joined as members of The Heritage Alliance!

TDR Heritage is an accredited independent historic environment consultancy working across the UK. They offer heritage services across the full range of rural and urban assets, from historic buildings to designed landscapes and archaeological features and our clients include private owners as well as Historic England, SPAB [Alliance member], the Heritage Fund [Alliance member] and numerous local Councils. The team has particular expertise in grant applications - from initial scoping through to their evaluation, and the regeneration of historic high streets and townscapes.

The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company’s principal aim is to create an interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon Mound 1 ship to provide the best possible means of testing and understanding how the ship could have been used under a range of different conditions. The team bring their life experience and professionalism, combining historians, archaeologists, ship builders and project managers with the expertise of Southampton University to the project to resurrect King Raedwald’s burial ship and turn the famous ghost imprint into a living reality.

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Government News

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

Headlines

• Cultural Workers & Collections Targeted in Ukraine

• Restart Scheme Eligibility Expanded

• APPG Report on Levelling Up the Rural Economy

• Preparing for State Opening of Parliament on 10 May

News on Ukraine

From the Sector

The Museums Association has reported that Russian troops are targeting cultural workers and looting collections in Ukraine. Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, the director of the Art Arsenal cultural centre in Kyiv, has said that cultural workers are in danger for their work to preserve Ukrainian cultural identity and promote the country as a separate entity to Russia.

Unesco is asking UK organisations and civil society bodies to sign a letter calling on members of the Unesco World Heritage Committee to move the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee so it is not held in Kazan or under Russian presidency.

Italy has signed a decree enabling its heritage protection taskforce – the “Blue Helmets of Culture”, the first of its kind in the world – to operate overseas on direct request from Unesco, to help protect the world’s heritage.

Government Support

The UK Government has announced further import sanctions against Russia, and will also increase tariffs by 35 percentage points on around 130m worth of products from Russia and Belarus. The full guidance is here.

The Government’s Ukraine Extension Scheme opened on Tuesday, which will enable Ukrainians already in the UK on temporary visas to extend their stay in the country. Ukrainian nationals and their family members, who are granted a visa under this scheme or the existing Homes for Ukraine will be given three years’ leave in the UK, as well as full access to live, work and study in the UK. The number of visas issues through the Homes for Ukraine scheme is listed here.

The Home Office is hosting a further webinar on Ukraine: Guidance for Employers and Landlords this Friday, 6 May at 11am.

The guidance: Welcome: a guide for Ukrainians arriving in the UK has been updated, as well as the FAQs for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

COVID-19

Eligibility Criteria for Restart Scheme Expanded

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has updated the policy paper on the Restart Scheme, which started last year to support people back into employment after being out of work for longer periods due to impacts from COVID-19. The scheme has received a further expansion, so that claimants who are in receipt of Income Based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA IB) can be referred.

Recent Guidance

The guidance on the NHS Covid Pass has been updated (on 28 April) to state that NHS COVID Pass letters for international travel are now available for children aged 5 to 11 living in England, Wales and Isle of Man.

A reminder that all the current guidance relating to COVID-19 is collected here on the Government website. And we continue to collate relevant guidance for the heritage sector in our COVID-19 Hub. 

DCMS & Culture

New Draft Guidance on Protecting Cultural Objects on Loan

New draft guidelines have been published on the protection for cultural objects on loan to approved UK institutions. If implemented, these draft guidelines would allow approved institutions in England and Scotland to apply for a 3-month extension on top of the existing 12-month loan already in  place, subject to certain requirements.

Valuing Culture & Heritage Capital Conference Resources

Resources from the Valuing Culture & Heritage Capital Conference on 11 March have been added to the Culture and Heritage Capital portal. The information is divided into three categories including ‘Introduction to Culture and Heritage Capital’, ‘The Culture & Heritage Capital Framework’ and ‘Outputs to date and what’s coming up?’. The full document can be accessed here. This joins the ongoing data and research collected to help DCMS in policy and decision making on heritage- related projects.

The Rapid Evidence Assessment on Culture and Heritage Valuation Studies has also been updated with new values in the Evidence Bank.

VCSE COVID-19 Emergency Funding Package

An evaluation of the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) COVID-19 Emergency Package has been released. This £750 million funding package was aimed at supporting charities and other VCSE organisations during the pandemic. The data from September 2021 to February 2022 shows that over 14,000 organisations were supported, and that the majority of grant holders had the ability “to continue or extend their services”.

Guidance Updated on Reviewing a Listed Building

On 21 April, the guidance on making a request to review a listing decision made by the DCMS Secretary of State was updated. This is based on the existing statutory list of buildings of architectural or historical importance. It includes general information, timings, how to complete the review request form and submitting a listing review request.

Planning

Elizabeth Line to Open on 24 May

It has been confirmed that the Elizabeth Line will be opened to the public from 24 May. This new section of Crossrail will run between Abbey Wood and Paddington stations, and a special Sunday service will be running for the Platinum Jubilee weekend. It is expected that the full service will be running on this line in Autumn: from Reading through to Essex, via central London.

Energy Performance of Public Buildings

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has published the latest set of official statistics on the Energy Performance of Buildings Certificates in England and Wales (January to March 2022). This includes the energy efficiency of non-domestic buildings in England.

A reminder that from April 2023, a new extension of MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) will mean that UK landlords will be unable to grant or renew a policy for a tenant if their commercial property has an EPC rating of F or lower.

Recent research from Bensons Gas Engineering into Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings of rented non-domestic properties in the UK has shown that theatres, music halls and cinemas across the UK are the least likely to meet the new MEES regulations (with 47.2% having an EPD rating of F or G), followed by libraries and museums (with 37% having an EPC rating of F or G).

Environment

Updates on Selling Coal for Domestic Use in England

Enforcement checks to regulate the sale of coal for domestic use in England have been updated. If 'non-exempt appliances’ are used to sell unauthorised fuel to customers there is now no limit on how much the Court can fine you. More rules on using unauthorised fuel in smoke control areas can be found here.

APPG Report on Levelling Up the Rural Economy

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rural Business and the Rural Powerhouse has issued a report with the CLA [Alliance member]: ‘Levelling up the rural economy: an inquiry into rural productivity’. The Inquiry took evidence from more than 50 industry bodies, charities, campaign groups, academics and business leaders to inform recommendation that would result in a comprehensive plan for growth in the rural economy, were small towns and villages are currently 18% less productive than the national average. 

Statistical Digest for Rural England - April 2022 Edition 

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published the April 2022 Edition of the Statistical Digest for Rural England. This document includes the latest statistics on Businesses, Life Expectancy and Potential years of life lost in rural areas.

Education

Skills Bill Becomes Law

On 28 April, new laws were passed through the Skills and Post-16 Education Act to improve skills and provide training that will lead to more job opportunities across the country.

Important measures include ensuring local colleges develop skills plans, raising awareness of apprenticeships, T levels and traineeships, focusing on green skills, creating a flexible student loans system, checking the quality of learning provided by colleges, making essay mills a criminal offence and designing a unified skills system to meet employers’ standards.

‘Queen Elizabeth: A Platinum Jubilee Celebration’ Book for Primary Schools

State-funded primary schools in the UK will receive a commemorative book titled ‘Queen Elizabeth: A Platinum Jubilee Celebration’ from mid-May to celebrate the Jubilee. The book includes illustrations, information on historical events, a timeline of Queen Elizabeth’s life and other events of importance. Although it is aimed at children with a reading age of nine to ten years, adults can still read the book to other primary school children to help them get involved.

Education Secretary’s Speech on the Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy

On 22 April, the Secretary of State for Education Nadhim Zahawi gave a speech on the launch of the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy at The Natural History Museum. On the role of young people in tackling climate change, the Secretary of State announced that The National Education Park and The Climate Leaders Award will both be launching this autumn.

A natural history GCSE will also be put in place to educate students on sustainability within the school curriculum, and by September 2023 T Levels will be introduced as a mixture of A Levels and apprenticeships in agriculture, land management and production.

Brexit & Immigration

The guidance ‘advice for UK visa applicants and temporary UK residents’ has been updated to change the expiry date for a visa, leave or ‘exceptional assurance’ from 30 April 2022 to 31 May 2022. The Exceptional Assurance scheme enables people to apply for additional time to stay in the UK beyond the expiry date of their visa if they were not able to return to a country or territory as intended due to COVID-19.

For a round-up of recent guidance:

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.

The Historic Environment Forum Brexit FAQs Trello Board also sets out useful material to help the sector navigate the post-Brexit period.

Parliamentary & Other Government News

• The Elections Act has passed.
• DCMS has published a broadcasting white paper which aims to give broadcasters a more flexible remit and protecting viewers of streaming services from harmful content. 
• The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) is now in place, bringing together experts to build a gold standard around transition plans and to encourage firms to achieve a low-carbon economy.
• Lord Parkinson, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Arts), delivered a speech at the Venice Biennale, celebrating Sonia Boyce’s artwork and the British Pavillion. Boyce is the first black woman to represent the UK at the Biennale.
• DCMS have published a report on the UK Public Procurement through VCSEs, 2016-2020 containing important research and analysis.
• The Professional Qualifications Act had Royal Assent. The Government hopes the new law will strengthen UK professions and make it easier for UK professionals to practise overseas.
• Recent Appointments:
  • Professor Chris Gosden has been reappointed as a Trustee of the British Museum, until 1 August 2026.
  • Blake Shorthouse has been appointed as Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery for a four-year term lasting until 31 March 2026.
  • The Secretary of State has reappointed Liz Copper and Lady Moira Andrews as members of the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives for a four-year term starting in August.
  • Professor Dame Carol Black has been reappointed as the Chair of the British Library, and will serve a second term from 1 September.

Funding

Reminders that:

• The Social Investment business, a partner of the Architectural Heritage Fund [Alliance member] have launched a Recovery Loan Fund to help organisations impacted by Covid-19 to survive, recover and grow. The application deadline is 20 May 2022.
• The Government has updated its guidance collection on new levelling up and community investments with a technical note and application guidance for Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund. The application portal for this round will close on Wednesday 6 July 2022 and the Fund will run until 2024/25.

Seeking funding or 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.

Sector Digest

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

A Brief History of the English Mosque

In line with Eid al-Fitr, Historic England has published a blog into the architectural evolution of the mosque in Britain, from the conversion of houses to contemporary expressions of mosque architecture.

UK Heritage Pulse – First Wave Results

The National Lottery Heritage Fund [Alliance member] has published the first wave of results from the UK Heritage Pulse Survey (from 4 - 27 February 2022). The results show that despite economic challenges, confidence in the viability of heritage organisations responding was strong. You can sign up to be part of the Pulse Survey programme here.

Those who are part of Heritage Pulse receive regular and timely research updates designed to power recovery and reinvention in your organisation and across the sector. 

National Lottery Awards 2022 – Nominations Now Open

Nominations for the National Lottery Awards 2022 have now opened. The individual nomination categories for the panel to vote on are Heritage, Arts, Culture & Film, Community / Charity, Environment, Sport and Young Hero (under 25s). The National Lottery Project of the Year category is also open for National Lottery funded projects from any sector and will be decided by public vote. The deadline for nominations is midnight on 1 June.

Heritage Open Days - Registration Open

Organisations can now register their events for this year’s Heritage Open Days [Alliance member], which will run from 9-18 September. Last year nearly 4,000 events were set up across the country by local organisations to celebrate heritage and culture. The entry criteria require organisations to provide free entrance to events, offer something special, teach visitors something new and to take place within the festival dates. Registration is open until 1 August.

National Lottery Community Fund Strategy Review

The National Lottery Community Fund has created the ‘Putting Communities First: Strategy Renewal Survey’ to find out ways to improve their support to UK Communities. The online survey is open until 20 May and can be completed by organisations that have or have not received funding from the Fund.

Pending Decision on Cumbrian Coal Mine

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Michael Gove is considering plans to open a coal mine in Cumbria. A decision by Gove will be announced before 7 July and could be finalised by Mid-May.

Arts Council England Freelance : Futures Summer Programme

Arts Council England have commissioned a 9-week programme of free events (16 May – 15 July) FREELANCE : FUTURES to ‘build equitable conditions for freelancers working in culture.’ This will be divided into three sections:

• Getting Informed, Resourced & Connected (16 May – 10 June)
• Virtual Gathering, Working Together & Creating Change (13 – 17 June)

• Continuing The Work, Embedding Shifts & Defining Next Actions (20 June – 15 July)

We Design for the Community

‘We design for the community’ is a programme has been created to pair design students with London organisations that require communications support. The programme is for current students on a graphic design, photography, illustration, journalism, creative writing course and it will give them experience within the sector. It is free to take part in the programme and the deadline to show interest is 16 May.

Queen Britain Now Open

The UK’s first national LGBTQ+ museum has opened in King’s Cross, London. Queer Britain includes four galleries, a workshop, gift shop, education space and it will be open Wednesday – Sunday (12-6pm). The first temporary display ‘Welcome to Queer Britain’ will run for eight weeks and more information on the museum can be found on the museum website.

Activists Continue Calls for British Museum to Cut Ties with BP

Pressure is continuing to be placed on the British Museum to end their sponsorship with BP from groups including BP or Not BP and Culture Unstained. On 23 April, BP or Not BP occupied four rooms in The British Museum with 10-metre long logos labelled ‘Drop BP’.

Alliance Member News

A snapshot of the current work of our members.

Consultations

Open Consultations (with closing dates):

• DfE - Higher Education Policy Statement & Reform - 6 May 
• DfE - Lifelong Loan Entitlement - 6 May
• DEFRA - Environment Act 2021: environmental targets - 11 May
• DEFRA - Nature recovery green paper - 11 May
• Government Equalities Office - LGBT+ Business Champion’s call to engage: inclusion at work – 12 May

• DLUHC - Technical consultation on street naming – 22 May

• BEIS - Technical proposals for the Energy Bills Support Scheme – 23 May

• DfT - Improving signage at private level crossings – 1 June

• DCMS - Online Advertising Programme consultation - 1 June

• DLUHC - Independent Review of Social Cohesion and Resilience: call for evidence – 2 June

• DHSC - Mental health and wellbeing plan: discussion paper and call for evidence – 5 July

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

Events

Upcoming Heritage Events - Quick Look

• 7 May - Conference: The Future of Genealogy- Young Genealogists at the Helm, Society of Genealogists

• 10 May - May Second Tuesday Talk, Sharing, preserving, displaying and rethinking material culture - YCCC

• 11 May - Working with and Engaging Young Adults in Heritage, Heritage Trust Network

• 16 May - Victorian Short Story Reading Group, The Victorian Society

• 18 May - High Street Regeneration: Why Heritage is Key, Heritage Trust Network

• 24 May - The Doctor's Garden (online lecture), Georgian Group
• 24 & 25 May - Icon Conference 2022: Reaching Out for Recognition

• 25 May - Free Training from London Historic Buildings Trust: Ensure Good Governance

• 9 June - Free Training from London Historic Buildings Trust: Understand Funding and Finance

• 16-17 June: AIM Conference 2022

• 22 June - Free Training from London Historic Buildings Trust: Establish a Meanwhile Use

• 23 June - Liverpool – One Year On, World Heritage UK

• 28 June - Reinterpreting Horace Walpole's Little Gothic Castle: Strawberry Hill (online lecture), Georgian Group

Courses

Upcoming Heritage Courses:

• 6 - 7 May: An Introduction to Letter Cutting in Stone, SPAB
• 9 - 13 May: The Repair of Old Buildings Course, SPAB
• 10/11/12 May: Fundamentals of Disability Inclusion ('Talking Action' Accessibility session), Historic England
• 17/18/19 May: Supporting Disabled Employees ('Talking Action' Accessibility session), Historic England
• 19 May: Uncovering Historic Research: How to Find Out More About Your Locality or a Particular Building’s History, TDR Heritage
• 24/25/26 May: Accessibility in the Built Environment ('Talking Action' Accessibility session), Historic England
• 20 - 21 May: An Introduction to Ornamental Lime Plastering, SPAB
• April - June: Photographing Old Buildings Online Workshop, SPAB
• 12 May - 21 November: Libraries Preservation & Collections Care – West Dean College of Arts and Conservation & British Library
• 17 October – 26 November: Understanding Your Old House Course, SPAB
• 5 Nov 2022 - 10 Dec 2022: Researching 17th Century Ancestors, SoG

Jobs

Salaried

Unsalaried

Trustees - Maritime Heritage Trust

Maritime Heritage Trust (MHT) [Alliance member] is a membership charity supporting maritime heritage projects and vessel owners across the UK. They are now looking for new Trustees to help reshape and renew the organisation’s approach to safeguarding and promoting all aspects of maritime heritage.

Closing date: 20 May 2022
Location: online

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.

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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 468 - Thurs 19 May (content deadline: Fri 13 May)
• Issue 469 - Thurs 2 June (content deadline: Fri 27 May)
• Issue 470 - Thurs 16 June (content deadline: 10 June)
• Issue 471 - Thurs 30 June (content deadline: 24 June)

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.

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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.