Abstract
On the 26th June 2013, plans were announced to split English Heritage - the public body responsible for the protection of England’s historic environment—into two separate organisations. In December 2013, the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport released a consultation document outlining the proposed changed and the justifications for them in greater detail. Under the plans the statutory duties toward heritage that English Heritage currently fulfils will remain under government auspices, while the management of its 400+ properties will be spun off into a self-funded charitable company by 2023. This paper lays out these proposed changes as clearly as possible, considers their feasibility, and speculates on the effects they could have for English Heritage, the public it serves, and the wider heritage sector, both in England and the UK.
Highlights
On the 26th June 2013, plans were announced to split English Heritage—the non-departmental public body charged with the protection of England’s historic environment—into two separate organisations
The consultation document’s main justification for these visitor growth projections is the ‘rolling programme of major projects which the Government’s investment and third party funding will finance’ (DCMS 2013: 3.9). Offering support for this policy the document notes that English Heritage sites that received an investment in visitor exhibitions and facilities between 2003/4 and 2011/12 saw visitor numbers to those sites increase by 12.8% in this period (DCMS 2013: 3.5)
The proposals, the public, and the sector at large Having considered the proposals and the prospective challenges to their economic viability, I would like to consider the effects that such changes, in their current form might have, both for the public and for the sector more broadly. How may these proposals affect the public? It appears that the creation of Historic England will work as a further branding exercise for the government, as the consultation document notes that the newly formed organisation offers an ‘opportunity to develop a stronger public facing role...to deepen people’s desire and ability to care for England’s heritage’ (DCMS 2013: 4.8)
Summary
On the 26th June 2013, plans were announced to split English Heritage—the non-departmental public body charged with the protection of England’s historic environment—into two separate organisations. English Heritage will be divided into two organisations (see Figure 2) The statutory duties it currently fulfils as the government’s advisor on the historic environment (e.g. advising on planning applications, scheduling etc.) will be retained as an executive non-departmental public body renamed Historic England and be funded to the tune of £69m per annum. The current operational side of the organisation (which runs the National Heritage Collection) will become a charitable company and apparently, by 2023, be entirely self-funding This new charity will be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for. Operational costs (£m) Running the properties Caring for our collections Development and fundraising costs
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