Church Tourism Week, an annual celebration of heritage and historic churches, takes place nationwide this week, between 20th and 29th July. The programme, co-ordinated by The Churches Conservation Trust, in partnership with other heritage bodies, highlights the UK’s exceptional ecclesiastical heritage. The events and activities …

This fortnight, numerous bodies published their annual reports and accounts for the past year. DCMS’s annual report and accounts can be viewed here. The report includes a commitment to ‘implement the actions set out in the ‘Heritage Statement 2017’ to maximise the benefits and impact of …

ACEVO and Institute of Fundraising (IoF) have published a report on racial diversity in the heritage sector. The report highlights that the voluntary sector is failing to accurately reflect ethnic diversities in its employees. ACEVO’s Pay and Equalities survey 2018, for example, found that only 3% …

The Government has released this year’s statistics for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for domestic and non-domestic properties covering England and Wales, and Display Energy Certificates (DECs) for buildings occupied by public authorities in England and Wales. The report showed that, in the year ending June …

An amendment to the Rating and Council Tax Bill in the House of Lords has increased the powers of local councils to tackle empty homes. Originally, the legislation allowed councils to double the rate of taxation on properties that have been empty for 2 years …

The Government has released a paper outlining its approach to furthering Local Enterprise Partnerships. The document sets out how Government proposes to work together with Local Enterprise Partnerships to strengthen leadership and capability, improve accountability, manage risk, and provide clarity on geography. Within the paper, …

The Government has published an Employer Toolkit to help employers support EU citizens on the EU Settlement Scheme, which allows EU citizens to apply for ‘settled status’. The EU Settlement Scheme will be phased in later this year and be fully open by the end of …

DCMS has published their annual Community Life Survey.  The survey found that 22% of those who took part volunteered formally at least once a month, while 75% had given to charity in the 4 weeks before completing the survey. The report includes a chapter on Volunteering …

The Government has invited local councils to apply for powers to retain the growth in their business rates, under new pilots. The new pilots will allow councils to retain 75% of the growth in income raised through business rates. The scheme hopes to incentivise local authorities …

Following the Honor Foundation Trust Policy Forum, Fjordr Limited has published a report detailing the historical and archaeological interest in shipwrecks alongside nine other sectors in the UK, such as Commemoration, Fishing, and Nature Conservation, to facilitate dialogue, integration and better protection of the archaeological value of shipwrecks wherever …

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has released its annual report for 2017/18, which shows a record number of civil monetary penalties for that year. The report detailed that UK Charities received 11 fines, totalling £138,000 to UK charities for unlawfully processing personal data between April …

The Government has responded to the eight recommendations of Steve Holliday’s Review into Full-Time Social Action for Young People. In response to the recommendations, which aim to remove the barriers discouraging participation and create an environment where full-time social action opportunities are more accessible, the Government …