On 3rd November 2018, The Communities Secretary, James Brokenshire, has announced a new commission to champion beauty in the built environment. Click here to find out more. The ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful’ Commission is intended: • To gather evidence from stakeholders and other sources. The Commission will …
Government rejects calls to reduce VAT on listed buildings
HM treasury has responded to the petition promoted by the Listed Property Owners’ Club to reduce VAT to 5% on repairs and approved alterations to listed buildings. The petition, which closes on 2 January 2019 and has reached 11,282 signatures so far, stemmed from LPOC’s awareness of …
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock speaks on the benefits of arts on wellbeing
“We know what the NHS does is life-saving. But what the arts and social activities do is life-enhancing.” Recalling the 2017 Creative Health report produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing, the HSC Secretary Matt Hancock spoke on 6 November 2018 to the …
Mims Davies appointed as minister for sport and civil society
Following Tracey Crouch’s resignation, the Government appointed Mims Davies as Minister for sport and civil society on 5 November 2018. Davies has been the Conservative MP for Eastleigh since 2015. She was previously Assistant Government Whip from January to November 2018, and Parliamentary Under Secretary …
Historic England publishes the November 2018 Planning Bulletin
Historic England has recently published its Planning Bulletin for November, highlighting some of the recent and forthcoming developments in planning legislation and policy. Among other news, it is worth noting that the Environmental Assessments and Miscellaneous Planning (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 has been published to ensure …
First Memorial Unveiled at St Pancras International to Mark WW1 Centenary
We were honoured to join the Railway Heritage Trust and Historic England at the unveiling of the memorial at St Pancras International last Thursday. This is the first memorial in the station and reflects on the vital role of railways in both world wars. This …
Electronic publications: Council adopts reform allowing reduced VAT rates
On 6 November 2018, the Council of the EU adopted a directive allowing alignment of VAT rules for electronic and physical publications. From now on, member states will be able to apply reduced, super-reduced or zero VAT rates also to electronic publications. The adoption of …
Fighting back against Heritage Crime
The Churches Conservation Trust is fighting against an epidemic of heritage crime that has afflicted many churches, including those of the Trust. Metal theft is having a terrible impact at a number of our most cherished sites, with damage to roofs inevitably leading to interior …
Less hate speech and more European content on video streaming services: Council adopts new EU rules
As a result of updates by the EU to its rules for audiovisual media services, traditional television and new services such as on-demand broadcasting will compete on a level playing field. Video sharing platforms will also for the first time be subject to rules ensuring …
Guidance for the Rationalisation of Museum Archaeology Collections
The pressure that archaeological museums face in terms of a lack of storage space, staff reductions and a loss of expertise are well-known. Rationalisation (i.e. a selection strategy, with the purpose of de-selecting parts of the collection) is being increasingly suggested as one way to …
Grants Through the Association of Independent Museums
The Association of Independent Museums (AIM) [Alliance member] will be granting awards of up to £12,000 to its members in England through the new AIM Hallmarks Awards. Funded by Arts Council England through AIM, the AIM Hallmarks Awards will provide grants available in two strands: Main grants …
Creative Industries Federation introduces the Student Ambassador Programme
In order to raise awareness about career opportunities in the creative industries, the Creative Industries Federation is piloting a new Student Ambassador Programme. Student Ambassadors will act as representatives for the Creative Industries Federation at their universities, interviewing alumni from their universities who are currently …