The Private Members Bill, introduced by Lord Faulkner of Worcester, is intended to permit young persons to carry out voluntary work on a heritage railway or tramway, has had its first reading. An amendment to the National Citizen Service Bill was unsuccessfully tabled to address concerns over youth …

Jim Shannon, DUP asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is providing to ensure that historical and church buildings in Mosul are rebuilt. Alistair Burt, Minister of State, replied that ‘The UK condemns Daesh’s destruction of historical and religious buildings …

Dame Helen Ghosh has announced she will be leaving her role as Director General of the National Trust [Alliance member] in March, next year. Helen, who has led the conservation charity since 2012, will take up a new position as the Master of Balliol College, at Oxford …

DCMS has published its 2016-17 Annual Report and Accounts. The document provides a comprehensive account of DCMS’ use of resources and information about activities. On the objective to  ‘Promote understanding of, and access to, the historic environment so that people can appreciate and enjoy heritage assets’ DCMS …

A £10 million grant scheme to restore England’s iconic peatlands has officially opened for bids. Funding will be made available for schemes that restore upland and lowland peatlands, create habitats for vulnerable wildlife, reduce flood risk by slowing rain water flow and increase carbon capture.

The legislation for the museums and galleries tax relief was delayed due to the general election. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury has now confirmed in a written ministerial statement that Government intends to introduce a Finance Bill as soon as possible after the summer recess. This …

Secretary of State Michael Gove has set out his vision on the future of our environment post Brexit. The Heritage Alliance will be meeting Mr Gove in October to discuss how we can better protect rural heritage once we have left the CAP. We also recently attended …

The study looks at the possibility of reducing local opposition to new housing through the use of financial payments to those affected. The study found that 10% felt that a direct financial payment would or might reduce their opposition to housing development; 6% said it would, …

Coventry, Paisley, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Swansea have been shortlisted to host UK City of Culture 2021, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, John Glen has announced. Hull is the current City of Culture and its programme includes 365 days of cultural events. It is estimated that …

Last week the Heritage Alliance attended a Backing Beauty reception on Monday at which the Rt Hon John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Transport gave a speech.  Dame Helen Ghosh of the National Trust [Alliance member] also spoke. You can see highlights of the evening …

The Heritage Alliance attended the launch of #CultureIsDigital at the Natural History Museum. Ministers Matt Hancock and John Glen both stressed the importance of the cultural and digital world mixing. John Glen stated that he wanted to use the #CultureisDigital consultation ‘to come up with tangible outputs …

The UK Government will call for stronger efforts to return Nazi-looted art to its original owners at the first European conference dedicated to the issue in five years. Hundreds of experts from the UK, Germany, France, Holland, Austria and across the globe will gather in London in …