The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee held an evidence session for its Rural tourism in England inquiry to discuss the challenges in balancing environmental issues with expanding rural tourism. Paul Forecast, Director, Eastern England, National Trust [Alliance member] gave evidence in the first …
Latest museum visitor numbers
DCMS has released visitor figures for 15 sponsored museums for the period April 2015 – March 2016. In 2015/16 there were 47.6 million visits to DCMS-sponsored Museums. This was a decline of 6.2 per cent on 2014/15, but only a decline of 2.8 per cent when …
Allchurches trust announces £13 million grants for churches and charities
The Allchurches Trust has announced grants from its most recent funding round and invited more local churches and charities to ask for Allchurches’ support. Last year it gave grants totalling more than £13 million to charities and church groups all over the UK and Eire, …
Local Government Finance Bill factsheets
DCLG has published factsheets providing background information on the measures within the Local Government Finance Bill. Those which may be of interest to the sector include Factsheet 6: 100% business rates retention, Factsheet 12: property owner business improvement districts (BIDs), and Factsheet 13: rural rate relief.
House of Lords debate on memorials and statues
On 9 February at 1.00 pm in the Lords Grand Committee there will be a short debate on the protection of existing historical statues and memorials and establishment of new memorials that reflect broader UK history.
Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill – Report Stage and Third Reading
The final debating stages (Report and Third Reading) have been allocated a provisional business slot on Monday 20th February. Last year the Alliance attended a round table discussion on the type of cultural property which should be protected and we expressed concerns on, among other …
Neighbourhood Planning Bill – Committee Stage
The Neighbourhood Planning Bill has reached committee stage in the House of Lords. Among the amendments tabled was one by Baroness Andrews which would require a planning authority to compulsory purchase a listed building or a building in a conservation area where it had the power to …
Volunteering in heritage industries
An amendment to the National Citizen Service Bill has been tabled to address concerns over youth volunteering in heritage industries. As reported in Heritage Update 337 and Heritage Update 336, Lord Faulkner of Worcester stated that the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act 1920 prevented …
The value of cultural learning
The Cultural Learning Alliance (CLA) has published Imagine Nation: the value of cultural learning on how studying arts and culture changes and shapes the lives of children and young people. The report calls for every effort to be made to halt the erosion of the …
Tribute to Alexander Richard Hamilton OBE
We are saddened to announce that Alexander Richard Hamilton passed away on the 7th of January 2017 after dedicating more than 25 years to Maritime Heritage through his involvement with the Cutty Sark and the Maritime Heritage Trust [Alliance member]. His obituary in The Times …
Modern Industrial Strategy and the heritage sector
The Government has published its ‘modern industrial strategy’ in a Green Paper, which proposes ‘sector deals’ to address sector-specific challenges and opportunities. The creative industries, which includes the heritage sector, was one of five specific sector deals announced in the consultation. The paper notes that …
Brexit White Paper published
The Government has published a White Paper which is intended to provide a clear vision of what the UK is seeking to achieve in negotiating our exit from, and new partnership with, the European Union. The Heritage Alliance is working closely with Government and other …