The Background to our Campaign

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‘The Historic Environment’ is all around us. It is both the special monuments and the everyday features that have developed through human history. It is the evidence that people have left behind of 10,000 years of living in Scotland. It includes everything from archaeological remains to great castles; from terraced houses to ornate gardens. From the mid-1990s it has become increasingly clear that these things are too often being taken for granted, so a very basic audit was commissioned by what has become the LINK/BEFS Historic Environment Review Taskforce (HERT). This was the beginning of the long journey that has resulted in the Bigger Picture campaign.

May 2001 Launch of the Historic Environment Audit, plus the 10-Point Plan of action, the first and overarching point being: ‘There is a clear and pressing need for a major independent review of the way we care for the Historic Environment in Scotland.’

October 2001 Meeting of many of the main Scottish organisations concerned with the care of the Historic Environment. Endorsement of the action points in the 10-Point Plan, and mandate for the Taskforce to take this forward with the Scottish Executive.

June 2002 HERT meet Elaine Murray, Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. The Minister agrees that Historic Scotland and HERT should begin a dialogue to scope a review.

June 2003 First meeting of the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland (HEACS), a Ministerial advisory group. One of their five initial tasks is to investigate whether there is a need for a ‘heritage audit’.

November 2003 HERT and HEACS meet to discuss how to help each other. HERT agree to organise background research to feed into Scoping Meetings to look at the nature and extent of a Review/Audit.

February 2004 HERT hold three Scoping Meetings, each with around 25 participants, to look into the main issue surrounding the Historic Environment and People, Values and Managing Change: results posted on BEFS website in March.

May 2004 Announcement of Culture Commission which will review Scottish culture, including passing mentions of heritage in its remit.

June 2004 After extensive consultation, the advocacy document The Bigger Picture is launched in Edinburgh, promoting a strategic Scottish Historic Environment Auditing Framework and State of the Historic Environment Reporting.

June 2004 HEACS due to release their draft findings to Stakeholders in order to elicit views before finally reporting to Ministers.

Before the end of 2004 we hope that Scottish ministers will have had enough time to listen to what this broad range of stakeholders has to say. A Scottish Executive Policy on the Historic Environment, also to be developed in partnership with stakeholders, has been promised: we hope that our calls for annual reporting underpinned by a strategic framework will be central to that Policy.