The Heritage Alliance recently announced that as part of The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Digital Skills for Heritage campaign, they have been awarded a grant to increase the amount of free advice and support available to heritage organisations in the digital sphere. They are leading a unique consortium supported by Media Trust, Charity Digital, and Naomi Korn Associates to deliver Heritage Digital, a digital skills training programme to build the capacity of over 2,000 heritage organisations across the UK. It will be open to all heritage organisations across the UK, whether a museum, archive, historic house, heritage railway, archaeological site, local authority, private or independent site (to name a few examples).

Although the training programme will not start until September, it is already possible to register your details (click here to do so) on the temporary landing page, to be kept informed of all the Heritage Digital events, news and developments at this stage. By registering your details, you can also select to take part in consultation work that will help The Heritage Alliance shape the programme’s content, regionality and delivery methods, according to your needs and priorities. They will be beginning consultation work next week, so this is an opportune time to register interest and have your needs heard.

Finally, as part of the programme The Heritage Alliance are seeking volunteer Heritage Experts to help shape and tailor the Heritage Digital programme, as well as support its delivery. They would love to hear from anyone with experience, interesting case studies, or expert knowledge in the field. The Heritage Alliance are looking for experts from a variety of heritage organisations across the sector, and whether you have one success story, or have worked in the digital heritage sector throughout your career, they want to hear from you. Simply email Carmen Talbot, Heritage Digital Project Manager, The Heritage Alliance, at HeritageDigital@theheritagealliance.org.uk.

Historic Environment Scotland’s survey on the needs of the heritage sector during, and beyond, the emergency period closes today.  To paint as broad and accurate a picture as possible, please take the time to share your views. You can help us understand the current position and outlook as businesses, organisations and community groups within Scotland’s historic environment sector. The survey will be open until midnight tonight, Thursday 30 April.
https://consultations.historicenvironment.scot/development-partnership/covid-19-impact-survey/

We have updated our COVID-19 Funding Advice page, of note is the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fair Work and Culture to the  Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee. .

Ms Hyslop also responded today to our request for information on HES grant funding:

With respect to your query about HES grant funding, please be assured that I am aware of the valuable support that this money provides to the wider heritage sector and recognise the need to provide clarity on this issue as a priority.  

My officials are working closely with HES to understand the specific support that the heritage sector might require beyond that which is available through existing schemes. The focus of that work is on addressing not just the immediate needs of the sector, but the longer-term support that may be required to aid recovery. The results of the survey that you have been involved with will no doubt provide important data in this regard and I know my officials will welcome your intelligence and insights.

There can be little doubt that we are only in the very early stages of a major financial challenge. The Scottish Government 2020-21 Budget funding allocated to HES was based on it generating almost 75% of its income through commercial activity. This is now impossible and the impact on the heritage sector of prolonged periods of social distancing, without international visitors to Scotland will likely be profound.

BEFS will be providing these short updates weekly when relevant information for the built environment sector becomes available, in addition to the fortnightly bulletin.

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Historic Environment Scotland have launched a new survey to understand the impacts of this fast-changing situation on the historic environment sector across Scotland. To paint as broad and accurate a picture as possible, please take the time to share your views. You can help us understand the current position and outlook as businesses, organisations and community groups within Scotland’s historic environment sector.

The survey will be open until Thursday 30 April.
https://consultations.historicenvironment.scot/development-partnership/covid-19-impact-survey/

We have updated our COVID-19 Funding Advice Table with links to the Scottish Government’s Wellbeing Fund being delivered through the SCVO.  The National Lottery Heritage Fund opened its Emergency Fund to applications yesterday

The Scottish Government has laid regulations in the Scottish Parliament for the regulatory planning process to continue during this emergency period. These include the temporary steps to suspend need for (i) public events in pre-application consultation, (ii) local review bodies meeting in public and (iii) hard copies of EIA reports in physical places. Guidance will be forthcoming, full legislation details are here.

BEFS received the following response to its submission on energy efficiency on owner occupied homes: “at this moment we have had to postpone the analysis of the responses whilst we turn our efforts towards the Covid-19 response.” This gives some indication of the delay we can anticipate across a number of agendas.

During these extraordinary times, BEFS will be providing these short updates weekly when relevant information for the built environment sector becomes available, in addition to the fortnightly bulletin.

From across the breadth of the sector we are, understandably, hearing concerns in relation to the impact of the pandemic. BEFS has gathered the current information available from funders and organisations into tables below (updated weekly).

As the situation changes and develops, the information will likely change. However, this overview of guidance and updates should provide an indication of where to find support for you and your organisation at this challenging time.

• For any medical information please refer to: https://www.nhsinform.scot/coronavirus
• For any Scottish Government information please go to: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/

Whilst this is an extremely uncertain time for all, do remember that organisations are constantly adjusting to changing circumstances, and they too need time to make sure their advice is accurate and current.

Download a Pdf of the tables here.

If there is relevant information we have not included in the tables below, do please get in contact.

ADVICE FROM FUNDING ORGANISATIONS

GUIDANCE FROM HERITAGE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT ORGANISATIONS

Organisational Updates and Information

We are looking for case studies of projects or initiatives undertaken between April 2019 and March 2020.

Your project would feature in our Historic Environment Case Studies database and be linked to the Our Place in Time (OPiT) performance report 2020.

As agreed by the Strategic Historic Environment Forum last year, the Scottish Historic Environment Audit (SHEA) and OPiT evidence base will be brought together for 2020 (and onwards).

This is an opportunity for you to showcase your work within the national strategy for the historic environment, contributing to the case for continued government support for the sector.

Please submit your case study via the link below by Friday 24 July 2020.

The Scottish Government published its Budget 2020-21 on 6 February with details on the funding of Historic Environment Scotland within the Culture, Tourism and External Affairs portfolio.

The total budget for HES in 2020-21 is £100.1 million, an increase of 7%.

Capital Expenditure remains at £6 million but the rest of the grant has increased to £33.8 million, an increased of 10% following a 5% reduction the previous year. This is against HES generating a forecast income of £63.3 million, a 6% increase over the previous period.

While the Draft Budget states that HES will continue to dispense grants it does not specify the amount. The overall increase in the budget is to be welcomed.

Historic Environment Scotland Priorities

In 2020-21 HES will:

• continue to deliver ‘Our Place in Time: the Historic Environment Strategy for Scotland’;
• offer grant support to help regenerate and promote the active use, care and maintenance of the historic environment, promoting sustainable economic development and reinforcing local identity;
• provide expert advice and guidance to deliver the right balance between conservation and sustainable change;
• promote learning and education to enhance knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of the historic environment;
• continue to play a leading role in supporting our understanding of climate change and its impacts on the historic environment; and
• support the maintenance of traditional skills and provide young people with opportunities to develop new skills.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) Spending Plans (Level 3)

What the Historic Environment Scotland budget does

Historic Environment Scotland is the lead public body for the historic environment in Scotland, and takes the lead in delivering Scotland’s historic environment strategy ‘Our Place in Time’, in addition to having delegated responsibility for the care and management of Scottish Ministers’ Properties in Care. A significant portion of the grant-in-aid funding which Historic Environment Scotland receives is passed on to Scottish communities by way of grant schemes which fund the regeneration of Scotland’s town centres and the repair of historic buildings.

Full details.

All political parties with representation in the previous Westminster Parliament have now produced their manifestos. BEFS has undertaken an overview of policy commitments that would appear to have implications for Scotland’s historic environment and is grateful to Newsdirect for providing helpful summaries to work from.

If you are looking for specific policies on architecture, archaeology, heritage, landscape, planning, surveying or conservation you need read no further. But you will find policies that would impact on these areas if implemented.

Conservative & Unionist Party

• Introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system
• Create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will replace the “overly bureaucratic” EU Structural Funds and will match the size of those funds for each nation

Full manifesto details Get Brexit Done: Unleash Britain’s Potential

Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party

• Continue to commit £1.4bn to Growth Deals across Scotland and deliver Deals for Falkirk and the Islands

Full manifesto details No to Indyref 2

You will also find interesting analysis of UK manifestos from the Heritage Alliance and the Carbon Brief.

Scottish Green Party

• Set conditions for Scottish content in supply chains where possible, such as through the leasing process. This should include consideration of embedded carbon emissions including within international travel
• Directly invest in deployment of innovative renewables, energy storage, energy efficiency and development of their supply chains
• Adopt a target of all homes reaching Energy Performance Standard C or above by 2030.
• Provide more funding for skills development, training and apprenticeships.
• Create a new funded programme of deep-retrofits of fuel-poor households and social housing, using approaches like “Energiesprong” that is currently being trialled in Nottingham.
• Require new homes to meet passivhaus or other net-zero standards, be connected to the public transport system and be built in areas that are not in flood-risk zones.

Full manifesto details Scottish Green New Deal

Scottish Labour Party

• Create a regeneration fund to provide an economic boost to Scotland’s high streets
• Ensure small businesses are part of the procurement supply chain to strengthen local jobs and supply chains
• Continue investments in apprenticeships and ensure they are tied closely to the labour market
• Legislate to restrict the amount of land that one individual can own, and prevent land ownership via offshore tax havens
• Complete a public register of landowners as a necessary step to improve transparency and enable meaningful land reform
• Develop a Community Land Fund in line with the recommendations in UK Labour’s ‘Land for the Many’ proposals along with long-term revenue support for community buy-outs
• Use regulation to intervene when land is not used in ways that serve the public interest
• Retrofit all houses to the highest energy efficiency standards, backed by the National Transformation Fund, to reduce fuel poverty and fuel bills among those living in rural areas
• Develop a new sustainable national plan for tourism based on improving the offer to visitors while reducing resource use and waste, reducing the transport impact, protecting the natural and cultural heritage
• Implement the tourist tax and a land value capture tax
• Review the business rates system by engaging more widely than the present Scottish Government
• Recommend the creation of a new Land and Communities Development Agency in Scotland
• Invest £6bn from the UK’s National Transformation Fund to upgrade almost all of Scotland’s 2.6 million homes to the highest energy efficiency standards
• Provide an initial £10bn investment to kickstart a social house building programme in Scotland, building 12,000 eco-friendly social and council homes a year for ten years, with local government and housing associations receiving two thirds of the funding required to build these homes
• Legislate to bring energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector in line with the social sector

Full manifesto details Real Change for the Many Not the Few

Scottish Liberal Democrat Party

• Ensure that the National Infrastructure Commission takes fully into account the climate and environmental implications of all national infrastructure decisions
• Prioritise government spending on the things that matter most to people’s wellbeing with the money for Scotland to match them
• Develop a national skills strategy for key sectors, including zero-carbon technologies, to help match skills and people
• Establish creative enterprise zones to grow and regenerate the cultural output of areas across the UK
• Create an emergency programme to insulate all Britain’s homes by 2030, cut emissions and end fuel poverty, working in partnership with the Scottish Government to provide the resources
• Work across the four UK administrations on a framework for agricultural support payments to support the public goods that come from effective land management
• Extend the involvement of the Scottish Government in the development of UK policy on work permit and student visas

Full manifesto details Stop Brexit, Stop Independance: Build a Brighter Future

Scottish National Party

• Seek the devolution of immigration
• Demand the UK stops “short-changing” Scotland on city and region deals and urge the UK Government to deliver Growth Deals for those areas of Scotland yet to receive them
• Support a more ambitious Islands Growth Deal
• Call on the UK Government to examine a reduction in VAT for the hospitality sector
• Call for a reduction in VAT on energy efficiency improvements in homes
• Put the transition to net-zero at the heart of the Scottish National Investment Bank’s work
• Oppose Conservative plans to introduce a minimum salary threshold for admittance to the UK

Full manifesto details Stronger for Scotland

Green Party

Remain in the European Union and enshrine Freedom of Movement as a core principle of the EU.

Full manifesto details If Not Now, When?

Labour Party

• Establish a “humane” immigration system built on human rights to meet the needs of the economy and public services
• Provide Scotland with at least £100bn of additional resources over two terms, which Labour want to see £10bn from our new National Transformation Fund invested in the building of 120,000 council and social homes in Scotland over the next ten years, creating up to 50,000 jobs
• Invest £6bn in retrofitting houses across Scotland, which will help tackle the climate emergency and lower bills, end fuel poverty and create 35,000 jobs
• Provide the Scottish National Investment Bank, under Scottish control, with £20bn of lending power to deliver funds to local projects and Scotland’s small businesses

Full manifesto details It’s Time for Real Change

Liberal Democrat Party

• Maintain EU freedom of movement by stopping Brexit
• Continue to develop city deals in Scotland

 Full manifesto details Stop Brexit: Build a Brighter Future

You will also find interesting analysis of UK manifestos from the Heritage Alliance and the Carbon Brief.