BEFS Bulletin – Analysis of Scottish Household Survey 2019
Get The Latest Built Environment News, Policy Developments, Publications, Consultations And More.
BEFS News
The Scottish Government has published the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2019 Annual Report as well as the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2019 Key Findings and supplementary analysis. The data can also be explored on an interactive dashboard Data Explorer, containing SHS data from 1999 to 2019. In addition this year a separate Culture and Heritage report based on the SHS data has been published. BEFS Policy & Strategy Manager Ailsa Macfarlane analyses the findings within the wider policy context here.
BEFS is organising a series of informal events to explore ideas on what ‘building back better’ could look like for the sector. Within this context, we are looking for your ideas and blue sky thinking on structural / strategic solutions that could fundamentally change the heritage landscape for the better. The deadline for submissions is Monday, 21st September.
The NLHF Business Support Programme has been developed by BEFS, Museums Galleries Scotland, and greenspace Scotland to support heritage organisations in Scotland to develop sustainable business models. The 18-month programme will deliver a comprehensive resilience and leadership training programme for approximately 40 heritage organisations in Scotland. To register your interest, please complete an Expression of Interest form by Friday 25th September 2020.
We have updated our overview of COVID-19 funding advice and guidance for the heritage and built environment sector here. The relaunch of the Heritage Funding Directory might be of particular interest. Managed by The Heritage Alliance and the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Heritage Funding Directory is a free guide to financial support for anyone undertaking UK related heritage projects.
Icon Scotland is welcoming BEFS Director Euan Leitch as the speaker for its 23rd annual Plenderleith Memorial Lecture. In 2020 BEFS in collaboration with Historic Environment Scotland created the COVID Historic Environment Resilience Forum (CHERF) to develop sector-wide strategies and guidance for rebuilding, recovery and strengthening resilience in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Euan will be sharing his unique insight into the findings. Book now!
Consultations
Short Term Lets: Consultation on a licensing scheme and planning control areas in Scotland
Opened 14 September and closes 16 Oct 2020.
Who get’s to speak in Scottish heritage? Can you help us improve the heritage data gap?
Community Council experience of the planning system during Covid-19L: Community Council Survey
External wall systems – advice note: background, consultation questions and response form
Town Centre Action Plan Expert Review Group – Online Survey
The survey will run until Wednesday 30th September 2020 at 17:00.
Scottish Planning Policy and Housing: Technical Consultation on Proposed Policy Amendments
Closes 9 Oct 2020.
A consultation on the future of the Land Court and the Lands Tribunal
Closes 19 Oct 2020.
Planning for the future (England)
Closes 29 October 2020.
Proposed Changes to Pre-Application Consultation Requirements in Planning
Closes 6 Nov 2020.
Call for Evidence on impact of COVID-19 on the rural economy and connectivity in Scotland
This is an open call for views and there is currently no deadline for responding.
The Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee has launched a call for views on the impact of COVID-19 on Scotland’s culture and tourism sectors.
There is currently no deadline for responding.
Publications
Scottish household survey 2019: annual report (SG 15/09/20)
Scottish household survey 2019: key findings (SG 15/09/20)
Scottish household survey 2019: supplementary analysis (SG 15/09/20)
Scottish household survey 2019: culture and heritage – report (SG 15/09/20)
Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for retail, tourism and hospitality customers (SG 11/09/20)
Coronavirus (COVID-19): tourism and hospitality sector guidance (SG 11/09/20)
Community Ownership in Scotland 2019 (SG 09/09/20)
Net zero: how government can meet its climate change target (IoG 07/09/20)
Scottish House Condition Survey: additional analysis (SG 03/09/20)
SURF COVID 19 – Lessons from the Frontline (SURF 09/20)
Better Than Before – A Scotland Built on Social, Economic, and Climate Justice (IPPR 09/20)
The Impact of Social Housing: Economic, Social, Health and Wellbeing (SFHA 08/20)
NI Heritage Statistics (HD 08/20)
Scottish Government News Releases
£16m to tackle fuel poverty (SG 16/09/20)
Fuel-poor households are to benefit from a further £16 million investment to improve energy efficiency in their homes.
Community spirit strengthens (SG 15/09/20)
Most people are happy with their neighbourhood, feel a strong sense of belonging and think their local heritage is well cared for, according to the latest Scottish Household Survey.
Living in Scotland in 2019 (SG 15/09/20)
Community feeling remains strong in Scotland with more than three-quarters of adults (78% in 2019) reporting a very or fairly strong sense of belonging to their neighbourhood.
Regulation of short-term lets (SG 14/09/20)
A consultation will gather final views on proposed new legislation for the regulation of short-term lets.
Building resilience for island communities (SG 13/09/20)
Island communities will benefit from a £2 million programme of locally-led green projects designed to help support their economic recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Regenerating communities (SG 11/09/20)
All of Scotland’s 32 local authorities and more than 25 individual community regeneration projects will receive a share of £30 million of new investment for regeneration and town centres.
Scotland’s green recovery (SG 04/09/20)
Nearly £1.6 billion to directly support up to 5,000 jobs and tackle fuel poverty is at the heart of plans to drive Scotland’s green recovery and end our contribution to climate change.
News Releases
PAC condemns “badly missed” target to make thousands of Grenfell-style cladding homes safe (UKP 16/09/20)
Three years after the Grenfell Tower disaster in which 72 people lost their lives, only a third (155 out of 455) of high-rise buildings with Grenfell-style flammable cladding due to be fixed by now have had their cladding replaced with a safe alternative.
All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on ‘Conservation People and Places’ (IHBC 11/09/20)
The new APPG was inaugurated on 10 September with the IHBC as its secretariat, chaired by Layla Moran MP, foreign affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, and with vice-chairs that span both Houses of Parliament and major political parties.
Sustaining Choices – Expression of interest (PAS 11/09/20)
We have been successful in gaining project funding from the Paths for All ‘Smarter Choices, Smarter Places’ fund to create mini, transport-focused action plans. We are currently inviting expressions of interest from local authorities and community groups to take part. The deadline for expressions of interest is 28 September.
HES partners on new project to assess Empire’s mark on key buildings (HES 10/09/20)
Researchers are reappraising Scotland’s built heritage to form a fuller picture of the British Empire’s impact on the country’s historical architecture.
Find out if you are eligible for support from the Cultural Recovery Fund (WG 09/09/20)
From Tuesday, 1 September organisations in the culture and heritage sector can find out if they are eligible to apply for financial support from the Welsh Government’s £53 million Cultural Recovery Fund.
IHBC ‘s CREATIVE Conservation Fund: New web page and guidance (IHBC 08/09/20)
The IHBC has launched an updated webpage on our new CREATIVE Conservation Fund – a dedicated fund exclusively delivering on the IHBC’s charitable activities such as the IHBC’s Gus Astley Student Awards and the 2021 Brighton School bursaries – with new guidance to help make this the sector’s ‘go to’ fund for anyone wanting to support conservation.
Scottish Civic Trust welcomes new Chair (SCT 03/09/20)
Landscape Architect Sue Evans has taken up her new role as Chair of the Scottish Civic Trust Board as of the 3rd September 2020.
£9.5m retrofit scheme to reduce Wales’ social housing carbon footprint (IHBC 01/09/20)
Wales has launched a new £9.5m programme to reduce the carbon footprint of existing social housing, make energy bills more manageable and provide new job opportunities.
Researchers to develop online remote building inspection platform (UoS 08/20)
Researchers at the University of Strathclyde have received funding to develop an online platform for remote building inspection.
Opinion & Comment
Tackling the Tricks of Volume House Builders (PD 11/09/20)
Building modern towns and cities: urban housing in Scotland (HES 11/09/20)
Parliamentary Questions
Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Scottish Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.
Question S5W-31843: John Finnie, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party, Date Lodged: 16/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the Member’s letter of 4 August and its reply of 3 September 2020, whether it will provide an answer to the request for it to commission independent research into the social and environmental impact of tourism.
Question S5W-31815: Andy Wightman, Lothian, Scottish Green Party, Date Lodged: 15/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comment by the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on 8 January 2020 that “we will review the tax treatment of short-term lets to ensure that they make an appropriate contribution to the communities that they operate in” (Official Report, c.37), what progress has been made with this review, and when the results will be published.
Question S5W-31745: Colin Smyth, South Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 10/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether it still aims to have zero or ultra-low emission city centres by 2030.
Question S5W-31751: Colin Smyth, South Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 10/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government how the £275 million regeneration fund announced in the Programme for Government will be allocated; when this funding will become available, and over how many years it will be spent.
Question S5W-31693: Willie Coffey, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 09/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the recent announcement that the culture and heritage sectors are to receive a £59 million funding package to protect jobs and help the industry weather the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when access to this funding package will be available; how this is being communicated to local cultural organisations; whether individuals can apply to the fund; how the fund will be disbursed; who will consider the bids, and how it will ensure the equanimity of awards so that all cultural communities will benefit.
Question S5W-31673: Maurice Golden, West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 08/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-31438 by Fiona Hyslop on 3 September 2020, how many awards from the culture and heritage support package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been allocated in each local authority area toward each of the 13 purposes set out in the response, also broken down by the (a) largest, (b) smallest and (c) average size of award.
Question S5W-31607: Colin Smyth, South Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 07/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been given to local authorities for monitoring Spaces for People schemes and the criteria for assessing whether measures can be made permanent.
Question S5W-31608: Colin Smyth, South Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 07/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government which (a) local authorities and (b) other public bodies have not yet completed the implementation of Spaces for People schemes.
Question S5W-31610: Colin Smyth, South Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 07/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects all Spaces for People schemes to be completed.
Question S5W-31593: Jackson Carlaw, Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 04/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government what recent work has taken place on establishing a Places of Worship fund, and whether this will be available at some point in 2020, as was planned prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Question S5W-31594: Jackson Carlaw, Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 04/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether its Places of Worship fund will still have a value of £500,000.
Question S5W-31595: Jackson Carlaw, Eastwood, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 04/09/2020
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made in determining how best to involve religious groups in formulating the Places of Worship fund, and to help with the development of it.
Parliamentary Questions & Answers
Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Government in order to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament.
Question S5W-31438: Maurice Golden, West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 26/08/2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £97 million of consequentials from the UK Government’s culture and heritage support package has been spent in Scotland.
Answered by Fiona Hyslop (03/09/2020)
Question S5W-31404: Neil Findlay, Lothian, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 24/08/2020
To ask the Scottish Government what long-term funding and support is in place for charities post COVID-19 to ensure that they can continue providing support at a (a) local and (b) national level.
Answered by Aileen Campbell (04/09/2020)
Question S5W-31402: Neil Findlay, Lothian, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 24/08/2020
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what urban and community regeneration projects are currently underway across Scotland.
Answered by Aileen Campbell (04/09/2020)
Question S5W-31401: Neil Findlay, Lothian, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 24/08/2020
To ask the Scottish Government what immediate steps it will take to ensure an energy efficient and climate driven economic recovery post COVID-19.
Answered by Roseanna Cunningham (09/09/2020)
Events
For the latest information about BEFS Members’ events see our events calendar.
Community Group Round Table Discussion: Planning and Land for Housing in Scotland
Date & time: 22 Sep 1100-1230
Online platform details: GoTo
Are you a community group in Scotland with views and experience of how land is allocated and developed for new homes through our planning system? The Scottish Government is currently running a consultation https://consult.gov.scot/planning-architecture/proposed-policy-amendments/ which may lead to changes to national planning policy relating to the delivery of new homes. PAS http://www.pas.org.,uk/ has been invited by the Scottish Government planning division to run an online discussion group for a range of community group representatives. We are currently seeking expressions of interest from community groups who would be interested in participating.
RIAS Convention 2020: WITH THE GRAIN
Date: Monday 28th September – Friday 2nd October
Cost: £20 per person (A proportion of ticket sales will go to the Architects Benevolent Society)
Venue: Online event
WITH THE GRAIN will run throughout the week culminating on Friday with presentations from Roz Barr (Roz Barr Architects) Andy Groarke (Carmody Groarke), Andrew Waugh (Waugh Thistleton), William Mann (Witherford Watson Mann Architects) and a live Q&A panel session with them – chaired by Euan Leitch (Built Environment Forum Scotland). This online event will bring together architects, built environment professionals and the wider public for discussions around how we can work with nature, natural materials and our climate to build resilient communities – reshaping spaces, repurposing the buildings we live and work in and exploring innovative solutions from architects.
The STBA SPAB 2020 Online Conference
Dates: 6th, 8th and 13th October 2020.
Online platform: Zoom.
The long awaited (postponed from June) STBA and SPAB Annual Conference is set to take place, online, in early October. The conference will be split into three manageable chunks spread over three days. Each day will focus on key issues facing the traditional built environment and we have some of the countries leading speakers to help us understand the underlying issues, explore some potential solutions and then discuss all this together with a Q and A session at the end of each morning.
The Kassandra Project: harnessing climate change in the historic environment
Date & time: Wed, 7 October 2020; 16:00 – 17:00.
Online & Free.
The questions for the historic environment are multiple: how do we rapidly analyse complex multi-layered data that may influence climate change? How do we prepare for what may be an inevitable future? How do we harness the power of this change to adapt and create a new sustainable partnership with nature? How do we couple this with the enhancement of natural and built Heritage? Kassandra https://www.kassandraproject.org/ developed as part of the fight against climate change, is a multi-dimensional research and design approach that aims at promoting sustainable development by making historic cities more resilient to climate change and, via improved city planning and resource management, enhance the quality of the natural and built environment and the quality of life of its inhabitants.
RIAS Conservation Challenges 2020: Autumn Seminar
Date & time: 27 October 2020; 1pm to 4.45pm.
Location: Online
Cost: RIAS members free; Non-members £10
Presentations will include conservation theory, principles and challenges; stories of tenement improvements and deterioration; traditional window repairs; VAT rules and existing buildings; and conservation and the circular economy.
SPAB Scotland Online AGM and Quiz
Date & time: 28 October 2020 18:00 – 19:30
Online platform details: Zoom
Come and test your knowledge and join SPAB Scotland in a fun online quiz about Scotland’s Built Heritage. Prizes include a free year of membership for you or a friend, membership discounts and Morris and Co Merchandise. Due to the social distancing measures in place, SPAB Scotland will be holding their AGM virtually this year. We will be holding the AGM after the quiz has finished, so please feel free to invite friends and family to join the quiz. We will formally introduce our Guardians and Chair at the AGM. The AGM will also give our members the chance to ask the committee any questions you have, provide feedback and commentary. We look forward to seeing you there.
Icon Scotland – 23rd Plenderleith Memorial Lecture: 2020 – A great disruption or ‘plus ça change’?
Date & time: 26.11.2020 7pm – 8.30pm
Online platform details: Zoom webinar
Icon Scotland is delighted to welcome BEFS Director Euan Leitch as the speaker for its 23rd annual Plenderleith Memorial Lecture. BEFS have been integral in pulling different strands of the heritage sector together to develop policies and strategies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 BEFS created the COVID Historic Environment Resilience Forum in an attempt to understand the short and long term impacts of this unfolding event. Euan will be sharing his unique insight into the findings.
Training
Humble Heritage Online CPD Series: Scotland’s Thatched Buildings
Date & time: 13 October 2020
Online platform details: Zoom
This talk, given by SPAB Scotland Committee Member Jessica Hunnisett, will explore the thatched heritage of Scotland, what survives of this traditional roofing material, and how we can conserve what remains. This talk expands on the Scottish Thatch Survey carried out by SPAB Scotland and Historic Environment Scotland in 2014-15.
Sustainable Placemaking in Scotland
Date & time: 10 November 2020 12:30 – 13:30 GMT
Online CPD event for members of the built environment profession practicing in Scotland. It covers two complementary approaches to designing sustainable places to support both the road to net zero carbon 2045 and also that provide wider health, wellness and ecological benefits. Supported by Zero Waste Scotland, Landscape Institute Scotland and SEEDA.
Vacancies
Chief Executive of the General Trustees
Are you the one to lead the rationalisation and improvement of the Church estate?
Due to the impending retirement of our long serving post holder, we are seeking an accomplished professional to provide executive leadership for the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland.
Closing date: Friday 2 October, 12:00pm.