BEFS needs your views on Prioritisation

BEFS have been leading on Prioritisation work for the built and historic environment since Autumn 2018, this will help to inform the work on the Built Heritage Investment Plan taking place within Historic Environment Scotland and the OPiT Built Heritage Investment Group.

Many involved organisations and individuals have given their time, views, methodologies and valued critique to develop a suggested set of Principles for Prioritisation. These Principles were discussed at a public event in Edinburgh last week (25th February 2019) – slides from that event can be accessed here.

After events and feedback from participants and interested parties we produced a short questionnaire designed to aid progress of this valuable work.

**UPDATE – The survey is now closed. Version 2 of  Principles for Prioritisation were consulted upon: this is available in PDF here** .

In response to some of Monday’s (25th February) discussion we would offer the following comments:

• Principles in themselves cannot change the competition for funding – but they are designed to perhaps help level the playing field and make decision-making more transparent.
• Principles themselves cannot answer specific questions – such as the VAT concern, but they should enable greater clarity over how this generation wishes to frame the arguments to continue lobbying on such issues.
• Other questions arose, including mainstreaming heritage across Scottish Government departments. This is something BEFS will explore in relation to the data gathered for the Built Heritage Investment Group about investment in heritage already occurring across the vast majority of ministerial portfolios.
• Climate concerns should be at the top of any agenda and any resource directed towards the historic environment will contribute to the sustainability of the existing environment and is therefore implicitly addressing climate change be it through adaptation or mitigation.

We appreciate all those who took the time to complete the survey, a further iteration of the Principles for Prioritisation are being produced and further steps for this work are currently under consideration.

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