Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund

Introduction

The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) was introduced in April 2002, initially as a two-year pilot scheme, to provide funds to tackle a wide range of problems in areas affected by the extraction of aggregates. Following a three-year second round of the Fund, a further one year extension to the scheme was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the pre-Budget Statement on 6th December 2006.

The ALSF is distributed on behalf of Defra by English Heritage, Natural England, MIRO, WRAP, DTI, DfT, ODPM, selected County Councils and CEFAS. This includes a ring-fenced allocation for marine initiatives which is to be distributed by English Heritage and CEFAS. 

Public Consultation on the future of ALSF funding
On 30th January 2008, Defra announced a major public consultation on the future of the ALSF from 2008/9 through to March 2011. In setting out new priorities for the Fund, the consultation proposes a major reduction in the amount of funding available for research on mitigation and conservation of the historic environment – a total of £1.5m per annum is currently suggested. You can read the proposals here: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/alsf-08/index.htm. This consultation closes on 29th April 2008.
We would be delighted to receive views on the consultation proposals, as, we are sure, would Defra. Please do send completed consultations directly to Defra, not to English Heritage.
The results of the consultation are not likely to be known until June 2008. Therefore we will be unable to award any grants until after that date.
In view of the proposed reduction in historic environment funding, applicants should anticipate very rigid criteria for funding and a high degree of competition.

Application Procedures

The English Heritage ALSF Programme is managed by the Historic Environment Commissions Team through the same procedures as the Historic Environment Enabling Programme. For detailed information on application procedures please see our How to Apply page. 

Please note that English Heritage will as a matter of course circulate applications to other distributing bodies, in particular Natural England and CEFAS.

Duration

Round 2 (one-year extension)

All projects, both marine and terrestrial, commissioned in the coming year, must deliver by the end of financial year 2007/08. Any projects remaining to be completed within the second current round must still be delivered before 16th March 2008.

Round 3

We will advise on requirements following the consultation on the Fund (see above)

Objectives and Priorities

Round 2 (one year extension)

The core objective of the English Heritage ALSF Programme is to reduce the impact on the historic environment of aggregate extraction, bot terrestrial and marine. It will focus on the following main areas:

• developing the capacity to manage aggregate extraction landscapes in the future
• delivering to public and professional audiences the full benefits of knowledge gained through past work in advance of aggregates extraction
• reducing the physical impacts of current extraction where these lie beyond current planning controls and the normal obligations placed on minerals operators
• addressing the effects of old mineral planning permissions
• promoting understanding of the conservation issues arising from the impacts of aggregates extraction on the historic environment

For further details please see our Priorities page.

Round 3

We will advise on changes to Objectives and Priotities following the consultation on the Fund (see above)

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding under the English Heritage ALSF Programme, projects must:

• be directly related to the impact on the historic environment of the extraction of aggregate that is subject to the levy
• aim to reduce, rather than compensate for, the impact of aggregate extraction
• be additional to projects which would otherwise have received funding in the absence of ALSF funding 
• be additional to mineral operators' obligations through planning conditions
• be delivered in England

Archaeological projects must in addition meet English Heritage's strategic priorities for archaeology which are currently set out in the Strategic Framework for Historic Environment Activities and Programmes (SHAPE), the Corporate Strategy, Making the Past Part of Our Future and the Research Strategy, Discovering the Past and Shaping the Future. Marine projects must meet English Heritage's strategic priorities for the marine historic enviroment which are set out in Taking to the Water. Please note that EoP98 will be updated by May 2007, and subsequent applications must thereafter fit within the revised framework. Further details and appropriate links will be found here.

Community Benefit

English Heritage is committed to widening access to, and understanding and enjoyment of, the historic environment. All projects funded through our ALSF Programme should, wherever possible, deliver these aims through programmes of outreach, education, interpretation and community involvement.

For further guidance please see our our Guidance Notes page.

Joint Working & Partnership Funding

We encourage project proposals which promote partnership and joint working across different stakeholder groups and constituencies: the aggregates industry, local government, commercial contractors, the higher education and research sector, other environmental agencies, community groups and not-for-profit organisations, and the independent and voluntary sector.

The English Heritage ALSF Programme has no requirement for partnership funding but applications which bring partnership funding or some other resource contribution, and so lever-in additional resopurces for the historic environment, will be particularly welcomed. For eligible sources of partnership funding please see our Guidance Notes page.

We are happy to consider applications where joint funding is also being sought from other ALSF distributing bodies

Information about Projects Funded

Full details of all projects funded through the English Heritage ALSF Programme are available through our ALSF Projects page.

We also produce an annual report and regional updates which will be made available on our Annual Report & Updates page.

Further Information

For further information on English Heritage's ALSF Programme please contact

Caroline Howarth 
0207-973-3127
caroline.howarth@english-heritage.org.uk

or the appropriate member of the Historic Environment Commissions Team or Regional Team: for details please see our Contacts page.