What can be achieved without the Bill

A transparent system

We have made our designation advice easier to understand and open to the public by publishing the selection criteria online.  This process is nearly complete.

We have also expanded and improved the information on our website at www.english-heritage.org.uk/heritageprotection about listing and other types of designation.

Except where it may threaten a site, we choose to tell the owner of a historic place when their site is being considered for designation. 

We have provided an online form and guidance for suggesting buildings for listing. In the spring, the public will be able to participate in a debate about priorities for the forthcoming strategic listing programme. 

We continue to increase our level of public consultation with other expert bodies and organisations.

Skilling and Resourcing the Historic Environment Sector

 We have invested in and started a programme of training and capacity-building to support local authorities and encourage best practice.  Our next session begins in February 2009. Also during, 2009, local management agreement pilot projects will spread knowledge and skills by practical participation.

We are working with the LGA, IHBC and ALGAO on a comprehensive assessment of local authority resources to help strengthen advocacy for a better-resourced sector, and also help allay any fears with the most detailed study yet about current and future resources needed. This will be published in February 2009.

Local authorities will be urged by the PPS to create Historic Environment Records which provide a comprehensive record of the local historic environment. This requirement would be statutory once the new legislation is in place. In the interim, EH will explore how best to support authorities in enhancing existing records to a consistent standard.

Local authorities will be encouraged by the PPS and guidance to explore the benefits of local lists. These will be part of the Historic Environment Records. They will also be asked to publish the criteria against which they assess those assets.

We are spreading our constructive approach to other conservation professionals.

English Heritage has a positive, well informed and collaborative approach to conservation called Constructive Conservation. 

We published our Conservation Principles in April 08 as a framework for making consistent, well-informed and objective conservation decisions.

We strongly encourage pre-application discussion as a way of collaboratively resolving consent issues at the earliest stage of the process. This will be effectively promoted through the PPS and guidance.

Closing gaps in protection

Reform of secondary planning legislation would enable control over partial demolition in conservation areas - which has been a problem since the Shimizu judgement in 1997. Reform of permitted development rights in conservation areas would allow control over other damaging alterations.

Changes to the status of World Heritage Sites will make them a material consideration in the planning system. Local planning authorities will be required to consider the effect of planning applications on World Heritage Sites and their settings. These changes will be delivered by the draft WHS Planning Circular currently being processed.

The Marine Bill will provide some level of protection for marine heritage in English waters and the continental shelf.

Streamlining listing applications

We are using IT advances to continue to speed up our handling of designation applications and have already put better resources and technology in place to be able to prepare our advice more quickly.

Making it easier to understand

We will bring together all the separate registers for listing, scheduling and registration onto a fully accessible, integrated online database.  This is already being built.

The online Heritage Gateway will provide a single point of access to designation registers and historic environment records across England. Its content will expand as it is developed.

We will work towards getting new selection criteria and clearer designation records for Marine sites to bring them in line with buildings and monuments.

All new list entries from 2008 will provide a clearer explanation of special interest.

Getting rid of duplication

Heritage Management Agreements will help owners become more involved in heritage protection and help consent applications be dealt with more smoothly.

We will work with denominations to streamline their systems for management of assets under ecclesiastical exemption.  This will be a good training ground for aligning processes after heritage protection legislation is passed.