Tell Them What You Think ^beta

The draft Heritage Protection Bill has been published for pre-legislative scrutiny.  This is a draft Bill for England and Wales, which sets out the legislative framework for a unified and simpler heritage protection system that will be more open, accountable and transparent. The new system has been designed to provide more opportunities for public involvement and community engagement in understanding, preserving and managing our heritage. 

The Bill will unify the designation and consent regimes for terrestrial heritage assets, and transfer responsibility for designation of these assets in England from the Secretary of State to English Heritage; it will also reform the marine heritage protection regime in England and Wales by broadening the range of marine historic assets that can be protected and bringing greater flexibility to the licensing  system.  As the accompanying Impact Assessment makes clear, the main benefits of the reforms introduced by the draft Heritage Protection Bill are non-monetisable, and may be best expressed in terms of public value and sustainability. The benefits of the reforms set out in this Bill are that they enable us to preserve the historic environment and manage its transition to the future, in the light of both present values and in the interest of future generations.  The draft Bill is based on the proposals set out in the White Paper, Heritage Protection for the 21st Century (March 2007).

The Government would welcome any comments on this draft Bill from interested parties during the pre-legislative scrutiny process.

Comments should be sent by email by Friday 27 June 2008 to andrew.lewis@culture.gsi.gov.uk

Documents

Draft Heritage Protection Bill and Explanatory Notes PDF (3.1mb) 
Impact Assessment for draft Heritage Protection Bill PDF (512kb)
Heritage Protection for the 21st Century - White Paper

 

Related information

• Equality Impact Assessment

Draft Secondary Legislation and Draft Guidance

In order to inform the scrutiny and public understanding of the draft Heritage Protection Bill, DCMS intends to publish a selection of draft secondary legislation and guidance.  The first tranche of these documents to be published electronically includes a draft statutory instrument, code of practice and guidance on the Ecclesiastical Exemption, and draft guidance on the operation of Historic Environment Records in England.  These are draft documents and have been published for information only; they are not currently in force. 

Documents

PDF versions

Draft Ecclesiastical Exemption Order PDF (129kb)
Draft Ecclesiastical Exemption Guidance and Code of Practice PDF (140kb)
Draft Historic Environment Records Guidance for Local Authorities in England PDF (124kb)

RTF versions

Draft Ecclesiastical Exemption Order RTF (162kb)
Draft Ecclesiastical Exemption Guidance and Code of Practice RTF (192kb)
Draft Historic Environment Records Guidance for Local Authorities in England RTF (248kb)
The Government would welcome any comments on these draft documents from interested parties during the pre-legislative scrutiny process. Comments should be sent by email by Friday 27 June 2008 to  andrew.lewis@culture.gsi.gov.uk

 

This consultation started around the 22nd May 2008 but we couldn't automatically determine when it ends. Check its website for more information.