Culture Committee to question National Trust and Historic Houses on financial challenges facing UK heritage buildings in parliamentary inquiry session.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee will question representatives from the National Trust and Historic Houses about protecting Britain’s built heritage during an evidence session next week
Taking place on 17th June, the parliamentary inquiry will take place as the heritage sector battles financial pressures that risk leaving historic sites to decay.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates that engagement with heritage sites annually delivers £8 billion of wider societal benefits and supports a varied network of economies, including the housing sector.
The committee will examine sector-wide challenges including financial pressures and skills shortages during two panel sessions in Committee Room 16, starting at 10am. The proceedings will be broadcast live on Parliamentlive.tv.
The first panel will feature heritage building operators and restoration professionals. MPs will explore the motivations driving operators to take on heritage projects and question how funding and planning requirements impact smaller charities and operators.
Professor Vanessa Toulmin, Chair of Morecambe Winter Gardens, Dr Tegwen Roberts, Former Heritage Action Zone Lead for Eldon Street High Street Heritage Action Zone in Barnsley, and Camilla Finlay, Director of Clews Architects, will give evidence.
The second panel, beginning at 11am, will hear from Hilary McGrady, Director-General of the National Trust, Alice Loxton, Historian, Author and National Trust Ambassador, and Ben Cowell OBE, Director General of Historic Houses.
MPs are expected to examine sector-wide challenges and may explore issues around restoring damaged or dilapidated sites and retrofitting problems.
