Historic England Welcomes Government’s £1.57 Billion Investment Package for Cultural, Arts and Heritage Institutions
Historic England welcomes the Government's funding announcement to help the heritage sector recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The support package for heritage will be part of a £1.57 billion investment- the largest ever one-off investment in UK culture- to protect the country's cultural, arts and heritage organisations.
Our heritage has a crucial role to play as the country moves towards a sustainable recovery. England’s heritage is worth £31 billion to the economy, supports nearly half a million jobs and engages even more volunteers. By investing directly in historic places, we can provide wide ranging social benefits whilst also encouraging regeneration and growth.
As lockdown begins to ease, the revival of our historic places can act as a catalyst to inspire communities to engage together with our shared past and to look with confidence to the future.
Covid-19 has hit all sectors of our economy hard, including our heritage. The historic places that help define our country are at risk of being lost forever.
This emergency funding package from the Government will be a lifeline for the heritage sector, kickstarting repair works at our historic sites which matter most to local communities. It will also help the organisations which look after so many of our precious historic sites, and protect livelihoods of skilled craft workers and businesses hit hardest by the pandemic. It will help to secure a sustainable future for the sector and those working in it, often with years of irreplaceable experience.
Historic England has been working collaboratively with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and other Arms-length bodies, including Arts Council England (ACE) and National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) on the investment package which will help to secure a sustainable future for the heritage sector and those working in it, as a key part of our national cultural life. Historic England will have an important role to play in continued collaboration with DCMS and heritage organisations to meet the challenge of urgent delivery and getting help to where it is most needed.
The vital funding stream for heritage sites will help boost local economies by funding urgent conservation work, repairs and adaptation of a broad range of locally-loved historic buildings and places, where support is most needed. The emergency funding will also kickstart stalled major projects at nationally important heritage visitor attractions across the country. This will help them reopen and cater for what is expected to be a huge surge of interest in these treasured historic places as lockdown restrictions ease.
The funding extends our existing emergency Covid-19 funds, announced in May and June, to support the sector through the initial impact of the pandemic.
The Government will set out further details of its support package when it opens for applications in the coming weeks.
