The Heritage Alliance (THA) has noted that, in response to a question from Mark Hendrick MP, it has been revealed that although grants for the restoration of historic buildings (HE2) form part of the new Countryside Stewardship scheme, none were issued in 2016.
Mark Hendrick MP asked:
… the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has budgeted for historic building grants (HE2) in 2017-18; which buildings have been granted funds under HE2 in the last three years; how much of those funds have been paid out or agreed to be paid in each case; and what assessment she has made of the extend to which grant-funded restoration has (a) added to an area’s landscape character, (b) provided or retained wildlife habitat or nest sites and (c) enabled public access.
In response to Hendrick’s query, George Eustice MP replied:
Grants for the restoration of historic buildings (HE2) form part of the new Countryside Stewardship scheme. Plans for the 2017 application round of Countryside Stewardship, including for HE2, will be announced in the New Year.
No historic building grants were offered under the first round of agreements under this new scheme, which started in 2016. Before applying for a historic building grant, applicants need to agree with Natural England a specification tailored to the particular circumstances of the site. Separate funding to develop specifications is available as part of the scheme.
We are already funding the maintenance of traditional farm buildings under Countryside Stewardship. The predecessor scheme, Environmental Stewardship, has already provided funding of over £48 million for the maintenance and restoration of historic farm buildings.
When assessing applications for restoring or maintaining historic buildings the contribution to other objectives including landscape and wildlife and educational access are taken into account.
See the question
