Historic Environment Records Made Statutory as Levelling-up Bill Gets Royal Assent

In October 2023 the UK Government secured the final changes to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, after 16 months of debate and drafting in Parliament. This means that several heritage provisions have now become law. The most significant for industrial archaeology and heritage sites, and archaeology in general, is a provision that secures statutory status for Historic Environment Records (HER).

Historic England describes HERs as ‘sources of, and signposts to, information relating to landscapes, buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas and archaeological finds spanning more than 700,000 years of human endeavour. Based mainly in local authorities, they are used for planning and development control but they also fulfil an educational role.’ The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act makes it a legal requirement that each local authorities in England maintains an HER for its area. Further detail can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/hpg/heritage-assets/hers/

The passing of the Act concludes a long advocacy campaign by many archaeological bodies, including the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers, and the Council for British Archaeology, supported by many others, such as the Association for Industrial Archaeology, to secure statutory HERs. This provision was first proposed in the failed 2008 Heritage Protection Bill. HERs were made statutory in Wales in 2016.

Thanks must be given to Historic England, who have advised Government on the relevance of HERs to levelling-up and the establishment of a more digital planning system during the Bill’s development.

You can read more about this story on the CIfA website: here.