§ 55. Mr. Robert Atkinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what encouragement his Department is providing for the restoration of historic buildings.
§ Mr. WaldegraveMy Department encourages the private and voluntary sectors to co-operate in the repair and restoration of historic buildings and ancient monuments. It continues to provide substantial resources for this purpose through the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England. This year around £30 million will be spent on this work, of which £20 million will be in the form of grants to private owners. In 1987–88 my Department is giving the commission an additional £1.5 million to spend on grant-related work.
The Property Services Agency, which forms part of my Department, continues to maintain to a high standard those historic buildings which form part of the Government estate and this year are spending over £80 million on conservation-related work.