HC Deb 24 January 1990 vol 165 cc759-60W
109. Mr. Devlin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment by how much the grant in aid to English Heritage will have increased since 1984–85 by 1991–92.

Mr. Trippier

Grant in aid to English Heritage in 1984–85 was £49.9 million. The provisional allocation for 1991–92 is £79.816 million. In the intervening years English Heritage has taken on additional responsibilities—notably the Greater London Council's historic buildings division and historic house museums—which makes direct comparisons between 1984–85 and 1991–92 misleading. Nevertheless, the figures reflect steady increases in grant in aid and confirm the Government's strong commmitment to assist the preservation and protection of the nation's important heritage assets.

119. Mr. David Shaw

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals English Heritage has made to spend the additional resources being made available to it over the next two years.

Mr. Trippier

We have allocated an additional £3 million to English Heritage in 1990–91 and an extra £3.02 million in 1991–92 taking the total grant in aid in each of those two years to £77.977 million and £79.816 million (provisional) respectively.

These substantial increases signal the Government's recognition of the importance of our heritage to the quality of life and the contribution it makes to a healthy tourism industry. They mean that English Heritage will be able to build on its successful record in several different ways. It plans to invest more in the maintenance and presentation of its key historic sites, already a source of significant enjoyment and education for an increasing number of adults and youngsters.

We are particularly pleased that some of the increase is being earmarked for preparatory work on the proposed new visitor centre at Stonehenge. Recent agreement with the Ministry of Defence on an access route to the centre has ended a long period of uncertainty and concern. English Heritage will now be directing its energies wholeheartedly towards the preparation of detailed proposals for visitor facilities worthy of this outstandingly important monument.

Other areas of English Heritage's responsibilities which will benefit from the extra resources include archaeology and the review of lists of historic buildings produced in the early 1970s.