§ David WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to increase Government support for United Kingdom World Heritage sites. [41429]
§ Dr. HowellsThe Government take their responsibilities for this country's World Heritage Sites very seriously. This was reflected in the Government's statement, The Historic Environment: A Force for Our Future (AFFOF), published on 13 December 2001, which included a commitment to complete management plans for all of England's current World Heritage Sites by the end of this year. We plan to publish an implementation plan to take forward the AFFOF agenda, including this commitment, shortly.
AFFOF followed on from the publication on 12 December 2001 of a Green Paper on the effectiveness of the existing planning system. This Paper is providing an opportunity for representations to be made on how best to safeguard the future of our World Heritage Sites through that system.
The management teams at our World Heritage Sites are, of course, eligible to apply for English Heritage and heritage lottery fund grants in the usual way.