INTRODUCTION

  1.  This memorandum is provided at the request of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to inform its inquiry into the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

  2.  The memorandum concentrates on the impact of the HLF's activities in Wales. It should therefore be read in conjunction with the memoranda provided by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, other Government Departments and by the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Cadw (Welsh Historic Monuments), which is an Agency of the Welsh Office, is submitting a separate memorandum explaining its own role as an applicant for HLF funding and as an advisory body to the HLF.

BACKGROUND

  3.  Within the Welsh Office ministerial team, the Secretary of State has retained the responsibility for the arts, cultural and built heritage, and for lottery funding within his personal ministerial portfolio.

  4.  The Welsh Office is involved with, and is consulted by, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as they perform their lead department role in evolving new policies, and in preparing new legislation and new policy and financial directions which affect the HLF.

  5.  In terms of its operations, the HLF currently functions in the same way in Wales as it does elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Where appropriate, there is liaison between Welsh Office officials and officers of the HLF. The Secretary of State has recently met the Chairman of the HLF to discuss the fund's policies and strategies generally, and particularly to exchange ideas on the ways in which the fund can meet the particular needs of Wales over the next few years. The Secretary of State does not, of course, become involved in decisions on the merit of individual applications to the fund, which are entirely a matter for its Trustees acting independently of Government.

  6.  Appointments of Trustees to the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) are made by the Prime Minister, who is advised by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. There is a statutory requirement that the Trustees must include a person connected by residence or otherwise with Wales: the appointment of that person is made in consultation with the Secretary of State for Wales. It is the Secretary of State's general policy to advertise openly for candidates who wish to be appointed to public posts, and to select on merit after competition. The Secretary of State will therefore advertise the post of Welsh Trustees to the NHMF when it next becomes vacant. The Trustee who currently represents Welsh interests is Mr Lindsay Evans.

 HLF AWARDS IN WALES

  7.  Wales is a country which boasts of a rich and diverse heritage. The HLF has worked closely with a number of agencies and organisations in Wales to develop and fund a wide range of projects, and has already contributed significantly to protecting the Welsh culture and heritage and to making them more accessible to the public.

  8.  Up to 19 May 1998, the HLF had received 377 applications from Wales, and had approved 137 of them. The figure of successful applications means that projects in Wales make up 7.4 per cent of the total projects funded by the HLF, which is an encouraging statistic considering that Wales has just 5 per cent of the UK's population. However, the total value of HLF grants made to Wales is £23.2 million, which represents only 2.3 per cent of the total grant aid paid out by the fund. The table in the annexe to this memorandum gives a breakdown of the allocation of funding to projects in Wales.

  9.  The explanation seems to be that Wales has so far submitted relatively fewer large scale bids than some other areas in the UK, especially for museum projects. Not all those bids have been successful; and, consequently, the average value of grants made to projects in Wales is lower than in the rest of the UK. There are also clearly some weaknesses in several of the categories, especially in the documentary heritage area.

  10.  The Welsh Office understands that the HLF are either already considering, or are likely to receive, bids for funds for further substantial projects from Wales in the future. It is for the NMHF to judge the merits of indiviudal projects. However, in doing so, the Trustees will have regard to the new Policy Directions issued to them by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on 1 June, which require them to take into account the need for all parts of the UK to receive funding and to ensure access for all to the heritage.

  11.  The applications which has been approved by the HLF up until now have, nonetheless, provided a good foundation for the work of the fund in Wales, and have demonstrated that it would be worthwhile building on this investment in the future. Grants have been awarded to a wide range of projects throughout Wales. These include both national and local organisations. The largest grant made in Wales is of £3.25 million towards Dyffryn Gardens, the well known formal gardens in the Vale of Glamorgan. The smallest grant, for £5,000, will enable the church organ to be restored at St Tewdric's Church, in Mathen near Chepstow. Many local churches and local museums have benefited from HLF funding. In the past few weeks, the National Museums and Galleries of Wales have received funding for the acquisition of works of art, most recently for two paintings by Reynolds of the family of Sir Watkyn Williams Wyn. The industrial heritage has also been supported. A grant of £145,000 to the Big Pit in Blaenafon is for the development of a project for safety, access and education works and to help present a wider range of collections to the public. If all goes well, the project will in due course receive substantial funding from the Fund.

 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

  12.  The recent changes in legislation, and in the operation of the HLF, should be of considerable benefit to the heritage in Wales. The Welsh Office particularly welcomes the measure in the National Lottery Bill to enable the lottery distributors to adopt a more active approach in soliciting applications. It also welcomes the new Directions to the HLF (described in the DCMS Memorandum) which emphasise the importance of a strategic approach and, within that, of ensuring a fair geographic spread, wherever possible using lottery funding to encourage regeneration and reduce deprivation.

  13.  The Welsh Office regards as very important the NHMF's decision to establish country committees, including one for Wales, which will take decisions on grants up to £375,000, and which will advise on larger projects.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES

  14.  During the summer of 1999, responsibility for policy in most of the subject areas in which projects are being grant aided by the HLF will pass to the National Assembly. Though responsibility for sponsoring the HLF will remain with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Assembly can be expected to take a considerable interest in HLF activities and projects in Wales. The Government will provide mechanisms for the Assembly to exercise the degree of influence it needs to have over the HLF's activities in Wales, while keeping control at the UK level (after consultation with the Assembly) over matters which can only be settled at that level, notably Directions affecting the allocations of resources between different parts of the UK.

June 1998