Committee publication · Correspondence · 9 December 2025

Letter from Geoff Parkin, Interim Chief Executive, English Heritage, regarding Protecting built heritage oral evidence follow-up, 27 November 2025

From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Summary

English Heritage's interim CEO provides written follow-up to oral evidence on protecting built heritage, detailing funding challenges facing the sector. The letter elaborates on heritage's £45bn annual economic contribution, identifies gaps in multi-year funding and VAT relief, and describes initiatives including the Berwick Barracks regeneration project, heritage skills training programmes, and community access schemes.

Key findings

Heritage sector contributes £45bn annually to economy and supports over 500,000 jobs, but funding is predominantly short-term project grants rather than sustained multi-year commitments
English Heritage cannot reclaim VAT on conservation work at three-quarters of its 400+ sites that offer free public access, unlike the single museum-eligible site Walmer Castle
Heritage at Risk Fund (£15m) too small and narrowly defined; no equivalent MEND scheme exists for built heritage despite Museum Estate and Development Fund's success for accredited museums
Berwick Barracks project demonstrates potential for heritage-led community regeneration but requires resource-intensive coordination across multiple funding sources
Apprenticeship levy restrictions prevent charities from funding trainee salaries; long-term funding would enable contractors to commit to multi-year conservation programmes rather than project-by-project procurement

Tone

Procedural

Topics

heritage-conservationpublic-financeskills-and-trainingeconomic-developmentcommunity-engagement

Key actors

Geoff Parkin, English Heritage, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, DCMS Select Committee, Historic England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Trussell Trust, Northumberland County Council

Notable line

“… philanthropists tell us they also need to see some public investment, to give them confidence in supporting heritage projects.”

Key Quotes

“… the heritage sector in England contributes almost £45 billion a year to the economy, supports over half a million jobs and is a key foundation for our creative industries - one of the key areas …”
— Geoff Parkin · Opening statement on heritage's economic significance

“… the funding available to heritage organisations is largely comprised of short-term project-related grants. While such funding is important and welcome, there is a need for sustained …”
— Geoff Parkin · Identifying funding model inadequacy

“Being able to reclaim VAT for work on these sites would be beneficial.”
— Geoff Parkin · On VAT relief for free-access heritage sites

“Having the capacity and staff with the necessary specialist skills to support the coordination of significant projects can be a challenge even for a national organisation like English Heritage”
— Geoff Parkin · On barriers to delivering collaborative heritage projects

“Charities like English Heritage are currently unable to use the existing the apprenticeship levy to help fund salary costs for trainees, which makes it difficult for us to be able to offer more apprenticeships.”
— Geoff Parkin · On skills gap constraints

“The Trussell Trust have told us that a day trip is often something that families can't afford when they are struggling with other living costs”
— Geoff Parkin · On community access partnerships for disadvantaged families

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗