Cultural Heritage: Underwater Assets

Answer: My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for raising this question, which is important in the context of the establishment of the Marine Management Organisation and the work that has to be done in implementing the Act, which came into force last year. The MoD’s Hydrographic Office has considerable data on what exists on the seabed, so we are not devoid of some appreciation of the size of the task. The National Monuments Record, which is part of English Heritage, is also looking at the question of marine data. However, my noble friend is quite right. There is considerable work to be done and it is expected that, under the new operations of the Marine Management Organisation and English Heritage, working practices will be established to guarantee the outcomes that my noble friend wishes to see.

This is an answer to the Oral question asked on Thursday, 4 March 2010 by Lord Howarth of Newport (Labour).

Question: My Lords, given the importance of historic sites in waters beyond 12 miles, ranging from the newly discovered HMS "Victory" to whole submerged landscapes, given the threat of commercial looting of historic wrecks and given the duty that Parliament has laid on the new Marine Management Organisation to take account of sites of historic and archaeological interest in the marine environment, as well as the requirement that environmental impact assessments should be produced where developments such as offshore wind farms are proposed, how will the Government ensure that the necessary historic and archaeological information is systematically archived and expert advice is made available to ensure that this marine heritage is properly considered and protected?

Secondary information