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UK World Heritage Sites

Thank you for calling me to speak, Mr. Olner. It is a pleasure to be in your company this afternoon, as it always is. It is appropriate that we are having a debate on UK world heritage sites, because we are sitting—and I am standing—in a world heritage site now. About a week and a half ago, I was lucky enough to be re-elected as chairman of the all-party world heritage sites group—[Hon. Members: ““Hear, hear!””] I knew that I would get an accolade in this House for something. It is a great pleasure to serve in that position. A number of Members in the Chamber have been active in the all-party group for some years. I see the hon. Members for East Devon (Mr. Swire), for Salisbury (Robert Key), for Shipley (Philip Davies) and for Bath (Mr. Foster) and my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz). I am sure that other colleagues will be keen to join in the work of the all-party group in time, particularly my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland (Dr. Kumar), who I know hopes to catch your eye a little later, Mr. Olner. The all-party world heritage sites group has been functioning for several years. The group is cross-party, as is the nature of this debate. We want to get our teeth into world heritage issues, put the politics to one side and talk about how we can ensure that world heritage sites deliver the very best for us as a nation and for the communities in which they sit. I hope that the tone of this debate will be one of constructive thought and the desire to make sure that new partnerships develop so that our world heritage sites are protected for the future. I should like to thank English Heritage, which has taken on the role of the all-party group's secretariat support. I particularly wanted to thank Peter Just, who is not a million miles away at this very moment, for the work that he is already doing for the group. The group welcomes English Heritage's support. Today almost seems like world heritage day: this morning, the Minister and I had the pleasure of attending the annual general meeting of the Local Authority World Heritage Forum, which brings together all local authority areas with world heritage sites to ensure a co-ordinated view of the needs, desires and aspirations of world heritage sites across local government. The forum works in partnership with a range of organisations that I shall probably mention this afternoon. I want to split my speech into two sections. I want to talk about some of the broader issues affecting world heritage sites in the UK, but obviously, Mr. Olner, you would not blame me for wanting to speak briefly about the world heritage site in my own constituency—the Ironbridge gorge—and I shall do that in my closing remarks. The 1972 UNESCO world heritage convention was perhaps the most successful of all; it covered 180 member states and more than 800 world heritage sites. By joining the convention, member states undertake to protect their heritage, both natural and cultural, in general terms. They also have the opportunity to identify places of outstanding value to all humanity, and they can nominate them to be included on the UNESCO world heritage list. Once sites are on that, member states accept that the international community will take an interest in the management of those places through the work of the world heritage committee. Within the UK, world heritage is probably the best known aspect of UNESCO's work, and the one that captures the popular imagination, because it is linked to specific places. World heritage involves many players. At national level, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has the lead responsibility for the convention, and other Departments, such as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, are also involved. The devolved Administrations are involved too, as are the newly re-established UK National Commission for UNESCO and non-governmental organisations such as the UK committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS-UK. Of course, the Local Authority World Heritage Forum is also involved, as are individual local authorities and organisations that are present within world heritage sites. There is a wide range of partners within world heritage sites. For example, one of the key players in my area is the Ironbridge Gorge museums trust. Such organisations take an important leading role within the world heritage site in their locality. The UK joined the world heritage convention in 1984 and now has 26 world heritage sites: 16 in England, four in Scotland, two in Wales, one in Northern Ireland and three in overseas territories—I am sure that the Minister will be particularly keen to visit those.