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Heritage

I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford (Mr. Whittingdale), and the Committee that he chairs, on the excellent report that we are discussing, and on what has so far been a very well informed debate. I have learned an awful lot about cathedral music, even though it does not feature in the report. The report is timely, given the forthcoming White Paper. This is also the first debate on heritage that I have attended or even been aware of, in the last 10 years. It has enabled hon. Members to debate subjects such as archaeology, on which I shall focus. I declare an interest in that I am treasurer of the all-party archaeological group, and I trained as a Mesopotamian archaeologist, which is very useful. It is gratifying that so many people took an interest in the Committee’s hearings as well as being here today. I agree that too little attention is paid to heritage by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport both in the House and beyond. Yet heritage, and particularly archaeology, presses so many of the right buttons, particularly those that the Government are rightly trying to promote. It contributes enormously to education for adults and children, not just in history—how we got here and how our buildings, which we value, contributed to that—but in our understanding of the environment. How was it that the Romans, who had no fridges or electricity, no JCBs or gas-guzzling 4x4 vehicles, were able to build fine buildings—for instance, along the south downs—and sustain themselves with minimal pollution and waste, using the land efficiently and sympathetically? We have a lot to learn about how to appreciate our environment more by reference to the way in which our ancestors managed without our mod cons. Heritage is a great environmental learning tool, and that is something that all Members value greatly. Hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Mrs. Hodgson), mentioned our heritage’s great role in regeneration and in re-establishing local identity. Deprived areas have benefited enormously from the renovation of industrial buildings, canals and waterways, with community use being given to old warehouses and military establishments. Helping people to learn where they came from has enormous benefits in terms of social cohesion and social inclusion. Heritage reconstructions and museums, too, are important. One only has to look at a programme such as ““Time Team””, which has been an enormous success. It is one of the few things that separate my son from his football on Sunday afternoons. It is a fascinating and educational programme. Many hon. Members may still have bare patches in their gardens from the ““big dig”” day last year, when tens of thousands of people, particularly young people, up and down the country dug up their gardens—much to the chagrin of their parents but to the great benefit of their education. The all-party archaeological group tried to do the same in the Palace of Westminster; alas, we were frustrated by the House authorities, who told us that it is a UNESCO world heritage site, which was a bit of a swiz. Another area that has been mentioned is tourism. We should not do so, but we underestimate the enormous attractions and commercial and economic benefits to the United Kingdom. The ““Heritage Counts”” historic environment review executive committee report included the taking part survey that the DCMS commissioned to reinforce the benefits of social inclusion. The survey showed that in the last 12 months 69 per cent. of all adults, 48 per cent. of adults of black and ethnic minority backgrounds, 58 per cent. of adults with a limiting disability or illness and 56 per cent. of adults in lower socio-economic groups visited an historic environment site, with visits to a historic city or town being the most popular way of enjoying heritage. People overwhelmingly visit heritage sites for personal enjoyment and relaxation; that reason was cited by more than half of all adults. Many people would go more often if they had more free time. Visiting heritage sites is also good for one’s health. There are many benefits. One of the key messages of the Committee’s report is the popularity of the historic environment. Seven out of 10 adults visited a site last year, the majority for personal enjoyment and relaxation; and 400,000 offer their time as volunteers working for a range of organisations that care for the historic environment. That is enormously beneficial in so many ways that go beyond the remit of the DCMS, and it is fun and popular. I question whether heritage is in the right Department, particularly at a time when it is competing for finance with the Olympics and the other pressures and topical issues involving with media with which the Department has to deal. I do not denigrate the Minister’s genuine interest and that of some of his predecessors, but heritage is struggling to keep its head above water against competing interests. It is a cross-cutting area. It cuts into so many other Departments. I congratulate the Government on some of progress that they have made on museums, which have not been mentioned much. I have always been a great advocate of free admission to our national museums: it is morally and educationally right. If we are to justify, as I do, having such great treasures of the world as the Elgin marbles in the British Museum, it is right that people from this country, as well as from Greece and other countries, should go there unencumbered by an admission charge. I am afraid that we cannot say the same thing about the new museum at the Acropolis, which managed to trash 13 layers of archaeology, going back to the bronze age, and now charges people for the privilege of seeing what is left.