Morning, Tuesday, 9th September 2025
Online
This conference will examine next steps for developing the heritage sector in the UK, looking at opportunities emerging from government policy aimed at supporting regional growth, local regeneration, UK tourism, and national wellbeing.
Bringing together stakeholders with policymakers, it comes with the Government’s ambition for attracting 50 million international visitors per year by 2030, as set out in the recent Industrial Strategy and Spending Review, and in the context of the forthcoming National Visitor Economy Strategy.
Sector priorities, funding, and alignment with wider policy goals
Delegates will assess sector needs in the context of wider policy goals for regeneration, tourism, and wellbeing, examining funding priorities, planning frameworks, and the role of heritage in supporting local growth. Discussion will reflect on the Government’s Industrial Strategy and Spending Review commitments, including the £2.9bn investment in safeguarding and modernising cultural assets, and proposals for long-term funding models such as the Heritage Alliance’s suggested Culture Growth Fund.
There will also be consideration of opportunities to strengthen cultural infrastructure - with the Government recently announcing 37 projects to receive a share of more than £15m through the Heritage at Risk Fund - and the coordination of heritage policy with the broader creative industries agenda set out in the Industrial Strategy.
Local regeneration, devolution, and the built environment
The conference will examine the contribution of built heritage to place-based regeneration, drawing on Historic England’s findings on High Streets Heritage Action Zones, which estimated economic benefits of over £245m for local areas, and assessing how the sector might build on that success. With the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill progressing, delegates will consider implications of further devolution for local heritage stewardship, the resourcing and coordination of conservation services, and approaches to unlocking civic pride, cultural benefit, and economic value at regional level.
Planning reform, regulatory change, and heritage protections
Delegates will consider implications for heritage protections of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the Government’s target for reducing regulatory burdens. They will also discuss the potential impact of proposed reforms to VAT, planning, procurement, and community asset transfer.
Energy Performance Certificate compliance and listing procedures will also be examined, as well as what policy changes may mean for the sector’s ability to balance conservation with development, including the Government’s programme to develop a national inventory of intangible cultural heritage, as part of its commitment to implementing the UNESCO 2003 Convention.
Innovation, workforce priorities, and the visitor economy
Further sessions focus on innovation and workforce priorities, including the contribution of heritage science to UK soft power and research goals, as supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science programme and wider research and development funding commitments under the Industrial Strategy.
Attendees also will examine strategies for addressing workforce capacity, diversity, and inclusion - drawing on Historic England’s 2024 Workforce Diversity Survey - and discuss where further action may be needed to develop skills pipelines in conservation and heritage construction. Delegates will also consider the role of heritage in supporting the Government’s visitor economy ambitions, including design of the forthcoming National Visitor Economy Strategy and proposals for local visitor levies.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those due to attend include officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Business and Trade; Home Office; and the Welsh Government.
