Summary: | On the 26th June 2013, plans were announced to split English Heritage - the public body responsible for the protection of England’s historic environment—into two separate organisations. In December 2013, the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport released a consultation document outlining the proposed changed and the justifications for them in greater detail. Under the plans the statutory duties toward heritage that English Heritage currently fulfils will remain under government auspices, while the management of its 400+ properties will be spun off into a self-funded charitable company by 2023. This paper lays out these proposed changes as clearly as possible, considers their feasibility, and speculates on the effects they could have for English Heritage, the public it serves, and the wider heritage sector, both in England and the UK.
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