The Government’s Public Bodies Reform – Proposals for Change document (October 2010) noted that the UK-wide Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites (ACHWS) is to be abolished and its functions, in relation to England, are to be transferred to English Heritage.
Since then, English Heritage has been working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Devolved Administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to both develop and resource a continued transparent approach to the delivery of maritime heritage designation.
The ACHWS, which met for the last time on the 24 March, was set up to advise Government on the designation and licensing of historic wrecks under the UK-wide Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. To fulfil these functions as they relate to England, English Heritage has established a new ‘Historic Wrecks Panel’ – an internally managed panel made up of independent marine experts drawn from the sector.
English Heritage already maintains a number of advisory panels to ensure access to expert advice in specialist fields. The establishment of the new Historic Wrecks Panel is consistent with our established approach in ensuring transparency and accountability of English Heritage’s advice. English Heritage envisages that only complex, contentious and high profile designation cases and licence applications will be subject to review by the Panel and this will ensure that processes are aligned with ongoing Heritage Protection Reform.
The new Panel will provide advice to English Heritage staff on policy and practice with respect to historic wreck designation in UK Territorial Waters surrounding England. The Panel will also be able to advise on the protection and management of marine historic assets in UK Controlled Waters around our shores.
In the longer term, English Heritage believes that this approach will lead to reduced costs and increased transparency, accountability and efficiency of marine designation.
Further details about the new Panel will be available on the ‘Committees and Panels’ page of the English Heritage website in due course. In addition, the archive of the ACHWS, which comprises Committee Minutes, Papers and Annual Reports, has been collated and deposited in English Heritage’s public archive at the National Monuments Record.
EH Committees: LINK
