News Release

National Conference and Public Meeting 14 September 2006

August 2006

Our National Conference and Public Meeting will be held in the Falkirk Town Hall on Thursday 14 September 2006, from 2pm to 6.30pm. The Public Meeting will follow on immediately after the Conference. See booking form [word doc] for more details.

This year's conference will take an overview of all five of the reports which HEACS has or is about to submit to Scottish Ministers.

We believe that our reports, taken collectively, may be regarded as constituting a review of the major issues facing Scottish Ministers in relation to the historic environment. We are keen to hear your views and comments to assist us in following up on the reports and in considering our own future plans.

The five reports cover the priority policy areas upon which the Minister asked HEACS for advice on:

• whether there is a need to review heritage protection legislation in Scotland;
• if there is a need for a "heritage audit" in Scotland and, if so, how to take it forward;
• the role of local authorities in conserving the historic environment;
• how we ensure the availability of adequate and appropriate traditional materials and professional and craft skills to meet the needs of the built heritage; and
• the criteria that should be applied for taking historic properties into the care of the Scottish Ministers.

The report on the need for an audit was submitted in 2004 [see documents page] and the Historic Environment Audit is now underway. The report on the criteria that should be used to assess whether a property should be taken into state care [pdf] was recently submitted to Patricia Ferguson MSP, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport.

All of the other four reports have recently been published and submitted to Patricia Ferguson MSP, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport. [see documents page].

There is no charge for attendance at either the conference or public meeting. If you would like to attend, please complete the booking form [word doc].