From April 2015 the current English Heritage organisation will be split into two. A new Charity, retaining the name English Heritage, will take on full responsibility for running the National Heritage Collection (NHC) of historic sites and monuments under the terms of a licence agreement which will run for an initial period of eight years.

A newly-named non-departmental public body, Historic England, will be dedicated to offering expert advice, championing the wider historic environment and providing support for stakeholders in the heritage sector.

The Charity will use an £80 million investment from the Government, plus money raised from third parties, to remedy conservation defects and continue to improve the visitor experience through investment in presentation of the properties and visitor facilities. (Of the £80m, £52m will go towards conservation defects, the remainder will be spent on capital improvements). The Charity will continue to receive resource Grant-in-Aid on a declining basis until 2022/23 when it aims to become self-sufficient. The £80m and the declining Grant-in-Aid will enable it to continue to grow its income, and by the end of the eight years the management of the NHC is intended to be completely self-financing.

Historic England will take over the current English Heritage duties and responsibilities for preserving England’s wider historic environment. The Commission, their governing board, will retain direct responsibility for the work of Historic England and will delegate to the English Heritage charity responsibility for running the National Heritage Collection.

The draft Action Plan  for Historic England is now open for public consultation and they would appreciate any comments you would like to make via actionplan@english-heritage.org.uk by Friday 23 January.