Heritage Craft and Building Sector

Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to support the heritage craft and building sector; and how they will develop its skills pipeline.

The Government are committed to supporting the heritage, craft and building sectors to protect, maintain and adapt heritage for future generations. Last year, I hosted a round table on challenges facing the heritage skills sector and met my noble friend Lady Smith of Malvern, the Minister for Skills, to discuss the sector’s specific needs. A follow-up sector round table is being organised. The Government are providing an additional £1.2 billion a year towards skills development until 2028-29. We are working across government to ensure heritage skills are supported.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the meetings we have had in this area. Does she agree that, with our heritage in crisis with regard to the repair and maintenance not just of our historic homes and churches but of much pre-1919 build, specialist skills are needed more than ever for an industry that is split across government departments but crying out for a co-ordinated policy? Will the Government provide clear training pathways from school to professional practice, including better level 3 funding and, post-18, a better choice of university-comparable practical courses, building on examples such as York Minster’s apprenticeship centre?

I agree with the noble Earl about the need for specialist skills and the many organisations around the country that are doing excellent work in this area. I was hugely impressed by the offer at York Minster when I visited last year, and by the calibre and commitment of the apprentices and teaching staff. We are currently working with the heritage sector to identify key skills gaps and on how to protect the future of heritage skills. Through fully funded SME apprenticeships for under-25s, this Government are giving every smaller heritage organisation the opportunity to deliver flexible, affordable apprenticeships.

My Lords, there are approximately 60,000 thatched properties in the United Kingdom. The great majority are in the county of Devon in which I live; in fact, I live in a thatched property. Thatch used to be a sign of poverty; it is now deemed to be a sign of wealth—I cannot quite get my head around that when you look at the levels of insurance we are obliged to pay. The problem is that 75% of thatched properties are listed properties and therefore extremely expensive to maintain. Can the Minister give some encouragement to the idea that there might be parity and that we can get rid of the anomaly between VAT on newbuild and VAT on repair once and for all? Given that there are now only about 1,000 thatchers in the country, what can the Government do to encourage that skill and to encourage better access to authentic reed and thatch to maintain and enhance an important part of our built rural heritage?

I am very aware, as the noble Lord clearly is, of the shortage of specialist thatchers. Since I have been in this role, I have learned a huge amount about the different types of techniques that are used around the country. This is one of the issues we have been talking about with the sector. I point to the work of museums such as the Weald & Downland Living Museum in this area, as well as other organisations.

On VAT, noble Lords will be aware that that is a matter for the Treasury. However, I ask the noble Lord to note that a blanket VAT cut for all historic building repairs would be a significant fiscal intervention and potentially subsidise repairs that might have happened anyway. In a tight fiscal climate, it is arguably better value for money to direct taxpayers’ money into targeted funds such as the heritage at risk grants or the Heritage Revival Fund, where we can ensure that every pound delivers genuine public benefit and regeneration rather than a broad tax relief.

My Lords, the time was when schools—particularly boys’ schools, sadly—routinely taught woodwork and metalwork, which led young people into the crafts and skills that are now in such short supply. Given the importance of heritage craft skills to the economy, as well as to well-being, what steps are being taken to reintroduce these important subjects into schools to encourage enthusiasm for skills so that the shortages in the workforce can begin to be remedied?

Helpfully, my noble friend Lady Smith is sitting next to me, and I have confirmed with her what I understood to be the case, which is that schools still routinely teach children those skills. One of the challenges is how we make sure young people understand the exciting careers available. Within some of the work that is going on with regard to building skills and the targets for new homes, there are a lot of retrofitting skills and expertise being rolled out, which is clearly one way in which we can make sure that we restore heritage buildings given the amount of our built environment that is over a particular age.

My Lords—

My Lords—

It is the turn of the Labour Benches.

My Lords, I thank the Chief Whip. I am very interested in what the noble Baroness has said about the range of initiatives, and very glad that she is talking to the rest of the heritage sector. The question that was raised, however, was about the strategic direction and need for systematic and scaled-up investment on a credible and systematic basis in terms of heritage skills. Although we need the skills to bring the historic environment up to scratch and to make the most of it, whether we are repurposing buildings or restoring them, this is not a niche issue. These skills are transferable into the whole of the construction economy, and we desperately need a lot of additional quality in that sector as well. Can the Minister give me some assurance that there is an endgame here where we will see a significant increase in the quality of apprenticeships and other qualification routes, whereby we will build our capacity to do these jobs over the next decade?

I am sure that my noble friend is in no doubt about the commitment of the Prime Minister and this Government to apprenticeships. From my perspective, it is an exciting opportunity for us to make sure that we increase the number of apprenticeships available in heritage skills. We have a problem in that heritage construction is not recruiting fast enough to replace an ageing workforce; that will become critical if we do not address it. Rather than tell the sector what we think should happen, I want to work with it to make sure that we get the workforce we need for the future to restore and maintain our incredible built environment within the heritage realm, which we know the public value hugely.

My Lords, as the Minister recognised, our historic churches do not just rely on the talents of skilled craftspeople; they provide fantastic opportunities to acquire new skills and pass them on—I have met some of the stonemasons at Gloucester Cathedral who are apprentices there. For a second year running, the custodians of our churches and cathedrals are uncertain about whether the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme will continue beyond March. Some 260 churches and cathedrals have said that they have put essential repair works to one side while they wait to see whether this will happen. Can the Minister shed some light on whether the scheme will go beyond March and whether the cap that was imposed last year might be lifted?

The noble Lord is aware that the current scheme is funded until the end of March, when the budget is reached. We are very clear as a department that huge value is placed on listed places of worship by local communities and by their congregations. We extended the scheme in recognition of the importance of the listed places of worship scheme. The cap has not affected the majority of applications—94% of applications will be unaffected by the change; most claims are under £5,000. Immediately before Christmas, I met key stakeholders such as the National Churches Trust and the Church of England to make sure that they are kept up to date on where we are going as a department. I appreciate that people will be anxious to know about potential future funding and potential changes, and I will provide an update as soon as possible.

My Lords, government funding for level 2 and 3 diploma courses in some building crafts, such as stonemasonry, has recently been withdrawn. For a craftsperson, who is usually a micro-entity business, to take on a novice apprentice without previous foundational training is a big risk and potentially a big immediate cost. How are the Government planning to support busy craftspeople to take on novice apprentices?

I recognise what the noble Baroness said about the issues faced by some craftspeople in taking on apprentices. That is why I met my noble friend last year and why we are working with the sector to make sure that what we put in place, and what is put in place by the sector and supported by government, reflects the needs of the heritage sector so that we get the workforce that we need.