The Queen’s speech has set out the Government’s priorities for the next two years. As expected, Brexit dominates the political timetable (read our Brexit Briefing here) with numerous bills to bring this about, including repeal and agriculture bills. The Government states that it has had hundreds of meetings with business and civil society stakeholders on Brexit but will now intensify this work to test and validate negotiating positions. Other measures include delivering the reforms set out in the Housing White Paper, A Customs Bill to enable changes to VAT and Excise regimes and a Data Protection Bill. Read our full summary of the Queen’s speech.
The Heritage Alliance will continue to use our Heritage Manifesto to raise the sector’s concerns with the DCMS Secretary of State, Karen Bradley, the new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, John Glen MP, and others across Government. Heritage Alliance Chairman Loyd Grossman and CEO, Lizzie Glithero-West, will be attending a meeting with John Glen Shortly.
The Department for Exiting the European Union have responded to our ministerial welcome letter and manifesto to say that ‘ The Government is aware of the concerns of the heritage sector, such as financial investment and access to skilled workers. We can assure you that we will seek the best possible deal for the UK and intend to work with stakeholders in order to ensure a smooth transition to future arrangements’.
The Heritage Alliance will also shortly be meeting Kevin Brennan MP, Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport) (Arts and Heritage) to discuss our manifesto.