asked Her Majesty’s Government:

What action they are taking to conserve and find appropriate contemporary uses for historic buildings in the public sector that become redundant.

My Lords, a number of government agencies are working to find appropriate solutions for these buildings, including the Government Historic Estates Unit, based at English Heritage, and English Partnerships. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s guidance on the disposal and reuse of redundant government-owned historic buildings applies to the 17 government departments that own such assets. For local authorities, other guidance is available in the joint English Heritage/former ODPM publication, Managing Local Authority Heritage Assets.

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that Severalls Hospital in Colchester, Cane Hill Hospital in Coulsdon, the Bonner Street school in Tower Hamlets and the Old Street Magistrates’ Court are some current cases among too many buildings of significant architectural quality and historic interest, owned in the public sector but no longer required for the provision of a public service, that have been allowed to deteriorate, sometimes so badly that demolition becomes inevitable? Does the guidance on such buildings from the Treasury and the DCMS need strengthening, or does the Government Historic Estates Unit need stronger enforcement powers?

My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Lord for his work in raising the profile of historic buildings, especially government ones, and his original work in helping to frame the guidance in 1999. Following the Select Committee hearings in 2006, it was decided that there would be a review of the guidance. The Government Historic Estates Unit is undertaking consultation on that review. The objective of the review is precisely to strengthen current guidance, because we all recognise that more could be done to ensure that those buildings are properly protected. It is perhaps worth adding that the record is improving. Certainly since 1999, the at-risk register, if you like, has decreased by about 17 or 18 per cent in the number of buildings considered to be at risk. So we are making progress and the disposals programme is now much stronger.

My Lords, when the noble Lord, Lord Howarth, was a Minister he commended English Heritage's Power of Place report, which recommended that government should take a lead and that plans need to be drawn up for buildings owned by large public sector bodies whose pattern of service provision has changed radically. Have the Government at any time during the past eight years followed that advice in any detail? Why is there nothing in the heritage White Paper?

My Lords, we have followed that in detail. Just as I was explaining a moment or two ago, the number of buildings on the at-risk register has significantly reduced by about 192 since 1999. Recently, in the report commissioned from Green Balance, the National Trust stated that there has been:

“considerable improvement in recent years in the attention paid by Government Departments to the DCMS guidance from 1999. There are many examples of successful disposals of heritage assets ... where the heritage interest has been secured”.

That is a very sound third-party endorsement.

My Lords, does my noble friend acknowledge that, as we become an increasingly secular society, a public duty will fall on all of us to find new and complementary uses for redundant or under-used churches and other places of religious worship?

My Lords, I agree. I am fortunate enough to live in Brighton, where we have a large heritage of church buildings. There, as, I am sure, in other places, the local authority has been very active in trying to pursue satisfactory outcomes in recycling and making good use of that historic building stock.

My Lords, is there any method by which, if historic buildings are to be sold, the public is made aware of that? In the example of Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, no one knew that it was not going to remain in the possession of the police until it was sold to the Irish. That seems to me to be an ideal building to have kept going, but no one knew until it was too late.

My Lords, the department responsible for that building would have had to follow the guidelines very carefully. I am not aware of the outcome with that building, but I can cite other examples of similar buildings in the court estate, which is one area where there are many historic buildings to be disposed of from time to time. The department would have had to have regard to those guidelines. Now we are returning to the issue and attempting to strengthen those guidelines to ensure that they are more closely adhered to.

My Lords, does the Minister agree that a number of buildings of this sort have been brought back to life very successfully as centres for the arts, often for the performing arts; that they have become very important, often to performers at an early stage in their career; and that that is a good use for these buildings and should be encouraged?

My Lords, I completely agree with the noble Baroness; she makes a very good point indeed. It is something that local authorities in particular can pay close attention to. We need to work much more with local authorities to ensure that they get a satisfactory community outcome for buildings that could have a great future.

My Lords, in many places, buildings of local historical importance have fallen into the hands of private sector owners who are unable or unwilling to do anything about them and they are just left. I refer specifically to Shackleton Hall, the former Co-op headquarters building in Colne in Lancashire, but there are many others throughout the country. The answer seems to be for the local authority to serve a listed-building repairs notice requiring the building to be brought back into at least a reasonable condition. The problem is that the owners can then serve a notice on the local authority requiring the local authority to purchase the property but the local authority does not have the resources to purchase it and do the necessary work. Would it not be a good idea if English Partnerships and such bodies regarded such locally important buildings as a high priority?

My Lords, the noble Lord speaks with great knowledge of local circumstances, and he gives a very interesting example. He also makes a perfectly respectable point, and I agree. That is something that bodies such as English Heritage and English Partnerships need to take very careful note of.