Vol. 534 No. 3
217 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the way in which his Department, or any agency under the aegis of his Department, assists in the preservation and conservation of old and historic buildings; the total funding available from his Department or other agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10790/01]
A comprehensive package of measures to increase the protection of our architectural heritage was introduced in 1998. Among other things, these measures provided for increased powers to local authorities to secure the conservation and protection of protected structures and imposed a duty of care on the owner and occupier of a protected structure.
To support these measures, my Department introduced a conservation grant scheme for protected structures, which is operated by local authorities. The scheme assists the owner or occupier of a protected structure to undertake necessary works to secure the conservation of a structure or part of the structure. The standard grant is 50% of the approved cost of the works up to a maximum of £10,000. The local authority may, at its discretion, vary this amount downwards or, in exceptional circumstances, upwards, subject to a maximum allowable grant of 75% of the cost of the approved works or £20,000, whichever is the lesser. A total of £4.482 million is available for this scheme in 2001. I expect to announce details of this year's allocation shortly.
