National Heritage Act 1980
| Year | 1980 |
National Heritage Act 1980
1980 CHAPTER 17
An Act to establish a National Heritage Memorial Fund for providing financial assistance for the acquisition, maintenance and preservation of land, buildings and objects of outstanding historic and other interest; to make new provision in relation to the arrangements for accepting property in satisfaction of capital transfer tax and estate duty; to provide for payments out of public funds in respect of the loss of or damage to objects loaned to or displayed in local museums and other institutions; and for purposes connected with those matters.
[31st March 1980]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
The National Heritage Memorial Fund
1 Establishment of National Heritage Memorial Fund.
(1) There shall be a fund known as the National Heritage Memorial Fund, to be a memorial to those who have died for the United Kingdom, established in succession to the National Land Fund, which shall be applicable for the purposes specified in this Part of this Act.
(2) The Fund shall be vested in and administered by a body corporate known as the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and consisting of a chairman and not more than ten other members appointed by the Prime Minister.
(3) The persons appointed under this section shall include persons who have knowledge, experience or interests relevant to the purposes for which the Fund may be applied and who are connected by residence or otherwise with England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
(4) References in this Part of this Act to the Trustees are to the body constituted by subsection (2) above; and Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the Trustees and the discharge of their functions.
2 Payments into the Fund.
(1) The Secretary of State and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (in this Act referred to as ‘the Ministers’) shall pay into the Fund in the first month of each financial year a sum determined by them before the beginning of the year; and the Ministers may at any time pay into the Fund such further sum or sums as they may from time to time determine.
(2) There shall also be paid into the Fund any other sums received by the Trustees in consequence of the discharge of their functions.
3 Grants and loans from the fund.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Trustees may make grants and loans out of the Fund to eligible recipients for the purpose of assisting them to acquire, maintain or preserve—
(a ) any land, building or structure which in the opinion of the Trustees is of outstanding scenic, historic, aesthetic, architectural or scientific interest;
(b ) any object which in their opinion is of outstanding historic, artistic or scientific interest;
(c ) any collection or group of objects, being a collection or group which taken as a whole is in their opinion of outstanding historic, artistic or scientific interest;
(d ) any land or object not falling within paragraph (a ), (b ) or (c ) above the acquisition, maintenance or preservation of which is in their opinion desirable by reason of its connection with land or a building or structure falling within paragraph (a ) above; or
(e ) any rights in or over land the acquisition of which is in their opinion desirable for the benefit of land or a building or structure falling within paragraph (a ) or (d ) above.
(2) The Trustees shall not make a grant or loan under this section in respect of any property unless they are of opinion, after obtaining such expert advice as appears to them to be appropriate, that the property (or, in the ease of land or an object falling within paragraph (d ) of subsection (1) above, the land, building or structure with which it is connected or, in the case of rights falling within paragraph (e ) of that subsection, the land, building or structure for whose benefit they are acquired) is of importance to the national heritage.
(3) In determining whether and on what terms to make a grant or loan under this section in respect of any property the Trustees shall have regard to the desirability of securing, improving or controlling public access to, or the public display of, the property.
(4) In making a grant or loan under this section in respect of any property the Trustees may impose such conditions as they think fit, including—
(a ) conditions with respect to—
(i) public access to, or the public display of, the property;
(ii) the maintenance, repair, insurance and safe keeping of the property;
(iii) the disposal or lending of the property; and
(b ) conditions requiring the amount of a grant and the outstanding amount of a loan to be repaid forthwith on breach of any condition.
(5) A grant under this section for the purpose of assisting in the maintenance or preservation of any property may take the form of a contribution to a trust established or to be established for that purpose.
(6) Subject to subsection (7) below, the eligible recipients for the purposes of this section are—
(a ) any museum, art gallery, library or other similar institution having as its purpose or one of its purposes the preservation for the public benefit of a collection of historic, artistic or scientific interest;
(b ) any body having as its purpose or one of its purposes the provision, improvement or preservation of amenities enjoyed or to be enjoyed by the public or the acquisition of land to be used by the public;
(c ) any body having nature conservation as its purpose or one of its purposes;
(d ) the Secretary of State acting in the discharge of his functions under section 5 of the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 or section 11(1) or 13 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 ; and
(e ) the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland acting in the discharge of its functions under so much of section 1(1) of the Historic Monuments Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 as relates to the acquisition of historic monuments by agreement, section 4 of that Act or Article 84 of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 .
(7) The institutions referred to in paragraph (a ) of subsection (6) above include any institution maintained by a Minister or Northern Ireland department; but neither that paragraph nor paragraph (b ) or (c ) of that subsection applies to any institution or body established outside the United Kingdom or established or conducted for profit.
4 Other expenditure out of the Fund.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Trustees may apply the Fund for any purpose other than making grants or loans, being a purpose connected with the acquisition, maintenance or preservation of property falling within section 3(1) above, including its acquisition, maintenance or preservation by the Trustees.
(2) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 3 above shall have effect in relation to the application of any sums out of the Fund under this section as they have effect in relation to the making of a grant or loan under that section.
(3) The Trustees shall not retain any property acquired by them under this section except in such cases and for such period as either of the Ministers may allow.
5 Acceptance of gifts.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Trustees may accept gifts of money or other property.
(2) The Trustees shall not accept a gift unless it is either unconditional or on conditions which enable the subject of the gift (and any income or proceeds of sale arising from it) to be applied for a purpose for which the Fund may be applied under this Part of this Act and which enable the Trustees to comply with subsection (3) below and section 2(2) above.
(3) The Trustees shall not retain any property (other than money) accepted by them by way of gift except in such cases and for such period as either of the Ministers may allow.
(4) References in this section to gifts include references to bequests and devises.
6 Powers of investment.
(1) Any sums in the Fund which are not immediately required for any other purpose may be invested by the Trustees in accordance with this section.
(2) Sums directly or indirectly representing money paid into the Fund under section 2(1) above may be invested in any manner approved by the Treasury; and the Trustees—
(a ) shall not invest any amount available...
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