Scottish Government

Title

State of Scotland's historic buildings, monuments and environment.

Associated Targets

Improve the state of Scotland's historic buildings, monuments and environment.

Brief Description

Our measure of success will be to decrease the percentage of A-listed buildings on the Buildings at Risk Register (BARR). The condition of A-listed buildings provides a good general indicator of the state of Scotland's historic environment, and provides a starting point. Monitoring trends over time will show how well the historic environment is being preserved and cared for. To be at risk, a building does not necessarily need to be in poor condition, it may simply be standing empty with no clear future use. Many buildings at risk are in this latter category.

Strategic Objective(s) to Which Indicator Relates

The indicator informs progress towards a Greener Scotland by measuring the degree to which the nation's historic environment is safeguarded for future generations. Meeting the target will involve the Scottish Government and Historic Scotland working in partnership.

Greener Scotland:

• We value and enjoy our environment and protect it and enhance it for future generations.
• On climate change, the built heritage is a non-renewable resource with significant embodied energy which should be conserved (i.e. through sensitive re-use of traditional buildings)
• On sustainable places, preserving the historic, as well as the natural, environment enhances civic pride and social responsibility.

The indicator also informs progress towards a Wealthier and Fairer Scotland.

Wealthier and Fairer Scotland:

• Scotland's historic environment is a key attraction for domestic and overseas visitors.
• The historic environment provides employment through tourism and through the management and conservation of the resource.
• The historic environment plays a key role in regenerating places and communities.

More Detailed Definitions

Definitions of Keywords

Historic buildings refer to listed buildings which are 'buildings of special architectural or historic interest' -see Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 (c. 9)

Historic environment refers to "any or all of the structures and places in Scotland of historic, archaeological or architectural interest or importance," Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc (Scotland) Act, 2003. A fuller definition is set out in "Scottish Historic Environment Policy" available at www.historic-scotland.gov.uk

Some list entries include more than one building (or structure such as a sundial, dovecot or stables) and where this is the case Historic Scotland goes through a careful and systematic process to decide whether the nature and number of at risk structures (components) within that entry mean the whole entry should be deemed at risk.

Evidence Source

The Buildings At Risk Register is maintained by the Scottish Civic Trust on behalf of Historic Scotland (who fund and manage). BARR can be consulted at www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk

Baseline and Past Trends

In 2011 8.2% of A-list building (buildings of national or international importance) entries were on the Buildings at Risk Register. This is based on 267 A-list entries assessed as at risk out of a total population of 3,247 A-list building entries. This compares to the position in 2009 when 8.7% of A-list entries were on the BARR, based on 277 A-list building entries assessed as at risk out of a total population if 3,199 A-list building entries. .

This resulted in an improvement of 0.5 percentage points in performance between 2009 and 2011.

Methodology for Data Source

All A-list buildings were assessed at 2009 to establish a baseline of the number at risk. Each year one-third of A-list building entries are re-assessed. The database is continually updated with the results of these new assessments. Definitions and details of the approach can be found at http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/BAR/faq.aspx.

Data Ownership and Quality Assurance

Historic Scotland owns the data and manages the Scottish Civic Trust to quality assure the data.

Publication of Data

February 2011.

Methodology for Recent Change Arrow on Scotland Performs

This will be determined once more data points are available.