1.11.1.1 Ownership and responsibility for the site are shared among a number of bodies in a complex set of long-standing relationships, which have an historical significance in their own right. The Palace of Westminster remains a Royal Palace and the Lord Great Chamberlain exercises control of certain parts on behalf of the Sovereign. Control of the parts occupied by the Commons and the Lords rests with the respective Houses. Parliamentary outbuildings are owned by the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords or the Corporate Officer of the House of Commons. Other parts of the WHS are the responsibility of Westminster School, and English Heritage (in relation to the Jewel Tower) and the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of St Peter in Westminster.
1.11.1.2 Streets and open spaces are the responsibility of Westminster City Council, Transport for London (adjacent routes on the Transport for London Route Network TLRN), the Greater London Authority (Parliament Square Gardens) and the Royal Parks Agency (Victoria Tower Gardens).
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1.11.1.3 Statutory duties regarding conservation of historic buildings, planning, highways and transport reside with Westminster City Council, Greater London Authority, English Heritage, the Government Office for London and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
1.11.1.4 Tourism and visitor management are concerns of Visit London as well as the City Council and site owners.
1.11.1.5 These bodies together with ICOMOS UK and the London Borough of Lambeth, the planning authority for the area directly across the river, are the key stakeholders, making up the Westminster World Heritage Site Steering Group.
1.11.1.6 The fabric of the parliamentary estate is managed by the
Parliamentary Estates Directorate, which continues to maintain the buildings in good condition through a rolling 10 year programme of works. As with other premises that have Crown Exemption under planning and Listed Building legislation, works to the Palace are exempt from the normal requirement to obtain planning approval but the Directorate consults with Westminster City Council under DOE Circular 18/84 arrangements. This system is now being phased out. It is understood that Parliamentary Estates has never gone against the expressed wishes of the Council. Furthermore, English Heritage are formally consulted over all listed building matters from minor repair to major works. A quarterly meeting is held between Parliamentary Estates and an English Heritage team.
1.11.1.7 All works to the building are the responsibility of the Director of Parliamentary Estates and his staff, who answer to Black Rod for House of Lords, to the Serjeant-at-Arms for the House of Commons, and to the Domestic Committees of both Houses. The final
authorities are the two Houses themselves.
1.11.1.8 Parliamentary Estates employs a Conservation Architect on a permanent basis, to advise and prepare works. A project design is commissioned from external professional practices who are selected in competition under the usual EU Procurement Directives regulations. The Estates Directorate architect carries out cyclical conditions survey and reports 7-yearly. There are annual inspections
riptionoftheworldheritagesite 1.11.1.9 The Collegiate Church of Saint Peter in Westminster (‘Westminster
Abbey’) and its Precincts form part of what is known as a Royal Peculiar. The Dean and Chapter as a Corporate Body are, by Royal Charter, responsible only to the Monarch as Visitor for the management of its buildings. As a Church, the Abbey has ecclesiastical exemption from secular controls. Whilst Westminster Abbey, being a Royal Peculiar, is not subject to the control of the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England as a result of separate arrangements agreed in 1998 by the DCMS and approved by a Royal Warrant of 2000, it is subject to the control of the Westminster Abbey Fabric Commission (‘WAFC’). Under these arrangements learned societies and bodies, including both Westminster City Council and English Heritage, in effect nominate representatives. In addition, the Surveyor of the Fabric and a consultant Archaeologist are appointed in consultation with WAFC and attend its meetings. There is, as a result, external scrutiny of works, both formal and informal, to the fabric of the Church and its ancillary buildings, as in other World Heritage sites in England.
Westminster Abbey today receives no outside funding from the Monarch, the State or its associated agencies or the
Church of England.
1.11.1.10 The Abbey buildings are maintained in good repair under the care of a Surveyor to the Fabric (‘the Architect’). In association with the Dean and Chapter and WAFC, the Architect is responsible for all programmes of maintenance and improvement works. The consent of WAFC is formally required for such works. The Abbey has instigated a regime of inspections on a quinquennial basis and the Architect has recently prepared such a report. In addition and in recent memory the Architect has prepared annual reports on the state of the fabric, a process which continues.
1.11.1.11 The Chapter House and Pyx Chamber are Scheduled Ancient Monuments and are managed on a day to day basis by the Dean and Chapter under a Management Agreement. English Heritage remains responsible for the maintenance of the fabric.
1.11.1.12 The Abbey Church and its buildings are Listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas) Act of 1990. The buildings of Dean’s Yard and Little Dean’s Yard, historically closely associated
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with them, are Listed Grade I or II and are either subject to the normal planning regime or to WAFC.
1.11.1.13 The ownership, lease arrangements and maintenance responsibility for the buildings in Dean’s Yard and Little Dean’s Yard and certain others in Great College Street and Great Smith, are generally divided between the Dean & Chapter, Westminster School and the Church Commissioners on a complex basis, historically and statutorily derived. Generally, and regardless of ownership, the lessee is responsible for the maintenance of the occupied building, in some instances in association with the Abbey Architect, for example at College Hall, which is in the ownership of the Dean and Chapter and used by Westminster School.
1.11.1.14 Westminster School occupies many of the buildings in Dean’s Yard and most of those in Little Dean’s Yard through a long standing association that stretches back to the days of the Benedictine Monastery in 1179. The Public Schools Act of 1868 made provision for separation from and the transfer of church property to the Governing Body of the School in various ways. Generally, buildings are either held freehold, leased under various terms or are
‘reverters’ (held in title but reverting to the Church Commissioners if the School is removed from the 1868 boundaries of the City of Westminster). Regardless of ownership the School is nevertheless fully responsible, sometimes in association with the Abbey Architect (e.g. over College Hall which is in the ownership of the Dean and Chapter), for the maintenance of its buildings, which are apparently very well managed through the offices of an appointed Inspecting Architect who carries out an annual survey and prepares a forward maintenance report. The School carries out most minor works using its direct Works team.
1.11.1.15 The WHS buildings generally continue to be used for the purposes for which they were designed. The current uses do not present significant Conservation issues, although the changing 21st century needs may generate new issues, including pressures of tourism, possible changes in pupil numbers and the air, noise and vehicle related pollution which require continuing monitoring and management within the existing Conservation regimes.
ation of the world heritage site
2. Evaluation of the World Heritage Site