Living Heritage Inventory: Consultation Response

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)]

I am repeating the following written ministerial statement made today in the other place by my noble Friend, the Minister for Gambling and Heritage and DCMS Lords Minister, Baroness Twycross:

The Government have published the response to the consultation on the inventories of living heritage, one of the key obligations under the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which the UK ratified last year. The response details how we, working closely with the devolved Governments, will create inventories of living heritage of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which will combine into a UK inventory.

The Government will start a conversation throughout the UK about our cultural heritage—the folklore, performance, customs and crafts that play an important role in the identity, pride, and cohesion of communities across the UK—and how we collectively safeguard this intangible cultural heritage or ‘living heritage’.

The Government have taken an open, inclusive and community-based approach to implementing the convention and we are grateful to the many who participated in the roundtables and submitted responses to the consultation. This engagement has been invaluable in developing the criteria, categories, and approach we will use for the inventories. DCMS has worked closely with the devolved Governments to agree the consultation response.

Later this year, the Government will open the call for submissions to these inventories with full guidance and information about how to submit an item. DCMS will engage and include as many communities as possible to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary range of living heritage across all corners of the UK.

[HCWS588]