Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with UNESCO on support for World Heritage Sites in Scotland, including New Lanark.

As ‘State Party’ to the World Heritage Convention, DCMS is proud to represent all 35 UK World Heritage Sites when engaging with UNESCO, including New Lanark. UNESCO does not routinely provide direct financial or operational support to inscribed sites, which remains the responsibility of national and local managing authorities.

Support for UK World Heritage Sites is provided by a number of organisations, with the Scottish Government and Historic Environment Scotland taking a leading role for Scottish sites. Other organisations such as NatureScot, the National Trust for Scotland and the UK National Commission for UNESCO play an active role and also support Scotland’s ‘UNESCO Trail’, the world’s first national trail to connect different UNESCO designations.