Study assessing the achievements of the Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) programme, set up in 2016-2017. Through the HAZ programme, Historic England works with local people and partners, including local authorities, to help breathe new life into specific places that are rich in heritage. The programme aims to make more productive use of heritage assets to support sustainable growth by delivering a flexible response to local circumstances and coordinating the use of resources through partnership working.
The study reviews the HAZ Rounds 1 to 3, to:
- Assess the achievements of the HAZ programme to date against its agreed Principles, Aims and Objectives;
- Determine how effectively the HAZ Programme Evaluation Framework has enabled monitoring of the progress and impact of the initiative; and
- Review the way the programme is structured and managed nationally and locally in order to support the effective delivery of Rounds 1-3 and future rounds, identifying benefits, risks, issues and lessons that could be applied.
The study involves consultation with programme staff and wider stakeholders to consider views on both national overview of the initiative and success of local delivery. This includes two online surveys, semi-structured interviews with HAZ programme staff and partners and a desk-based review of documents. The products of the study include a succinct report assessing the current position against the HAZ initiative principles and a set of prioritised recommendations to enable Historic England to develop an action plan to take forward to future rounds of the HAZ programme.