12 C O N T E X T 1 2 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 Annual School ual School 2011 ool 2011 IHBC An 11 IHBC Annual S HBC Annual School School 2011 IHBC IHBC Annual Scho Day School reports Government’s heritage policy for the last two years. The recent election has led to the coalition being broken up and Labour forming a minority administration. Heritage now forms part of a new department led by the minister for housing, regeneration and heritage, Huw Lewis, the Assembly Member for Merthyr Tydfil. This was the first time the new minister had presented his views on heritage. His short video address to the School was looked forward with anticipation, especially by theWelsh participants, to see if there was going to be any radical changes to the current strategies. The minister started by saying he saw heritage as being an integral part of his portfolio across both housing and the wider regeneration agenda as well. As he has a record of being interested in social issues, it was no surprise that he was keen to see the current emphasis on enhancing civic pride by telling the story of communities. This is particularly relevant to his constituency of Merthyr Tydfil, which was one of the 10 largest towns in the UK in 1800, containing six ironworks and dominating the world production of iron, but by 1935 was more or less bankrupt. Lewis emphasised that the aim was not just to restore civic pride but also the built heritage. He had a personal Huw Lewis, minister for housing, regeneration and heritage Wales has had a dedicated heritage minister since the forming of the Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition administration in 2007.This has led to significant initiatives in the heritage sector, including the setting up of the Heritage Environment Group, consisting of representatives of the leading heritage organisations in Wales, to advise the minister and culminating in the Minister’s Heritage Statement, which has underpinned theWelsh Assembly Huw Lewis addressing the school by video TheWales branch, organisers of the school
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