Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023
Regulations made to support the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023
The bulk of the new secondary legislation needed to support the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 (‘the 2023 Act’) was made on 9 September when Jane Hutt MS, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, signed six sets of regulations. These regulations were laid before Senedd Cymru on 11 September and, provided there is no objection from the Senedd within 40 days, they will come into force alongside the Act on 4 November 2024. All of the new regulations can be consulted on legislation.gov.uk.
Five of the six sets of regulations restate existing subordinate legislation in light of the 2023 Act, as set out in the following table.
New regulations | Existing subordinate legislation |
| The Applications for Scheduled Monument Consent (Wales) Regulations 2024 | The Ancient Monuments (Applications for Scheduled Monument Consent) (Wales) Regulations 2017 |
| The Listed Buildings (Exempt Religious Buildings) (Wales) Regulations 2024 | The Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Wales) Order 2018 |
| The Listed Buildings (Partnership Agreements) (Wales) Regulations 2024 | The Listed Buildings (Heritage Partnership Agreements) (Wales) Regulations 2021 |
| The Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas (Procedure and Interest Rate) (Wales) Regulations 2024 |
|
| The Scheduled Monuments (Partnership Agreements) (Wales) Regulations 2024 | The Scheduled Monuments (Heritage Partnership Agreements) (Wales) Regulations 2021 |
Employing the same approach taken with the 2023 Act, the new regulations update and restate existing regulations, orders and directions, but they do not change the effect of the law. All of the existing subordinate legislation identified in the table will be repealed and replaced when the new regulations come into force on 4 November.
These five sets of regulations, like the 2023 Act, state that they are part of a code of law relating to the historic environment for Wales. This declaration of status is intended to help persons interested in the law on a particular topic — the historic environment in this instance — find and classify it more easily.
Two further sets of regulations will make amendments consequential on the 2023 Act. The first, made on 9 September and laid before Senedd Cymru two days later, makes changes to secondary legislation:
The final set of regulations, which will be subject to a different Senedd procedure because it amends primary legislation, is yet to be made:
The Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 (Consequential Provision) (Primary Legislation) Regulations 2024 [not yet laid]
Since they will not replace existing regulations and are not substantive, these consequential requlations will not form part of the historic environment code. They should also come into force on 4 November.
