Reporting and Monitoring Mechanisms

State Party Notifications

Paragraph 172

Under paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines the UNESCO World Heritage Committee asks to be informed of the State Party's intention to undertake or authorise in an area protected under the World Heritage Convention major restorations or new constructions which may affect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of a World Heritage property. This information is to be shared by the State Party, through the Secretariat (World Heritage Centre).

The purpose of notification is to enable the Committee to assist in seeking appropriate solutions to ensure that the OUV of the property will be fully preserved.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is ultimately responsible for the decision on whether a case will be notified to the World Heritage Committee, having sought advice from their technical advisers (Historic England International Team and the relevant national heritage body).

Early engagement with the relevant national heritage body(ies) about any potential proposal is recommended since they act as the main conduits for liaison with the State Party. The State Party can then provide preliminary advice and guidance regarding whether a potential development or restoration proposal (or policy document) might need to be considered for notification.

The State Party advocates for notification at pre-application stage wherever possible to maximise notice given to the Committee and enable constructive consultation. Leaving notification to a late stage increases the risk for all parties that any concerns raised by the Advisory Bodies may then be difficult to address.

Paragraph 174

The World Heritage Centre may receive information regarding a World Heritage property from a third-party source other than the State Party that suggests there are concerns about its state of conservation. To verify the source and the contents of the information it will consult with the State Party and request its comments. The State Party will liaise with the national heritage agency(ies) in producing a response.

The State Party prefers to avoid the potential for enquiries to be raised as a result of third-party information. It therefore chooses, wherever possible, to make timely use of the procedures under paragraph 172 of the 'Operational Guidelines'.

The Technical Review Process

Information submitted by the State Party under either paragraph 172 or 174 of the Operational Guidelines may be shared with the World Heritage Committee's Advisory Bodies (principally ICOMOS and IUCN) for their review and advice. This process is known as Technical Review. Technical Review may be proactively requested by the State Party, or the World Heritage Centre may decide it is required.

Management of a cycle of technical advice takes a minimum of 12 weeks from the request being made by State Party to the receipt of advice from the Advisory Bodies. However, it is helpful to allow for a longer time period to facilitate productive engagement wherever possible.

With complex and particularly sensitive cases, or if insufficient information is available for the Advisory Bodies to confirm their advice, more than 1 cycle of technical advice may be required to find an appropriate solution to any concerns.

There is an expectation that the current iteration of a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) will be included in documentation shared with the Advisory Bodies. Detailed information regarding HIA is set out in UNESCO's Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context (2022).

A Historic England briefing is available to support the use of this guidance.

Reactive Monitoring

Reactive Monitoring is "the reporting by the World Heritage Centre, other sectors of UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of specific World Heritage properties that are under threat" (Operational Guidelines, Paragraph 169).

State of Conservation Reports (SoCR) form part of the reactive monitoring processes. They are usually produced at the request of the World Heritage Committee, or sometimes the World Heritage Centre, and present the UK Government's response to concerns raised and recommendations from the Committee.

DCMS liaises with individual properties, via Historic England, in relation to the production of SoCR. The reports are compiled from information received from the property, local authorities, relevant national bodies and stakeholders, and the advisors on World Heritage – Historic England and JNCC. These reports are examined by the World Heritage Committee during its ordinary session each year.

The World Heritage Committee may also request that its Advisory Bodies assess the state of conservation of a property on a reactive monitoring mission. In some instances, States Parties may voluntarily invite an advisory mission to review a specific issue at a property where detailed international input would be likely to assist in finding a solution.

Periodic Reporting

Outside of the Reactive Monitoring process, an exercise is undertaken to report on the implementation of the World Heritage Convention approximately every 8 years. The Periodic Reporting exercise consists of a questionnaire in 2 sections, with one to be completed by the State Party and the other by each of the World Heritage properties in the territory.

List of World Heritage in Danger

The List of World Heritage in Danger is a published record of World Heritage Sites experiencing serious and specific dangers. These are sites which require major operations for conservation and for which assistance has been requested under the World Heritage Convention. Inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger informs the international community of conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List and encourages corrective action.