Introduction
The Railway Heritage Committee (RHC) is an executive Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) sponsored by the Department for Transport (DfT). It was established as such on 21 November 2005.
The role of the RHC is to “designate” records or artefacts relating to railways which are of sufficient interest to warrant preservation. Its members act voluntarily and are only reimbursed for expenses related to their activities. The Committee therefore relies on committed individuals to help it carry out its statutory duties.
The Chairman of the RHC, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, has written to the Department highlighting concerns related to:
- the constraints placed on the Committee by existing legislation, and that there is
- an increasing number of railway related companies outside of the RHC’s scope to carry out its function.
In addition, the last two appointment campaigns for an archivist member for the Committee have been unsuccessful due, in part, to the wording of current legislation.
The purpose of this consultation is two-fold:
1. to seek views on increasing the number of railway related bodies in the scope of the RHC,
and
2. to seek views on proposals to update the membership of the RHC.
Responses to this consultation are requested by 5th September 2008.
For related documents, pages and internet links, see the column on the right.
