The Act
3.The purpose of the Act is to create a new lead body for Scotland’s historic environment – Historic Environment Scotland - which will be a Non-Departmental Public Body, and to equip that body with the necessary powers to be able to carry out the functions which are currently delivered by Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). The Act provides for RCAHMS to be dissolved. The Act also sets out the governance arrangements for the new body and provides for the delegation or transfer to Historic Environment Scotland of Ministerial powers and responsibilities under existing legislation. The Act enables the transfer of the property, staff and liabilities of both RCAHMS and Historic Scotland to Historic Environment Scotland (excluding properties and collections in the care of Scottish Ministers) and realigns certain functions in relation to designation and regulation of the historic environment so they are more consistent with each other and with the wider planning system.