Commentary on Sections Part 6 — Other heritage assets and records Section 195 — Access to historic environment records
697.Section 195 requires a historic environment record to be a publicly available resource. Every historic environment record is freely available online through Archwilio and is supported by associated reference material, which may be digital or paper, and is publicly available at the offices of the Welsh archaeological trusts. This material can include aerial photographs, copies of early maps and antiquarian reports, characterisation studies, unpublished reports (“grey literature”), and other published and documentary sources. Historic environment records are dynamic and constantly evolving resources which require continuous maintenance and enhancement as new information about the historic environment comes to light. Professional advice and assistance must also be offered to help users locate and interpret information provided in or accessed by means of a historic environment record.
698.Subsection (2) requires the Welsh Ministers on request to provide a person with a copy of part of a historic environment record if the request is deemed reasonable. Subsection (3) requires the Welsh Ministers to compile a document with the requested information retrieved from the historic environment record. The compilation of this document may require interpretation of the data within the record, some form of analysis or additional research.
699.Subsection (5) gives the Welsh Ministers the power to impose charges to recover the costs of providing certain services associated with historic environment records, for example, the production of reports based on analysis of historic environment record content. No profit will be made from such charges, which will be limited to the costs of providing the service.