Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the capacity and long-term sustainability of the commercial archaeological sector in England to meet demand from the housebuilding programme and planning reforms.

Historic England, the Government’s statutory advisor on the historic environment, works with the commercial archaeology sector to understand capacity and long-term sustainability of the sector.

Historic England estimates there were 4,935 people working in UK development-led archaeology in 2024-25, up from 2,871 in 2013-14. This growth indicates that the sector has expanded in response to development demand. However, from engagement with stakeholders the Government is aware of pressures on specialist skills which could impact delivery, including commercial archaeology sector resilience, and local authority archaeological capacity.