The Historic Buildings Repair Grants Scheme is a principal source of public funding for the conservation and repair of Scotland’s built heritage. The scheme is administered by Historic Scotland, an agency within the Scottish Executive Education Department which is directly responsible for safeguarding the nation’s built heritage. The main criteria applied in considering a building’s eligibility for grant funding are: the architectural or historic merit of the property or its contribution to an outstanding conservation area; whether the need for assistance from public funds has been demonstrated (there is no fixed rate of grant, however, as a matter of practice, Historic Scotland only contributes up to 50% of eligible costs); the urgency of the proposed repairs; the financial viability of the project (to establish that an unrealistic level of grant is not being sought; an appropriate and sustainable end use. The maximum level of a grant does not normally exceed £500,000. Rates of grant are assessed on an individual basis, but are not normally less than 25% of eligible costs. £11,000,000 distributed annually.