I think Andy sums up the position regarding HER data and INSPIRE in Scotland very well. There is uncertainty over where it sits within INSPIRE and that is rooted in the nature of the directive itself where cultural heritage is largely overlooked. As a result the uncertainty filters down to national and local authority level.
In Scotland we are in the fortunate position of having strong guidance in the One Scptland, One Geography strategy from 2005 as well as a Scottish Statutory Instrument for INSPIRE implementation which enables us to take a slightly different approach than maybe being steered elsewhere.
As Andy notes there are strong signals that environmental data should be available through a single portal (SeWEB) and that is driven by view and download services - WMS and WFS. If Historic Environment data is not visible, we can hardly complain if it is ignored or excluded from schemes that might be designed to benefit it (e.g. rural stewardship).
I would also add that some of the data - such as LiDAR - created by archaeologists and deposited in archives may be covered in others themes within INSPIRE.
Peter
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