Report on Heritage Staff Resources RESCUE Response

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The fifth report on local government staff resources

English Heritage, The Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers and the

Institute of Historic Building Conservation

July 2013

An appraisal by RESCUE The British Archaeological Trust

RESCUE The British Archaeological Trust1 welcomes the fifth report on local

authority staff resources2 and the presentation of data pertaining to the ongoing loss of

specialist professional advice in the fields of archaeology and building conservation. The

data summarised in the report show clearly and unequivocally that there has been asignificant decline in the availability of specialist advice to local authorities in both fields.

The downward trend which began in 2006 has seen the numbers of archaeological advisors,

including Historic Environment Records (HER) officers, fall by 28% and a fall in building

conservation advice by 33%. In the past twelve months alone the number of archaeological

specialists has fallen by 3% and the numbers of conservation officers by 4%. There is no

sign of this rate of decline ceasing and with further cuts to local authority budgets planned

for the financial year 2013-2014 it seems that the situation will continue to worsen.

These findings confirm the anecdotal information collected by RESCUE over the

same period which indicates that heritage services are amongst the first to be reduced oreliminated by local authorities when cuts are required to meet central government

spending targets. Specific examples include the closure of the Merseyside HER and the

withdrawal of advice to five local authorities (Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens &

Wirral) in a region that includes the Liverpool waterfront World Heritage Site. Other areas

affected by severe cuts include the West Midlands where Sandwell and Dudley no longer

have HERs, Walsall has no archaeological officer and where the whole of Birmingham is

the responsibility of one individual. Such actions are directly contrary to the National

Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)3 which states that


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Local planning authorities should have up-to-date evidence about the historic environment in their

area and use it to assess the significance of heritage assets and the contribution to their

environment. ... Local planning authorities should either maintain or have access to a historic

environment record(NPPF paragraph 169, emphasis added).

In a speech delivered on 24th April 2013, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media

and Sport, Maria Miller, drew attention to the immense financial value of the cultural

sector, including the heritage sector and made specific reference to the case of Liverpool4.

In a response to the speech, RESCUE questioned the logic of emphasising the value of

culture while at the same time allowing spending in real terms to fall to the extent that the

historic environment is no longer effectively protected5. RESCUE believes that the points

made in its response to the Ministers speech are confirmed by the findings of the report on

local authority staff resources. On the basis of this evidence, RESCUE asserts that the

governments imposition of unrealistic spending limits on local authorities is a transparent

tactic designed to deflect criticism of government policy onto local authorities and thus toshift the blame away from central government to local government under the guise of

permitting local decision making. RESCUE asserts that responsibility for the nations

heritage should be borne equally by local and national government and that the central

government should take active steps to fulfil its responsibilities under the NPPF and

international agreements (notably the Valetta Convention6) by requiring local authorities to

meet those responsibilities and by giving them the resources to do so.

RESCUE notes that the provision of heritage services has declined under both the

present and previous governments and insists on a cross-party approach to the issues

raised in the report. In particular RESCUE expects to see the All-Party Parliamentary

Group on Archaeology (APPAG) taking a much more robust role in monitoring and

actively supporting the system of heritage protection and taking on a commitment to work

with both professional and voluntary heritage groups to ensure that the nations heritage

receives the attention and care that it deserves.

As a first step, RESCUE calls on the government and the opposition parties to

undertake a joint commitment to the following reforms to the system of heritage protection:

To make the provision of conservation and archaeological advisory services chargedwith the safeguarding of the historic and built environment a statutory obligation on

all local authorities

To make the provision of a fully resourced Historic Environment Record a statutoryobligation on all local authorities

To make access to a Historic Environment Record free for all citizens, communitygroups, research students, academics and others with a legitimate interest in the

historic environment


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Furthermore, RESCUE sees it as essential that local and regional museums are

adequately resourced in order to be able to undertake the reception, curation and

conservation of archives arising from archaeological fieldwork (both commercial and non-

commercial) without the imposition of prohibitive charges on those responsible for

depositing such archives.

RESCUE believes that the country is close to reaching a point at which the provisionof services designed to safeguard our historic environment is no longer adequate to meet

the challenges that present themselves on a day-to-day basis. The report reviewed here is

the fifth on such issues and the information that it contains is paralleled by the experience

of other heritage organisations. The catalogue of losses continues to mount in spite of the

publication of such reports and expressions of concern at the worsening situation. At what

stage will we decide to act collectively to support under-resourced and vulnerable services

and thus ensure that our historic sites and landscapes receive proper protection through the

planning process? There is an obvious challenge here for the bodies that have compiled

this report and for those who purport to represent the heritage profession to act to address

the situation. More broadly there is a need for everyone concerned with our nations

heritage, including the wider public to commit to join the campaign in support of

threatened services. Will we rise to meet this challenge as we did in the early 1970s or will

future generations look back on the early 21st century as the time when we abandoned our

past to short-termism and financial expediency?

RESCUE The British Archaeological Trust

19th September 2012

Notes1RESCUE is an independent organisation dedicated to promoting archaeology in Britain and

abroad. Details of RESCUEs work can be found on the website:www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk

2 A summary and a link to the report can be found here:

http://ihbconline.co.uk/newsachive/?p=6410

3National Planning Policy Framework:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6077/2116950

.pdf

4Testing Times: Fighting cultures corner in an age of austerity

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/testing-times-fighting-cultures-corner-in-an-age-of-

austerity

5Testing Times: Fighting cultures corner in an age of austerity A response by RESCUE The British

Archaeological Trusthttp://rescue-archaeology.org.uk/2013/04/26/testing-times/

6Details of the terms of the Valetta Convention can be found here:

http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/143.htm. RESCUE contends that Britain is
http://www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk/http://www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk/http://www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk/http://ihbconline.co.uk/newsachive/?p=6410http://ihbconline.co.uk/newsachive/?p=6410https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6077/2116950.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6077/2116950.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6077/2116950.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/testing-times-fighting-cultures-corner-in-an-age-of-austerityhttps://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/testing-times-fighting-cultures-corner-in-an-age-of-austerityhttps://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/testing-times-fighting-cultures-corner-in-an-age-of-austerityhttp://rescue-archaeology.org.uk/2013/04/26/testing-times/http://rescue-archaeology.org.uk/2013/04/26/testing-times/http://rescue-archaeology.org.uk/2013/04/26/testing-times/http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/143.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/143.htmhttp://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/143.htmhttp://rescue-archaeology.org.uk/2013/04/26/testing-times/https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/testing-times-fighting-cultures-corner-in-an-age-of-austerityhttps://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/testing-times-fighting-cultures-corner-in-an-age-of-austerityhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6077/2116950.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6077/2116950.pdfhttp://ihbconline.co.uk/newsachive/?p=6410http://www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk/


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in breach of Articles 2 (i), 4 (iii) and 5 (i, ii and iii) of the Convention as a direct result of government

policy.

Report on Heritage Staff Resources RESCUE Response

Documents

Transcript of Report on Heritage Staff Resources RESCUE Response