The IHBC has condemned as ‘a miserable and avoidable saga’ the continuing cuts in local authority (LA) conservation services revealed in recent research carried by the Institute, which confirms that conservation capacity has been reduced by a further 1.4% in the last year, making it a cumulative decline of over 35% since 2006
IHBC Chair Mike Brown said: ‘Continuous and relentless cuts in conservation services over the past nine years have had a devastating effect on local authorities which often are no longer even able to carry out their statutory conservation duties. This is a long-term decline that is now set into the minds of managers and politicians, and in many places shows no signs of changing. The threat to our heritage through this lack of specialist professional capacity is immense.’
‘These statistics represent a miserable and avoidable saga: owners of listed buildings have been let down and left without anyone to turn to for advice; planners are making decisions on our most precious buildings without specialist input, and developers are finding out about conservation issues too late in the development process, with knock on additional costs and extended timescales.’
The seventh annual report on local authority staff resources captures the dramatic impact of local government cutbacks on the infrastructure of heritage management, highlighting that, while the scale of decline has reduced:
- In the past 12 months the number of conservation specialists has fallen by 1.4%
- Since 2006 the number of conservation specialists has fallen by 35.43%.
- There are now 527.4 FTEs working on building and area conservation
- In the past 12 months the numbers of planning application decisions have decreased by 3.9% and Listed Building Consent decisions increased by 3%
IHBC Director Sean O’Reilly said: ‘These statistics represent another thread in the most substantial body of data, research and knowledge in conservation services in the UK, all centred on the IHBC’s work.’
‘That data and research, produced in parallel to archaeological statistics by ALGAO also funded by Historic England, and shaped by our own expertise as well as that of our colleagues and partners, means that the IHBC is perfectly placed to advise on the capacity of an organisation or service to respond to their statutory or non-statutory obligations relating to conservation and related services and outcomes. So if you would like to know more about our work in these areas please feel free to contact the institute direct.’
Find out more about the IHBC at www.ihbc.org.uk
