An independent study led by Historic England (HE) and co-funded by the Heritage Lottery Find (HLF), has been published, revealing how people feel about the impacts of cuts on local authority heritage services in the South West.
In welcome the report IHBC Operations Director Fiona Newton said: ‘This study of the South West is a window onto a national issue. Even when the survey did not mention cuts to funding or staff, many of those who responded identified the effect that cuts in the South West’s conservation services has had on them.’
‘These cuts have been shown by the IHBC’s regular research on conservation services to have led to a loss of 35.8% in the South West since 2006, which closely mirrors the figures for the national average.’
‘What can be seen as a problem by those who use local authority services and require conservation advice in one region, is just as likely to apply in the others.’
HE writes:
This independent study provides important new information about how people feel about local authority heritage services in the South West. It shows good user satisfaction overall, but highlights some issues which users perceive to be linked to recent cuts to heritage services.
The first study of its kind asked people who had used a local authority heritage service since January 2014 about their experiences, to gain an insight into the impact new ways of delivering those services in the era of austerity are having on customers.
On the whole, service users have positive views of historic environment services, and value skills and expertise, timely delivery, and value for money. However, they also report concerns about delays to projects, poor access to experienced and specialist staff, the lack of staff time available to them, and poor online guidance and resources relating to heritage management.
This research was carried out by ERS on behalf of Historic England. It was commissioned by the South West Historic Environment Forum and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund South West.
Read more about the research,view the publication and download the report
