A Parliamentary Committee report has slammed government’s understanding of the importance conservation services in delivering local benefits, highlighting the impact of recent reductions on local conservation, and asking government to call on councils to retain specialist heritage professionals capable of delivering their statutory duties.
The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), the UK’s professional body for built and historic environment conservations specialists, has warmly welcomed and endorsed this as an authoritative report.
IHBC Chair Jo Evans said: “This report captures well the dire situation for conservation services in local authorities. Reduced services are having a dramatic impact on the future of our places, and could also threaten the sustainability of the economic recovery. If anything, things have deteriorated substantially since the report was commenced last year, and this can only undermine the government’s ‘Localism’ agenda.”
IHBC President Eddie Booth said: “This report provides yet another independent endorsement of the value of local authority conservation services. We urge government to follow up on the committee’s firm recommendation: to remind councils directly of the need to retain their conservation specialists.”
The Commons Select Committee on Arts and Heritage Funding reports that ‘Government does not realise that effective management of the historic environment at local level cannot be adequately undertaken without sufficient numbers of local authority conservation officers.’
The Committee also highlights the damage caused by the ongoing reductions in staff, threatening the ‘protection of the built heritage’ and hampering ‘proper consideration of development proposals in the planning system when the economy recovers.’
The report concludes: ‘We urge the Government to remind councils of the need to retain their specialist heritage professionals, an important statutory function.’
During the proceedings the Committee received substantial evidence that highlighted the importance of local authority conservation officers to a sustainable planning process.
Simon Thurley, of English Heritage, confirmed the damage caused by inadequate services, noting that, ‘when planning decisions are made that affect conservation, the local councillors who sit on the planning committees do not have the appropriate advice that will enable them to make sound decisions.’
Thurley confirmed that ‘the employment of conservation officers, who are the front-line troops in protecting heritage’ is an ‘an absolutely vital part’ of government’s heritage support and investment at local level.
Loyd Grossman, Chair of Heritage Alliance, said, “The long-term effects of cuts to conservation budgets, at local authority level, will be very severe indeed.”
The Committee summarized its conclusions:
‘We are concerned that the Government does not realise that effective management of the historic environment at local level cannot be adequately undertaken without sufficient numbers of local authority conservation officers. The lack of conservation officers was a matter of particular concern to our predecessors in both 2006 and 2008 and we are concerned that the position may deteriorate further in the light of local government spending cuts. This will inhibit protection of the built heritage and hamper proper consideration of development proposals in the planning system when the economy recovers. We urge the Government to remind councils of the need to retain their specialist heritage professionals, an important statutory function.’
For background and links on the role and importance of the conservation officer in local government see the IHBC’s Beta site at: LINK
For the Third Report of the CLG Committee, on Funding of the Arts and Heritage (2011), see: LINK
