IHBC’s latest Council received impressively positive feedback, as we advanced the 3rd of our Parliamentary ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation…’, to ‘Investigate… heritage management…’ – there focussed on helping conservation services in the UK’s local government, with more details & updates to come.
IHBC Director Seán O’Reilly said: ‘As noted earlier, we’re really delighted with how enthusiastically the programme was received – with nearly 20% of delegates offering 10/10 in our quick online Zoom survey, and with lots of useful comments too.’
‘We said we’d update readers further as we get more feedback – including from those not able to attend, and here below is more!’
‘For now it is clear that we are laying strong foundations for the next stage in our Parliamentary-linked advocacy on behalf of the hard-pressed regulators in conservation-related services, as outlined HERE.’
IHBC’s Council Feedback table as it happens!
| Mark out of 10 | Comments, where made |
| 10 | Good amount of updates and interesting information. Timing wise it would be very helpful to avoid school holidays with these but I appreciate there seem to be many of those! |
| 10 | Excellent variety of speakers kept to time kindly |
| 10 | |
| 10 | |
| 10 | Well organised and chaired. Very interesting speakers. Thank you |
| 10 | useful discussion despite me not working in the public sector, it is still interesting to hear real life experiences and information on the conservation officer role and experience |
| 10 | |
| 10 | Well presented and organised. |
| 10 | Very useful and informative discussions on current topics and issues |
| 10 | Very well organised and interesting topics |
| 10 | |
| 10 | Engaged and engaging, relevant and involving. |
| 10 | |
| 10 | Speakers on point and interesting, meeting ran smoothly and kept in good time. Really appreciated the updates and research findings. |
| 10 | Excellent discussions. Enjoyed the PechaKutcha format and benefitted from the quick analyses. Always good to hear Bobs assessment also. |
| 10 | |
| 10 | |
| 10 | |
| 10 | |
| 9 | found the discussion and points raised generally very informative an great to hear what is happening across the profession, very thought provoking. |
| 9 | |
| 9 | |
| 9 | |
| 9 | |
| 9 | |
| 9 | Great event, with a good range of speakers. Although it was good to have some regional perspectives, we need to forge some more international links. |
| 9 | Well run – to time. Very interesting subject |
| 9 | |
| 9 | |
| 8 | Very useful session on COGs |
| 8 | |
| 8 | One of the issues I raised in the Chat was answered; I will provide a link to Civic Voice; I would appreciate information on IHBC’s reaction to the Don’t Waste Buildings campaign. |
| 8 | Not as good as being in the room……. |
| 8 | Interesting! |
| 8 | Useful to cover the issues faced by Local Authority Conservation Officers, and to see the comments in the chat. In person discussions on this issue would be useful at future events eg the Annual Conference. |
| 7 | |
| 7 | meeting content very good . Had difficulty, logging in. Registered in Feb when first announced thought this was acknowledged but had to re register just before meeting as turned out all e mails where reminders and not a link . Technical issue maybe ? regards David Blackburn |
| 7 | Great to have the short presentations. It’s difficult to get time to read all the links in the agenda so short snappy presentations on some of the key items (including for example the charter, to summarise key headings) is/would be really useful. |
| 6 | Good contributions, but it doesn’t really feel like there’s a lot of opportunity for members to engage in the institute’s governance or policy directions. |
| 1 | Not that much relevant since I am not a conservation officer |
IHBC’s COUNCIL UPDATE
IHBC’s Councils are live events open exclusively to IHBC members
Council minutes, with updates, are Council’s formal record
For Council on 8 April 2026, a film and two papers submitted:
Chris Connelley in conversation with Joanna Saady: ‘Conservation in conversations: ‘Before the pre-App – an alternative approach in regulation’
Adam Dyer: ‘Green upgrades for London’s heritage homes’
Serena Cardozo: ‘From private sector architect to local authority conservation officer, via Public Practice’
Links to these papers are included in the final invitation to all members from IHBC’s President.
If you are a member and have not received the invitation & links to content, email Joanna Theobald at contact@ihbc.org.ukfor a re-send
Council feedback and more may be submitted online HERE
Council is supported by IHBC’s CREATIVE Conservation Fund
See more updates HERE.
