The IHBC’s first ‘Research Note’ in a new publications programme highlights that over a third of the conservation job losses in England in 2010 were from senior posts held by experienced staff according to research carried out by IHBC.
Trefor Thorpe. IHBC President, said of the launch of the IHBC’s Research Note programme: ‘I’m delighted to announce this as the first research note in a publishing programme that again highlights the central contribution the institute can make in understanding how we care for places. It is terribly unfortunate that it carries such devastating news, though that highlights the need for us to do all we can to get our messages across.’
‘This first note covers England, and interprets research already carried out by us and supported by English Heritage. As the opportunities arise, and as our investigative programmes expand, I know we’ll soon have yet another essential resource, and a practical complement to our NewsBlog service!’
IHBC Chair Jo Evans said of the conclusions in the Research Note: ‘Those who are senior, both in organizational status and in age, generally have more experience and knowledge of the wider conservation role as well as their own geographical area of work. So their loss to conservation services is considerable, and far outweighs what we can count through simple numbers.’
‘Post-holders may leave before any successor is fully trained up – if indeed a replacement is made – leading to lack of continuity of knowledge, practice and standards. Critically, younger and more junior staff appointed after such a hiatus are simply not able to ensure continuity in the skills and knowledge without that senior guidance. Indeed this is very similar to the way the teaching profession was decimated during the 90’s, with the experienced staff vulnerable to job cuts simply because they were on the higher grades, and we are still paying the price for that.’
Mike Brown, IHBC Policy Secretary, said ‘ There is an added complication to this picture too. A number of older staff may well have reduced their hours leading to a decrease in general capacity. This is relatively common where staff approaching retirement prefer to phase in the changes. However once they retire entirely the post may be filled on the reduced hours, if it is not lost completely. Altogether, these changes amount to a further erosion of conservation capacity, additional to the huge losses already documented across the wider sector analysis.’
Fiona Newton, IHBC’s projects Officer, who developed the analysis and wrote the note, summarised the conclusions, saying: ‘Senior posts lost in 2010 accounted for 2.6% of the total conservation staffing in England and more than a third of the overall 6% job cuts.’
‘We know from the figures collected by IHBC and published in conjunction with English Heritage and ALGAO that conservation staff in England fell in the year to April 2011 by 6%. However beneath the published headline figures we have also examined the survey material further to look at the impact of recent staff cuts on experienced staff at senior levels in local authorities, those at Principal level and above and mainly known to be over 55.’
‘In 2008 the IHBC survey of conservation staffing also took a snap shot survey of the age profiles of the staff. This showed that just over 30% of conservation staff were aged between 50 and 59. Some of these staff will clearly in the three years to 2011 have reached 60 and be looking towards retirement. Others may be hoping to continue working for some years more but the picture for older staff and those in more senior positions has been bleak as staff cuts hit these areas hard.’
For links to the primary report on which the report is based see: LINK
Download the IHBC Research Note 2013-1: LINK
