{"id":6008,"date":"2013-06-22T16:38:50","date_gmt":"2013-06-22T15:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=6008"},"modified":"2013-06-22T18:04:55","modified_gmt":"2013-06-22T17:04:55","slug":"nts-rallies-members-over-threats-from-merged-hs-rcahms-super-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=6008","title":{"rendered":"NTS rallies members over threats from merged HS-RCAHMS \u2018super-body\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The possibility of \u2018unintended but serious consequences\u2019 from Historic Scotland merger have been highlighted by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) as it calls upon its 312,000 members to help it respond to the Scottish Government\u2019s consultation on merging public agencies, Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, into single \u2018super-body\u2019 with possible charitable status<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The NTS writes<\/span>:
\nThe Trust has raised concerns over a number of issues arising from the proposed merger that may disadvantage other voluntary and private organisations caring for Scotland\u2019s heritage leading to unintended but serious consequences.<\/p>\n

The Trust\u2019s concerns centre on:
\n\u2022 Regulatory conflicts \u2013 the new body aspires to be \u2018Scotland\u2019s leading heritage tourism provider\u2019 \u2013 while also continuing to regulate how other operators manage their properties
\n\u2022 Grant-making \u2013 the new body may take over responsibility for Scottish Government grants to the sector, at the same time seeking to better access grant support itself
\n\u2022 Charitable fundraising \u2013 the new public body is likely to seek charitable donations to sustain its activities, in competition with the voluntary sector which is wholly dependent on membership support and charitable giving<\/p>\n

The Trust\u2019s Head of Policy, Diarmid Hearns said: \u2018While we welcome the broad thrust of the Scottish Government\u2019s proposals, we are calling on them to make sure there is a level playing field, with no unfair advantages given to the new organisation as it competes with us and others for income.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018We have concerns that a number of issues are not addressed in detail within the consultation paper and we would like to encourage the Scottish Government to consider these before finalising its plans.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018For example, will there be guarantees that the new body will not use its state funding to cross-subsidise its marketing and pricing to compete with voluntary and private providers?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Historic Scotland, as a branch of the civil service, currently enjoys a different tax treatment from competitors in the voluntary and private sectors. Can we assume that the new body with its charitable status will be treated in the same way as its competitors in this respect?\u2019<\/p>\n

Members are being asked to share their thoughts on the issues raised in the paper before the Trust completes its formal response to the Scottish Government consultation, which is due to end on 31 July.<\/p>\n

The Scotsman writes<\/span>:
\n\u2018HERITAGE charities have raised fears a new heritage \u2018super-body\u2019 could threaten their survival, with the National Trust for Scotland urging thousands of its members to object to the controversial plan.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Government wants to merge Historic Scotland with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland to create one giant organisation responsible for safeguarding the nation\u2019s heritage. But NTS has called on its 312,000 members to oppose proposals to give the new body charitable status, because it believes that granting a government agency the chance to seek public donations risks creating damaging competition for much-needed funding.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Trust\u2019s members are being directed to a special Briefing Paper on the proposed merger located at<\/span>: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n

The main consultation documents are to be found at<\/span>: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n

Scotsman Article<\/span>: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n

NTS News<\/span>: LINK\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The possibility of \u2018unintended but serious consequences\u2019 from Historic Scotland merger have been highlighted by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) as it calls upon its 312,000 members to help it respond to the Scottish Government\u2019s consultation on merging public … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6008"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6019,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6008\/revisions\/6019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}