32 C O N T E X T 1 2 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 2 Director’s cut The good news? We’re £15 cheaper than in 2004 It’s a truism that good news doesn’t travel fast.This particular truism pinpoints its own problem.Truisms, being true, fail the key test for news, as they can not be ‘new’. It is worth examining the matter of IHBC fees to see if a more interesting light can be thrown on them. First, since 2004 the actual cost of fees for the average IHBC member has increased by, at most, about £1.60. In 2012 the maximum cost to a member is £81.60, after tax relief of 20 per cent on our current £102 membership fee. That relief was not available until about 2006, so members today already have a substantial new saving on their headline fees. It must be claimed from HMRC, but at most that requires a letter to the relevant tax office. Putting that £81.60 into historical perspective, inflation has eroded the value of the pound since 2004 by about 24 per cent (estimates vary, so these are approximations). So it costs us today about £100 to purchase what £80 could buy in 2004. In line with the inflation-based increases agreed by the membership in AGM, that explains our headline subscription of £102. More revealingly, though, as our fees today actually cost only £81.60 after tax, with inflation that equates to about £65 in 2004. So real costs of IHBC membership have come down by about £15 since 2004. The benefits we have squeezed from that nominal £1.60 increase in fees – or £15 reduction in real terms, depending your pitch – are not insubstantial. Fiona Newton, our projects officer, has been able to deliver research, surveys, events and other activities that let us wring from that work what pennies we can. Our increasing membership has also driven down the unit costs for supporting each member. Altogether these helped knock off that £15 or so from the real cost. And the added value to members does not stop there. We now also have a hardship support programme, to which members may look for help when times are difficult, as well as a targeted subsidy for members earning under £17,500 a year, up from £13,500 last year. In these ways we are helping conservation professionals progress their careers despite the wider downturn, surely among the most important roles their professional body could be playing at this critical time for the sector. Our services have expanded too, even given the £15 real-cost reduction. The NewsBlog and associated archive of information is a substantial resource for members. It serves many other roles as well, including our expanding social networking resources. Private sector members can also now participate in our professional work though our listed practices, the Historic Environment Service Providers Recognition service – HESPR. Equally public sector members From the SouthWest branch AGM and day school held in October at Gloucester Docks (Photos: Jonathan Taylor)
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