C O N T E X T 1 3 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 3 31 S IHBC Annual School Annual School 2012 School 2013 IHBC An 2011 IHBC Annual IHBC Annual School School 2013 IHBC IHBC Annual Scho Annual school Notes from the chair Where we go from here Mike Brown, IHBC policy secretary from 2008 to 2013, and now chairman, reviews legislation and policy over the past five years. He warns of a crisis as big as that in the 1970s. disproportionate hit, with over a third of posts lost over the period (see the annual English Heritage/IHBC surveys). For those who remain, the work pressures are all the more demanding, while those now without paid employment (often the most senior and therefore expensive staff) face an uncertain future. The decline is deepest in England, but only because the funding cuts began earliest there. Scotland andWales are likely to follow suit. When I questioned Nick Boles (Parliamentary under-secretary of state for planning) recently about the loss of heritage jobs and resources, he could only waffle about ‘setting priorities’. The drive towards deregulation is, of course, of a piece with the above reductions, the various ‘red tape challenges’ being a continual challenge to the safeguarding of our heritage. It is worth remembering that regulation mainly exists as a response to past market failings and human frailties. Strip regulation away and you are reinviting those same forces back to centre stage. An interesting development within the UK has been the gradual move towards separate planning and heritage regimes for each of the four home countries. As they are individually addressing many of the same issues, the regimes are necessarily similar. Nevertheless, this growing autonomy does allow each to address the issues in their own way, setting individual emphasis to match local conditions and cultures. This has placed a greater burden on our policy committee, responding to twice the number of consulting countries/regimes than previously. A key UK measure that we responded to was the changes to the VAT rules that, contrary to all the advice given by us and others for the last 20-odd years, equalised the system by imposing VAT on consented works. With other organisations (including, it should be noted, key property and construction bodies), we trouped into the Treasury to make the case against, only to be utterly stonewalled by the minister. The only concessions proved to be for churches and some transitional relief. What was deeply depressing about this episode was that the government’s decision was clearly not evidence-based. Once again policy had been arrived at – no doubt Treasury-led – based on old prejudices and a staggering wrong-headedness about how things actually work in the real world outside the Westminster village. Similarly, the old prejudices about heritage continue to dog our profession. I can think of no member of the IHBC who does not appreciate the need for sustainable development and the need to utilise our heritage where possible to support growth and jobs. Yet, because we must of necessity weigh the social and environmental This article, my first since the AGM, doubles up as both my ‘Notes from the chair’ column and a distillation of the talk I gave at the annual school in Carlisle.The talk, my last action before standing down as IHBC policy secretary, was a review of the key headlines that had happened on my watch, and also something of a valedictory address. I will not trouble you, dear reader, with the latter, save to thank all the members of the policy committee, consultation group and technical panel, and to wish my successor, David Kincaid, good luck. Main UK themes, 2008–2012 The overriding issue that has dominated life in the UK over this period is, of course, the recession and the Coalition Government’s chosen method for dealing with it. Sadly, the austerity route is serving to reinforce many of the divides which mar the UK. Many, myself included, are feeling the pinch while, to quote Bruce Springsteen, “up on Banker’s Hill, the party’s going strong”. The UK’s historic environment is subject to and reflects many of these divides. Houses on Bishop’s Avenue in London (a number of which I helped list) continue to be sold for £140m+ to rich foreign investors, while conservation officers across the south east face daily pressure from ambitious property owners to expand and gentrify. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the UK (and, it must be said, in pockets of deprivation in the south) too often the struggle is to find funding to help struggling owners repair, refurbish and keep our heritage in good beneficial use. The austerity measures have had a devastating impact on jobs and services within many councils. As always, conservation officers have taken a IHBC chairman Mike Brown: conservation officers have taken a disproportionate hit
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