NOTESFROMTHECHAIR By the time that this appears in print, the radical restructuring of English Heritage will be well under way. It seems that the main thrust of the reorganisation will be the creation of nine new regional offices and the reshaping of the management structure, but this is based entirely on rumour and the advertisements for new posts that have appeared in the press. No formal announcements have emerged from what used to be Fortress House. On the face of it, this is an extraordina,y way to carry out what in all probability will be a major shift in emphasis by the national body charged with the promotion of conservation in England. As far as I am aware, there has been no consultation with any of the organisations or local authorities which English Heritage serves and who might reasonably be thought to have a contribution to make to the debate on the most effective structure for raising the profile of conservation in a political climate where we still do not know where the heritage stands in the government's agenda. At least we should have a clearer picture of this later in the summer when we are promised a consultation paper on the fundamental review. Commonsense would seem to dictate that English Heritage should wait until the government makes public its vision for the future before making costly structural reforms. The haste with which it is pushing through its reorganisation has disturbing echoes of the public relaNOTESFROMCOUNCIL Conservation in Local Government The Executive has for some time been monitoring conservation employment opportunities in local government by keeping a record of advertised vacancies, sala,y levels, and qualifications sought. It has become increasingly obvious that this informal monitoring c:tnnot give a true picture of the importance attached to conservation work by local authorities as it does not take into account status within the authority, extent of responsibilities, numbers of other conservation staff, budgets or, on the other hand, posts totally lost from establishments. It was agreed to make an approach to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to see if they might be interested in undertaking a joint study in England following on from their previous questionnaire to post LGR authorities monitoring implementation of conservation management plans. It was suggested CADW and Historic Scotland be approached in Wales and Scotland respectively to advance the study there. VAT on Listed Building Repairs The adverse impact of levying VAT on listed building repairs has been a cause celebre of the conservation movement for the last 25 years. Successive governments have rebuffed conservation campaigns to moderContext 59 September 1998 ate or abolish the imposition on the grounds that its hands are tied by EU rules on taxation. A new coalition of conservation groups including IHBC is seeking to have the issue re-examined when Annex H to the 6th European Directive on VATnext comes up for review; and is seeking European partners to make this a truly Europe-wide campaign. An initial meeting with Treasury Minister Dawn Primarolo in July to present the case opened up a useful dia-• logue; coalition members are assembling more information to flesh out the conservation arguments. Annual Schools The 1998 Annual School in Shrewsbury continued the run of both educationally and financially successful annual schools. It was certainly agreed to have set new standards of comfort for delegates by using hotels. Its pioneering brick making facility and kiln at Acton Scott Museum have been adopted by Shropshire education authority as an environmental education project with a fully dedicated member of staff to guide school parties. Council agreed there was no set formula for organising Annual Schools: it remained for local groups or branches to determine what would work best for them in terms of available accommodation, or comtions disaster of 'Managing England's Heritage' in 1992. In the event, the fears that were understandably aroused by the precipitate launch of that document proved to be largely unfounded but it seems that the lessons of the way that it was handled have not been learnt. Secrecy and doubt fuelled by rumour is no way to build up the trust which is necessary if we are all going to achieve our common goal. A stronger regional presence by English Heritage must be a good thing for conservation but not if it is at the cost of a dilution of expertise or access to the invaluable specialist services that are currently provided. Disturbing rumours of early retirement of experienced officers and key staff having to mitment of volunteer time. Sometimes it might be feasible to organise an event wholly through local membership; elsewhere it might be prudent to hire a professional to organise the bookings and catering. It was agreed that on behalf of the Institute the whole event including its educational theme had to be professionally presented and that redoubled efforts should be made to complete the long awaited organisers' handbook. Partnerships The new Institute had made it clear from its launch that it would seek to work in partnership with other professional organisations to promote common conservation aims. A number of invitations were now being received from established institutes to discuss matters of mutual interest including Best Value in Local Government and Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings. All of these were being pursued. The Education Committee are recommending that IHBC join the Construction Industry Training Board so as to be at the heart of development of the emerging NVQ framework. IHBC had also become a founder member of "Revive", the working title given to a new joint lobbying campaign by leading conservation bodies to raise the political profile of conservation. An approach was to INSTITUTENEWS apply for their own jobs are very worrying, not only for the individuals concerned, but also for the conservation world at large. Ultimately, of course, we will all learn to live with new structure. Hopefully it will strengthen effectiveness at the grass roots rather than weaken it. That is presumably the aim, but we will not know how this will be achieved until we are made privy to the details. In the meantime the perception that it has been imposed upon a conservation community that is not responsible enough to share in the process only acids to a suspicion of metropolitan arrogance that will be difficult to dispel. Malcolm Air.5 be made to the Chief Executive of English Heritage to recommence the lapsed series of annual meetings with the Executive. IHBC has now joined Europa Nostra developing its tentative network of European contacts. Information Technology The Institute's new IT advisor has the refreshing attitude that computers are the tool not the master and that his approach to future systems is that they should be user friendly, not intimidatingly complex. A new and simplified e-mail system is to be adopted (it will not affect the published e-mail addresses) and a comprehensive report made on the desirability and necessity of equipping all officers and branches with computers. The possibility and costs of equipping all existing IHBC computers with a standard Windows 98 platform is to be investigated to eradicate present communication difficulties between machines. The embryonic IHBC web-site is to be enlarged and regularly updated including a facility for IHBC events (including those at branch level) to be advertised. Financial No significant financial matters were reported. The Annual Accounts for Companies House were approved by the Executive (as the Board of Directors). 39
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