In the past 12 months the number of archaeological specialists advising English local authorities has fallen by three per cent while the number of conservation specialists has fallen by four per cent. That is the latest assessment according to a report from English Heritage, the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.
The organisations say these figures represent a continuation of a downward trend which has seen a 28 per cent fall in overall historic environment advice since 2006
Rescue Says: “The ongoing losses to conservation and archaeological advisory capacity is extremely concerning. Despite the necessity for historic environment advice and expertise being enshrined within the NPPF, many Local Authorities are clearly ignoring their obligations to seek the knowledge of qualified in-house specialists and the already grossly inadequate number of heritage advisors continues to fall steadily. This situation can only result in the continuing denudation of our historic environment. Rescue looks forward to the creation of a proactive strategy for arresting this worrying decline in specialists that the bodies commissioning this report must surely now be devising”
