Royal commission-Cadw merger opposed, inquiry finds

[BAJR]

I hope people have noticed this as well...

There is overwhelming opposition to plans for a shake-up of the body that investigates historic sites in Wales, Assembly Members have warned.


Heritage Minister Huw Lewis wants to merge the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) with the Welsh government's conservation service Cadw.


But an assembly committee inquiry found academics and heritage group unease.


Mr Lewis says change is needed to withstand an era of spending cuts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-21203556

[INDENT]If the proposal is to take it into the government itself - which is becoming a trend nowadays - that would lose its arm's-length quality and the confidence which people feel in it”

[/INDENT] Prof Ralph Griffiths Former chairman, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales

[kevin wooldridge]

I share some of the dis-ease with the proposals, but it seems unlikely that CADW_RCAHMW can hold out when similar bodies in England and Scotland have gone down the merger line. But perhaps there should be a nationwide discussion...Maybe the time has come to truly rationalise costs and amalgamate all of these regional/national bodies AND the National Trusts into one single heritage body covering Great Britain......As Uo1 might suggest, there seems to be little point in running 5 or 6 separate pension schemes when one single redundancy agreement could cover them all!!

[VGC]

I share some of the dis-ease with the proposals, but it seems unlikely that CADW_RCAHMW can hold out when similar bodies in England and Scotland have gone down the merger line. But perhaps there should be a nationwide discussion...Maybe the time has come to truly rationalise costs and amalgamate all of these regional/national bodies AND the National Trusts into one single heritage body covering Great Britain......As Uo1 might suggest, there seems to be little point in running 5 or 6 separate pension schemes when one single redundancy agreement could cover them all!!

National Trust and National Trust for Scotland are independent bodies in the third sector (i.e. they're charities independent from the State)

It's an tricky situation, I'm still worried about the RCAHMS/HS merger but it's got to go better than it did in England. Perhaps RCAHMW/C should hold off and see how the Scottish situation develops...

[Unitof1]

Yer the national trust is never going to touch those amauters with a barge pole as they have a get out jail free card on mortmain and the great charter of 1217 which just about gold plates their pensions even if they are stake holders (although a goodly few are final salary) http://nationaltrustrewardsandbenefits.o...-benefits/

In what way was the merger in england not better. carnt say that I notice much from them both before or after. What is it they do?

[VGC]

In what way was the merger in england not better. carnt say that I notice much from them both before or after. What is it they do?

Well in England the merger caused the loss of RCAHME. In Scotland the RCAHMS does some sterling work and we have an online accessible HER/SMR/NMRS define it how you like, with associated mapping http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/ http://canmoremapping.rcahms.gov.uk/ and online image and AP access.

RCAHMS also carries out outstanding survey work, and produces great publications as well as aerial photographic interpretation and curation.

[Unitof1]

i bet they do the bestest mapping and survey work ever, probably not just a satalite or lidar survey going over and taking a few pictures. But then who comes and pays anything for it, old fasioned things like books and pictures? Are you doubling your money, that kind of thing, break even, even, cause if your not then all the hidding behind its an smr or her which we all know isnt stautory you dont need them to do an evalustion I dont see how its should save you. I can do the bestest evaluation treanch ever but nobody wants them right now, I barely charge more than the diesel to do them. Is there some stautory law from when the RCAHMEs were set up which will save you?

[Wax]

The National Trust is independent of Government and in recent years has openly opposed it. There are also over 60,000 volunteers without whom it could not do what it does. So though merging the Government agencies might be a reasonable approach lumping in the Heritage charities would not.

[kevin wooldridge]

I wasn't suggesting that the National Trusts change anything they do, only that all the national and regional bodies amalgamated into a single organisation. I wouldn't have any objection if that fell on the National Trust side of the fence rather than the Eh side of things. It should at least apply to a single body being responsible for all historic sites and properties, perhaps with a rump of EH/HS/CADW retained for administrative and regulatory purposes.

[Martin Locock]

A single service might have made sense in the past, but in the post-devolution situation it doesn't. Scotland has always had its own laws and Wales and England have started to diverge. The governments they are advising (or part of) are separate too.

[barkingdigger]

Well in England the merger caused the loss of RCAHME.

Maybe in name. Ex-RCHME staff did very well infiltrating the then "Conservation" Department (now Heritage Protection), and their Investigators have won out in the most recent blood-letting. CADW be warned!

Bear in mind that any merger of this sort means ever-increasing redundancies and diminished capacity - not to mention adding to the glut of unemployed applicants chasing too few jobs in the "outside world". After all the main reason it would be recommended in the first place is to reduce overall gov't budgets, so you can also look forward to cuts to grant programmes down the road...