FAME Chief Executive Adrian Tindall joined a delegation from The Archaeology Forum to meet John Penrose, Minister for Tourism and Heritage, at DCMS on 16 November. The delegation also included Pete Hinton of IfA, Mike Heyworth of CBA and Stewart Bryant of ALGAO(UK).
It provided an opportunity to emphasise the wide public interest in the heritage and the contribution it makes to localism, and to outline some of the challenges currently facing the profession, including the impact of English Heritage funding cuts, the threat to local government historic environment services, and the fragile state of the archaeological market.
The meeting was an opportunity to raise the profile of FAME and its members with central government, and to highlight our role in implementing PPS5 at the ‘sharp end’ of development-led archaeology. FAME reiterated the vital role of local government archaeologists in identifying developments with potential archaeological impact, without whose work many of its members would find it very difficult to remain in business. We also emphasised the fragile nature of an archaeological market in which many of the practitioners were charitable or not-for-profit organisations, yet found themselves operating as small and medium enterprises in a commercial environment. Many were finding it increasingly difficult to deliver the expected public benefit, in line with the government’s vision and objectives, in an increasingly competitive market.
It proved to be a very constructive and positive meeting. The minister showed an encouraging familiarity with PPS5 and an awareness of many of the issues raised. He agreed to consider redrafting the DCMS draft statutory guidance on HERs and publishing it as guidance for local authorities, and made it clear that he would welcome further representations from the sector in the future.
