Championing Archaeological Businesses

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Author: Doug Rocks-Macqueen

  • FAME News 12: Spring 2013

    A word from the Chair

    My calendar tells me that the season is spring, but my senses tell me it is still winter. It’s hard to believe that we are now only three months away from our summer Forum and AGM in York. The AGM will be held on Thursday 27th June at 5pm, followed by a wine reception, before moving to a nearby pub.

    The Forum will be held the following day, Friday 28th June, again at the Merchant Taylors Hall, Aldwark. The focus this year will be on risk management, and will include updates from HSE on the reviews of CDM and competency cards, Tariq Mian on understanding insurance obligations, and our own Tim Malim on draft FAME guidance on procuring quality in archaeological schemes. Further speakers will be announced soon in a programme which will be of huge relevance to both present and prospective members.

    Read more…

  • NVQ in Archaeological Practice Funding

    NVQ in Archaeological Practice Funding

    FAME has expressed concern about the proposals to withdraw funding for candidates for the NVQ in Archaeological Practice:

    NVQ-LetterDownload

  • FAME reaches Northern Ireland!

    Following its survey of undeposited archaeological archives in England, Scotland and Wales, FAME is currently undertaking a similar survey of archives in Northern Ireland, on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

    And FAME has now welcomed its first member from Northern Ireland, Northern Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.

    FAME has always had strong representation in England, Scotland and Wales. However we recognise that many of the current issues facing archaeological practices are common to practitioners throughout the UK, and we would very much welcome further membership applications from our colleagues in Northern Ireland.

  • IfA salary recommendations

    Following the decision of IfA Council to discontinue making compliance with minimum salary recommendations an absolute requirement of Registered Organisation status, FAME is publishing this statement to set out its position on the issue:

    FAME exists to represent the views of employers and managers of archaeological organizations with the primary objective of carrying out commercially-funded and/or grant-aided archaeology.

    Its objectives include

    • To promote best professional practice in employment, fieldwork and publications, and archiving, and
    • To promote training and professional development to improve standards within the profession

    Clearly, these objectives are inseparably linked to wider aspirations of both maintaining and improving salary levels across the sector and promoting a culture of staff retention and development.

    Not only are these essential for the wellbeing of our profession, but they also make sound business sense.

    We welcome the IfA decision to publish indicative salary levels. We understand that there has been objection on constitutional grounds to IfA determining binding salary levels, rather than to their objective of improving pay levels within the sector.

    Not all FAME members are Responsible Post-Holders in the IfA Registered Organisations (RO) scheme, and FAME cannot compel its members to meet IfA recommended salary levels. However we strongly encourage our members both to join the RO scheme and to meet IfA recommended salary levels – and we believe that most FAME members already do so.

    In an unregulated market it remains difficult for archaeological practices to hold the line on recommended salary levels. The pressure to win contracts at the lowest cost drives down salaries and squeezes margins and non-salary expenditure on other essential costs such as training and development.

    We propose to explore more balanced procurement models for development-led archaeology in the UK, based less on crude price-driven competition than on quality, outcome and value. We will shortly be publishing a paper on this issue.

    It must also be remembered that salary forms only one part (albeit the main one) of an employment package, and it is important that any comparison of employment conditions takes fully into account the provision of other non-salary benefits.

    We note that IfA Council ‘has instructed its working party, taking advice from Prospect and FAME, to develop a policy statement that sets out IfA’s belief that the problem of low pay has the potential critically to impact on professional standards and is one which the industry must take collective ownership of and accept collective responsibility for solving’, and that it must ‘engage with FAME to see what information from (IfA) would encourage or enable it to take a more proactive role in pay determination’.

    Last year FAME accepted an invitation to join the IfA Salaries Working Party. It did so a spirit of constructive engagement, and to provide a voice for employers on what has in the past been seen by some of its members as a non-inclusive process. We share IfA’s aspiration to improve salary levels across the profession, and remain willing to engage with it in exploring alternative ways to achieve this objective.

  • Consultation on the draft IfA Standard and guidance for archaeological advice and procurement of archaeological services

    Consultation on the draft IfA Standard and guidance for archaeological advice and procurement of archaeological services

    FAME has responded to IfA’s consultation on their Standard and guidance for archaeological advice and procurement of archaeological services:

    IfA-Procurement-ConsultationDownload
  • Skills for the Future Programme

    Skills for the Future Programme

    FAME has written a letter of support for the proposed Skills for the Future Programme:

    Skills-for-the-Future-LetterDownload

  • FAME News 11: Christmas 2012

    A word from the Chair

    Next summer may seem a very long way off, especially after the awful autumn and early winter many parts of Britain have suffered, but I have a date for your diary. 28 June 2013 is the date of the next FAME Forum, to be held in York as usual, thanks to the facilities kindly provided by York Archaeological Trust.  We are considering two themes. The first of these will be health and safety, in particular the proposed changes to the CDM Regulations, and we hope to have a speaker from the Health and Safety Executive. We are also considering a second theme, ensuring quality in development-led archaeology, and are finalising our thoughts on this.

    Read more.

  • A survey of archaeological archives held by UK archaeological practices

    A survey of archaeological archives held by UK archaeological practices

    FAME has carried out a survey of undeposited archaeological archives in England, Scotland and Wales.

    This was in response to the increasing concerns of its many members who hold completed archives that cannot be deposited because there is no store or museum able or willing to accept them.

    Of 46 responding organisations, two-thirds were from contracting organisations in England, representing a likely sample of around 75%. There were three responses from Wales, but only one from Scotland.

    The results suggest that the total number of undeposited completed archives in England is around 9,000. This represents

    • 28,700 boxes of artefacts or ecofacts
    • 0.67km of document files
    • 1.25m digital files, containing 2.15Tb of digital data
    • 9,300 monochrome films and 422,000 colour transparencies
    • Plus drawings, x-rays, colour prints, microfiche, blueprints, video, DVD, and other media

    These completed archives occupy around 1,160m3, and cost around £300,000 to store annually.

    The total volume of archives temporarily held by archaeological practices in England (including uncompleted archives and work in progress) is around 5,860m3. If any of these archives cannot be deposited on completion, the volume of undeposited archives may be significantly higher than the figures quoted above.

    In Wales, as in England, it appears that some practices hold legacy archives for which no post-excavation funding exists. Paper/digital records are normally deposited with RCAHMW, and finds with local museums or the National Museum Wales. The results of the survey suggest that in Wales undeposited completed archives consist of only

    • 240 boxes of artefacts or ecofacts
    • 50m of document files
    • 60,000 digital files, containing 200GB of digital data
    • 80,000 colour transparencies

    The survey suggests that these completed archives only occupy around 9m3 and cost around £13,500 to store annually. If these estimates are accurate (and they must be treated with some caution), they suggest that the problem of undeposited completed archives in Wales is significantly less severe than in England.

    The data from Scotland was of very limited value, due to the low response rate and the fact that, while paper/digital records are readily accessioned by RCAHMS, the processing and allocation of finds are subject to the requirements of Scottish Treasure Trove law.

    The principal reasons given for museums not accepting archaeological archives were that stores were full, no store existed for the area, no resources were available to accession them, or stores were temporarily closed. Other reasons cited included lack of response or interest from museums.

    Practices occasionally provided Information on undeposited archives to museums and the IfA, but rarely to local authority advisors, and hardly ever to clients.

    Three-quarters of practices received requests for access to temporarily-held archives, though such requests averaged only about three per year, and there was a strong view that the general public is largely unaware of their existence.

    There was general consensus that the problem of undeposited completed archives was critical and worsening, and that doing nothing to address it was not an option.

    Many respondents cited the absence of client funding as the critical issue in the failure to complete and deposit archives, and many that the problem was far greater if stalled projects and work in progress were also taken into account. Many raised concerns about inconsistent accessioning policy, and queried the compliance of planning conditions which cannot be met.

    Three interlinked solutions were most widely favoured.

    • County or multi-county resource centres and archives stores should be established, to enhance capacity, concentrate expertise, provide greater consistency, and offer improved access to archives in regular use. It was felt that HLF funding might be appropriate for their establishment, with project endowments and planning levies sustaining them in the longer term. Such centres might loan material for local museum display or community use, while a further category of less-used material might be accommodated in more remote, deep storage.
    • A much more robust and rigorous selection process is required, based on post excavation assessment by recognised specialists, to ensure that the material selected for retention is that holding the greatest potential significance for further study, educational or community use.
    • Greater use should be made of digital archiving, which should be undertaken in accordance with a set of agreed national standards.

    For the full report:

    Archaeological-archives-and-museums-2012Download

  • Calling small and start-up businesses!

    To reflect the changing face of the UK archaeological market, we’re introducing a new grade of Affiliate Membership for smaller and newly-established businesses.

    If you have five or fewer staff, or if you’ve been in business for less than two years, you can join FAME as an Affiliate Member.

    It costs just £150 per year, and entitles you to all the benefits of full membership, but with one ticket to the FAME Forum and Observer status at the AGM.

    For further details, please contact us.

  • Presentations from ‘Fit for Purpose?’

    This year’s FAME Forum Fit for Purpose? focused on the issue of skills and employability in UK archaeology. Held in association with the Archaeology Training Forum and supported by York Archaeological Trust, it brought together a wide range of practitioners to discuss what skills employers can expect of archaeology graduates, and what can be done to develop these skills once they enter the workplace. (more…)