Category: FAME News

The online magazine BUILDING provides very useful CPD to the construction sector -and sometimes this has some valuable cross-over with archaeology.

One of their latest courses, CPD12 2018: Joint Contracts Tribunal, provides a very useful guide to the forms of contract that are frequently used to procure archaeology.

You’ll need some background in this already to get the most from it, but it should make useful reading for project managers. You can also take a test and secure some valuable CPD points and a certificate.

The online course can be taken here (ignore the deadline date)

Historic England is sharing this briefing showing their thinking on how the revised NPPF will affect heritage: http://content.historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/planning/he-nppf-briefing-jul18.pdf. The briefing was prepared by Victoria Thomson, Historic England’s Head of Planning Advice.

CIfA/HE project: Archaeology and planning case studies

This month CIfA has launched a project which will collect case studies from the planning system and make them available on-line to support advocacy.  Collected cases will help CIfA, FAME, and others in the sector, advocate for the protection or enhancement of archaeological provision within the planning system.

A survey has been launched to collect case studies, and FAME members are requested to consider whether they have knowledge or experience of any cases which reveal particular aspects of the current system or provide evidence that could inform future change.

This is an important study that needs our support to help push back against the current unhelpful direction of planning regulation reform. Respondents are assured confidentiality in identifying particular planning cases.

To find out more about the project, with a link to the survey, click here.

Since 2004 the Construction Industry Scheme has been in place to regulate tax payments between contractors and sub-contractors for construction work. Sub-contractors need to be registered with the scheme or face payments being retained in lieu of tax by main contractors. A recent case where a contractor refused to pay an archaeology company because they were not registered was brought to a successful conclusion by reference to the FAME Business Information Service (BIS).

The clear advice is that professional services (like archaeology) are excluded from the scheme. There is no requirement for archaeological companies to register with CIS and no grounds for retention of any fees. It should be enough to reference this exclusion in the Finance Act 2004, but if members continue to experience problems, seek help through our BIS.

Recently FAME have begun to trial a relationship with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists that sees us respond jointly to some of the calls for consultation that come from Westminster and the devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Where there are shared concerns, the Council for British Archaeology and the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers are also part of this arrangement. All four organisations recognise that while we each have a separate distinctive role to play there can be significant advantages in coming together on key issues to share resources and expertise, and combine our voices to present a united position to government. This builds on work to encourage cross sector sharing of information and that has been going on for a number of years in The Archaeology Forum which also includes organisations such as RESCUE, ICON and the Society of Antiquaries.

The most recent consultations FAME has been involved in include proposals for wide ranging planning reform in Scotland, and the Housing White paper. In both of these we have found common ground with our partners to push for strong and well-funded local authorities and object to proposals that might weaken heritage protection and sustainable development and so undermine the work of our members.

FAME recently carried out a rapid survey of members on the impacts of BREXIT on their organisation, and their predictions for the future. The survey can be read in full by members here.

The main findings were as follows:

• Most businesses were experiencing steady or increasing workloads through 2016 despite Brexit
• There was much more uncertainty for 2017,  with Brexit impacts expected once Article 50 is invoked
• Mixed experiences with regard to staff shortages -some members are able to recruit while others struggle to find the right people
• Concerns over the future impact of planning de-regulation affecting core business -despite the predicted (but possibly delayed) demand from infrastructure

Overall our members are busy, although perhaps not growing as fast or under as much pressure as they were through 2014/2015 (mirroring the slowdown in growth across construction). There is great concern over Brexit going forward, but this stems more from uncertainty than from any confident predictions over the trajectory of the market.

The results of the FAME/CIfA Archaeological Market Survey are due to be published soon and this will give a detailed picture of the health of our sector to just before the referendum. FAME will continue to collect data from its members over the coming months to help us understand the continuing impact of Brexit and what the key issues are for our members.

In addition, watch out for more details on the joint FAME/CIfA session on Brexit at the next CIfA conference to be held in Newcastle on the 19th to 21st April.

FAME note the government’s plans to support growth and deliver new infrastructure through further proposed reform of the planning system and are concerned over the potential negative impact these could have for the protection of the UK’s archaeological heritage.

Current planning policy places an emphasis on sustainable development,  balancing the needs of economic growth with, among other things, the interests of local communities and their interest in protecting and investigating historic and archaeological remains. This balance is achieved through a partnership between local authorities, developers and archaeologists whereby early stage surveys are undertaken to understand impact and so support sensitive design and successful planning applications. Such an approach is part of responsible due diligence whereby essential baseline information helps to identify risks for developers in their management of geotechnical, land quality, ecological or archaeological issues. Where development is likely to harm archaeological remains the potential for this harm is reduced or removed through the use, by local authorities, of pre-commencement planning conditions to manage the protection or recording of those remains.

This partnership and this process has been developed over the past 25 years to ensure that homes and infrastructure get built, to help reduce the budget and programme risk to developers, as well as reducing the risk that the UK’s unique archaeological heritage might be damaged or lost. This is accomplished in large measure by FAME members who deliver substantial public benefit with minimal cost to the taxpayer, whilst also providing employment and contracts for local businesses.

The government proposes to reform the use of pre-commencement planning conditions to address the following objectives:

• To ensure that pre-commencement planning conditions are only imposed by local planning authorities where they are absolutely necessary.
• To reduce excessive pre-commencement planning conditions that can slow down or stop the construction of homes after they have been given planning permission.
• To tackle the overuse, and in some cases, misuse of certain planning conditions, and thereby ensure that development, including new housing, can get underway without unnecessary delay.

FAME would be opposed to any implementation of this agenda where it weakened or reduced the effectiveness of the current policy to deliver a sustainable balance of economic and heritage conservation goals, and where it instead created risks for local communities, developers and archaeological remains. Our position is that in respect of archaeology, the current policy, which has been established over the past 25 years specifically to assist development and reduce public expenditure, works well.

• A proper implementation of the current system already ensures that pre-commencement conditions for archaeological work are relatively rare and are already only imposed where absolutely necessary.
• The current process allows for cost-effective early stage surveys to ensure developers can select sites where there will be no or minimal requirement for conditions, no delay, and certainly no stopping of development.
• Where they are needed, conditions are already designed to mesh effectively with construction programmes with the express objective of reducing risks and delay.

FAME will be scrutinising the detail of the proposals when they are available, and working with our partners in The Archaeology Forum, the heritage sector and more widely with those concerned with the protection of the natural landscape and habitats. Together we will work to ensure the government has the information it needs to fully understand the potentially dangerous, albeit unintended, consequences of its proposed policy changes, and is in the best position to implement change that will both encourage growth and protect our valuable archaeological heritage.