Research has been published by Historic England showing that the number of historic advice specialists in local authorities has continued to fall over the previous 12 months, whilst the workload in terms of number of planning application decisions and Listed Building Consent decisions had grown. The number of full-time equivalent historic environment specialists providing advice to local authorities in England has fallen by 36% since 2006.
Civic Voice [Alliance member] has asked, given this eveidence, how councils are coping with their duties to manage the historic environment. It believes the activities of conservation officers are most effective when they are embedded in the local planning authority, rather than being seen as an add-on. A 36% decrease is unacceptable.
Civic voice asks the public to support its Big Conservation Conversation to help us continue to make the case for the importance of the historic environment.