As the financial situation in the country seems unwilling to abate and money is being cut from most services it's important to keep up to date with how these are affecting our region. At present there are five main areas within the Nottinghamshire & South Yorkshire area to note:
1) Nottinghamshire County Council Cuts
The Councils Conservation budget has been cut by a whopping 75% in an attempt to save £376,000. This means only 6 out of the 33 staff in that department will remain and community help will be severely impacted.
In the proposal Nottinghamshire County Council state "...Reduced access to the Historic Environment Record for all external service users.
District, town and parish councils, community groups and individuals willl need to identify other sources for advice on conservation and heritage issues . External conservation and heritage partnerships, projects and events will need to secure any support they need from other sources. ..."
Libraries and Archives have also been impacted to save £3,306,000 over a three year period. This involves reducing opening times at most libraries and costs for groups using libraries will be increased
For further information on all these cuts go to: http://www3.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/thecouncil/budget-proposals/communities/
2) Museums Sheffield
In October 2010 the last "Keeper of Archaeology" left leaving no archaeologists employed by the trust. The position wasn't offered out as a job vacancy due to the position being frozen due to lack of funds.
The trust is also no longer collecting archives from archaeological contractors,at present these contractors will have to hold on to their archives.
For further information go to: http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/coresite/html/
3) Doncaster County Council Library Closures
14 libraries are due to be closed in the Doncaster area. There is currently a campaign to save these valuable assets to the community with a planned "read-in" to be held on 29th January at Doncaster library between 1pm and 3pm. The official "Save Doncaster Libraries" website can be found at http://savedoncasterlibraries.wordpress.com/
4) Cuts at English Heritage
English Heritage are having to deal with a 50% administration cost reduction in all of it's offices Government ministers have announced. From: http://www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk/map2/reports/view/15
5) Portable Antiquities Scheme Cuts
15% of the PAS budget was cut in November 2010 for the next four years and running of this valuable commodity to historians and archaeologists alike will be taken over by the British Museum.
If you know of any more please let me know and I'll update this.
Cheers
Dave Cook
No comments:
Post a Comment