Archaeologists against the cuts

[diggingthedirt]

Greed is the knife, and the scars run deep:

http://www.diggingthedirt.com/2010/10/28...logy-cuts/

[BAJR]

well put digging ... well put.

Perhaps it is time to get fighty!

[destroyingangel]

Sort of hot off the press... EH cuts and job losses. Sigh

English Heritage currently receives ?136 million grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. We also raise about one quarter of our income from our own commercial activities. Following the Government announcement of a 32% cut to the grant of English Heritage, Commissioners have determined that in the national interest we will protect:

• our planning advice services, especially given the cuts in local authority funding;
  
• designation, ie identifying our heritage and protecting it by listing, scheduling and so on, which is a core activity no one else can do;
  
• the maintenance and conservation of our properties which we have a responsibility to look after for future generations;
  
• all existing grant commitments.
  

This means we need to make significant cuts in other areas and make savings through other efficiencies, particularly by eliminating duplication of activities with other organisations.
It is also imperative for us to make more money while increasing the quality of the experience for visitors to the national collections, properties and monuments that we hold on behalf of the nation. Through increasing earned income, our aim is to make an additional, substantial contribution to the work of English Heritage as a whole over the next four years.
However, with cuts of this level it is inevitable that we will also need to make reductions to our services in some areas. Commission determined therefore that we should:

• reduce our grants by around one third. We cannot yet go into detail about what this means but we are discussing with other organisations how to minimise the impact on the historic environment;
  
• take out at least 200 posts which will affect a wide range of our services.
  

English Heritage will shortly publish a Corporate Plan which will give greater detail and explain how we will manage the next four years.
English Heritage is responsible for the care and protection of our unique national heritage - something that affects all of us, wherever we live, bringing joy as well as wealth to our communities. The cuts imposed on us have required extremely difficult choices but we are determined to fulfil our responsibilities and see our heritage flourish as much as possible.

[monty]

Depressing stuff indeed....................glad I didn't vote for em.....................

[Archlord]

I just wanted to ask the community if the rumours about the greatest professional unit in the UK that shares the name with a prestigious university is in the process of cutting jobs. Is it true or just malicious gossip?

[monty]

apparently true......... but greatest professional unit ?????

[GnomeKing]

biggest certainly...must be hard living under the dangling axe for 2+ years now...

[kevin wooldridge]

Rescue have started a web based 'Cuts Map' and ask anyone who knows of cuts in any heritage area to get in touch.

http://www.rescue-archaeology.org.uk/map2/

I personally think that any archaeological job loss is both a personal tragedy for the person involved (or persons where there are dependants) and a tragedy for the overall archaeological community. I thought that the baying support and obvious 'schadenfreude' of some Members of Parliament when the Chancellor announced close to 500,000 public service job losses the other week, of which archaeology will bear its share, was quite disgusting..... I would hope that BAJRites can rise above such levels...

[Unitof1]

I will try kev…..that’s enough of that then. What I find quite remarkable is that the down turn in the economy was defiantly over two years ago but how bloody long these “businesses” have held on since then- just shows what the effect of subsidy is which we have all been paying for and competing against….

Also I am yet to be convinced that anything has changed. Seems to me that the bland eh announcement amounts to little more than savings through natural redundancy. I bet it will be staggered over five years blaa blaa. I thought that it was hilarious to note that they thought that there core duty was to

•designation, ie identifying our heritage and protecting it by listing, scheduling and so on, which is a core activity no one else can do;

[SIZE=3]as I understand it most of the designation around my neck of the jungle was done locally and rubber stamped by eh twats who never even visited the listings once. They have then done nothing for years.
[/SIZE]

Heres an example of now what they get other subsidised rip of merchants to do............. <begin edit.....................

OR WHEN YOU READ THE AUP carefully... which you will have plenty time, over the next 5 days - another short sharp ban - you will realise that directly stating that an organisation is a rip off merchant will not be tolerated.... this is in addition to several other close calls. come back in 5 days ---- BAJR
As for their core activity no one else can do - Votre m?re, elle est une hamster, et votre p?re, son odeur est des baies de sureau.”