WEST OF SCOTLAND ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE.
Glasgow, 6th November 2014.
West of Scotland Archaeology Service Joint Committee.
Present:

Lawrence Fitzpatrick(Convener)
Stewart Miller
Frank McAveety
John Mooney
Mary Kilpatrick
Eileen Logan

West Lothian Council

Apologies:

John BellJohn Hunter
Tom Marshall
Chris Gilmour
Jim Sharkey
Karl Doroszenko
Andrew McNair
Ranald Dods

East Ayrshire Council
North Ayrshire Council
North Ayrshire Council
Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council
East Ayrshire Council
North Ayrshire Council
West Lothian Council

Also present:

Hugh McBrien

West of Scotland Archaeology
ServiceEast Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council
South Ayrshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
Glasgow City Council

Julie Nicol
Susan Jones
Neil Feggans
Gwen McCracken
Alan Williamson
Tony O’Neill (Clerk)

East Renfrewshire Council
Glasgow City Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
South Ayrshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council

Variation in order of business.
1

The committee agreed to vary the order of business as hereinafter minuted.

Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning 2014 – Position noted.
2
Hugh McBrien advised the committee that the West of Scotland Archaeology
Service had been awarded a Commendation under the heading of “DevelopmentManagement” at the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning 2014 which had been
held in Edinburgh on 5th November. Hugh highlighted the reasons for theCommendation and advised that he would forward the news regarding the award toall Member Councils of the Joint Committee.

2Minutes approved.
3
The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee of 1st May 2014 weresubmitted and approved.

Matters arising.
4

The following matters arose from the minutes of 1st May 2014:-(1)

West of Scotland Archaeology Service Business Plan – Hugh McBrien
provided a verbal update on the WoSAS Business Plan, advising that the plan
as approved by members through exchange of e-mails earlier in the year was
now with the graphic artist so that the final selection of images could beincorporated, and that each member would receive a pdf hard copy whenavailable;(2)

Use of reserves to scan and digitise paper records – Hugh McBrien provided
a verbal update on the digitisation of paper documents, advising that allnecessary records had been uplifted for digitally scanning by the scanningcompany and that the project was ongoing with a projected completion by theend of the calendar year; and(3)Notice of withdrawal of West Dunbartonshire Council from WoSAS – NeilFeggans outlined the position in relation to the proposed withdrawal of WestDunbartonshire Council from WoSAS and confirmed that he had been
informed that the decision to serve notice of withdrawal had been taken at
Officer level within the Council, and that it was still under review. No
information on the expected outcome of the review had yet been received.

Annual Report of West of Scotland Archaeology Service 2013/14 approved.
5There was submitted a report by the Manager of the West of Scotland
Archaeology Service detailing the activities of the service for the year from 1st April
2013 to 31st March 2014, confirming that(1)during the report period, the West of Scotland Archaeology Service had dealtwith 1999 new casework items, 36 more than in the previous year and this
1.8% increase was despite an estimated 4% drop in casework generation asa result of the withdrawal of Inverclyde Council from the Service at thebeginning of the report period;(2)926 new planning and listed building applications had been identified as
potentially requiring archaeological advice across the area covered by theService, an increase of 11.2% on the previous year and a further 512 otheritems of casework were also dealt with or initiated;(3)

during the report period 437 new site records were added to the Historic
Environment Record database, amendments or additions were made to 1348

1811MINS/LMcC

3existing site records, 172 archaeological events records were added and 152
archive records were created;(4)

work to digitise older paper-based casework file documents and incorporate
these into the Service’s computerised Consultations database had restarted
with the assistance of a part time volunteer, as detailed in the report;(5)

there were 127 recorded archaeological events (excavations, surveys,watching briefs, desk-based assessments etc) during the report period; and(6)during the reporting period, the Service had assisted one PhD candidate withdata for their thesis, and had also assisted or liaised with 13 local amateurarchaeological or historical groups or individuals throughout the WoSAS areain their researches or local heritage projects.

After consideration, the joint committee(a)approved(i)(b)

the report, which gave details on(A)planning applications from 2009-14 for each of the jointcommittee's local authorities;(B)

the running of the service;(C)

Historic Environment Record Maintenance and Development;(D)advice to other local authorities and organisations;(E)

information and advice to developers/agents and to statutory
undertakers; and(F)agri-environment advice;(ii)

the annual performance statistics for 2013/14; and(iii)the revenue account for the year ended 31st March 2014; andnoted that a further report would be submitted to the Joint Committee should
the service’s hourly fee charge for the provision of information and advice beincreased from £70 to £100 plus VAT.

West of Scotland Archaeology Service – 2013/14 year end accounts noted.
5There was submitted and noted a report by the Treasurer setting out therevenue expenditure for 2013/14 for the West of Scotland Archaeology Service.
After consideration, the Joint Committee noted

1811MINS/LMcC

4(1)the income and expenditure account and balance sheet which showed an
accumulated surplus of £122,640 in the account for 2013/14;(2)

a cash flow statement for the year ended 31st March 2014; and(3)that the independent auditor’s report had still to be produced.

Date and time of next meeting.
6It was agreed that the next meeting of the Joint Committee would take placein the City Chambers, Glasgow on Thursday, 19th March 2015 at 2pm.

1811MINS/LMcC