WEST of SCOTLAND
ARCHAEOLOGYSERVICEBusiness Plan 2014 - 2017

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Business Plan
CONTENTS
Executive summary

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1. Introduction

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1.1

The West of Scotland Archaeology Service Business Plan

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1.2

WoSAS Aims and Objectives

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1.3

The WoSAS model of service delivery

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1.4

The historic environment sector in Scotland

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2. Delivering the WoSAS remit

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2.1

Our purpose - to provide specialist archaeological advice

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2.2

Our aim – to provide accurate, mediated information.

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2.3

Objective 1: to maintain and update the WoSAS HER

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2.4

Objective 2: to provide Development Management advice to planning officers

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2.5

Objective 3: to provide Forward Planning advice to member councils.

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2.6

Objective 4: to further facilitate sustainable development

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2.7

Objective 5: to represent the interests of member councils in consultations 		
with national heritage agencies and professional organisations17

2.8

Objective 6: to provide historic environment information to researchers and to 		the general public
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2.9

Delivery of the remit to date and proposed future emphasis

3. The WoSAS programme plan 2014-2017

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3.1

Budget 2014/15

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3.2

Staffing 2014/15

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3.3

Planning work 2014/15

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3.4

Collaboration, communication and outreach

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3.5

Project work 2014/15

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3.6

Other tasks

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WoSAS programme plan 2015-17

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3.7

WoSAS Work Programme and Governance

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3.8

WoSAS Management and Reporting

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3.9

Finances 2014/15

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3.10 Finances 2015/17

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3.11 WoSAS Financial Reserves

273Business Plan
Executive summary
Vision: is of a highly respected, sought after,
knowledgeable, visible and developing service.

Mission: is to be a valued effective andefficient professional curatorial archaeology
service for the member authorities.
Purpose of this Business Plan:
The West of Scotland Archaeology Service (WoSAS)
has produced this Business Plan to articulate:• The remit of the service;• The current delivery actions;• The proposed future action plan.
Background
WoSAS was set up in 1997 as a joint service toallow member authorities to discharge their
responsibilities for the historic environment, thatlargely arise from their role as a planning authority.
It is governed by a Joint Committee, who areadvised by a Steering Group of officers.
Currently 11 planning authorities (10 councils and 1
national park authority) enjoy this service, deliveredby only 3 members of staff. These authorities varyin type, style and character, and are both rural andurban. This gives rise to a wide range of historic
environment issues. The experienced, specialist staffof WoSAS provide mediated, accurate information
for informed decision making, efficiently andeffectively. This is reported annually to authorities
through the Joint Committee.

4Key Areas of Focus

WoSAS advise:Historic Environment Record (HER): This
professionally curated GIS database is thedefinitive record of archaeological and historicalsites and monuments. It contains informationon their discovery and their interpretation andpreservation. It is accurately maintained bydrawing on sources such as casework, academic
research and developer funded fieldwork. It
complies with the appropriate data standards andis considered to be an exemplar in Scotland. It is
publicly accessible on WoSAS website (hyperlink)
and on a smartphone app.

• Which planning applications raisearchaeological issues through monitoring ofweekly lists;

This HER underpins the professional work carriedout by WoSAS and provides member authorities
access to a resource that could not be managed andmaintained individually without considerable costs.
Development Management Advice: Planninglegislation guides authorities to specialist
archaeological advice when weighing thesignificance of the historic environment issues inrelation to other material considerations.
The nature of the advice may take the form ofscoping results, an assessment of importance andsignificance; cultural role; tourism potential; land
management or other issues.

• Whether archaeological mitigation should be
required and the appropriate cost effective
method to achieve this;• How the archaeological mitigation may
be achieved and which form of planning
condition or legal agreement would be mosteffective;• Whether mitigation has been undertaken
satisfactorily by monitoring archaeologicalcontractors as an impartial curator.
Performance on delivering advice has been aided
by the introduction of eplanning allowing WoSAS tointeract quickly and keep planning officers informed.
In 2012 – 13:• 1963 new case work items were dealt with (anincrease of 9%);• 605 of these were identified throughmonitoring of weekly lists where applications
were identified where potential archaeologicalissues had not been previously flagged up or
fully dealt with at pre-application stage.

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Business Plan Key Actions 2014 – 15
Analysis of the remit against current capacity has
established that the following focus is required: Manage, maintain and update the Historic
Environment Record and explore cost neutral
enhancements, particularly where this may
make this high quality resource visible andaccessible;

There is a growing trend for pre-application
consultation to take place as developers andtheir agents seek to be informed of historic
environment issues as they consider theirdevelopment and respond to the changes in theplanning system.
The performance standards for Development
Management advice are contained within theService Level Agreement approved by the Joint
Committee.
Forward Planning advice: WoSAS provide
comments and advice on draft Development
Plan policies and interact with forward planning
activities. Input in this is dependant upon thevarious member authorities’ timescales.
Other Advice: Advice is provided to others such as
developers and their agents, statutory undertakers
and regulatory bodies. WoSAS have a charging
policy for such advice as and when capacity allows
this to be provided.
Other Activities: WoSAS represent the interests ofmember authorities in consultations with national
heritage agencies and professional organisations
and provide historic environment information toresearchers and the general public.

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 Manage and maintain the provision of
Development Management advice to planning
officers in accordance with the Service Level
Agreement and publicise this input to theplanning process by providing information
to authorities for their Planning Performance
Frameworks;
 Review the use of trigger maps in this system; Sustain and explore fee generating income
options mainly in the areas of monitoringarchaeological mitigation measures, providing
pre-application and other advice to developers
and their agents; advice to other statutory
or regulatory bodies. This will require reexamination of the charging policy.
 Investigate and develop potential
communication routes to ensure work of
WoSAS, and its benefit to member authorities,
is more visible. This may include publicity;
website revision; sharing of information; casestudies; continuous professional developmenttraining etc.
 Review inputs to forward planning activities toensure relevant actions are incorporated.
 Review accommodation costs and storage
needs. This may result in relocation of theservice and is likely to require effective andefficient digitising of casework records.
This workload will be managed by the Service
Manager in conjunction with the Steering Group.

Business Plan
1

Introduction

The West of Scotland Archaeology
Service Business Plan
1.1

This Business Plan provides guidance to the Westof Scotland Archaeology Service Joint Committee(hereafter referred to as the WoSAS Joint
Committee) on the delivery of the functions of theWest of Scotland Archaeology Service (hereafterreferred to as WoSAS) set out in its remit throughan agreed programme (the WoSAS Programme)on behalf of its member councils for the three-year
period 2014-17.
The Business Plan provides a summary ofoperational practice in preceding years, andproposals for the continuing developmentof the remit of the service and the WoSAS
Programme over the period of the Plan. A
projected three-year financial programme for
WoSAS is also put forward.

1.2

WoSAS Aims and Objectives

WoSAS was established as a cost-effective local
authority joint service to assist its member
councils in the discharge of their responsibilities
for the historic environment which primarily arise
from their role as planning authorities.
WoSAS exists to provide specialist archaeologicaladvice on the implementation of policies adopted
at national and local government level which haverelevance to the historic environment. Special
emphasis is placed on facilitating genuinely
sustainable development by providing consistent,
high-quality professional advice on archaeologicalissues arising from the development process andits regulation in accordance with Scottish Planning
Policy (SPP).
The Scottish Government has set out its policies
for the historic environment in the Scottish
Historic Environment Policy (SHEP) document,
which “provides a framework that informs the
day-to-day work of a range of organisations thathave a role and interest in managing the historic
environment”, including local authorities. The
SHEP complements and has the same authority
as the Scottish Planning Policy and other relevant
Ministerial policy documents. The SHEP is arelevant document in the statutory planning,
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
processes.

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The aim of WoSAS is to provide the member
councils with accurate and actively mediatedhistoric environment information which is relevantto their purposes, and with expert advice whichreflects current policy guidance and responsible
practice. In order to achieve this cost-effectively for
all member councils, WoSAS has developed andmaintains an award-winning, dedicated GIS-based
Historic Environment Record (HER) incorporatinga suite of heritage resource management tools.
WoSAS liaises directly, and through membershipof the Association of Local Government
Archaeological Officers (ALGAO), with national
historic environment agencies on data standards
and policy matters.
Experience is shared across the WoSAS council
areas, so as to be able to provide economies ofscale and levels of consistency in performance
which would otherwise be difficult to deliver.
Specific objectives of WoSAS are: to maintain and update the WoSAS Historic
Environment Record; to provide Development Management advice
to planning officers on:which archaeological monuments raisepotential issues
 whether archaeological mitigation should

be required; how mitigation measures can be secured

most effectively, and whether such mitigation has been

undertaken satisfactorily; to provide Forward Planning advice tomember councils;
 to further facilitate sustainable development by: providing pre-application advice todevelopers and their agents;
 providing historic environment advice toStatutory Undertakers;
 providing historic environment advice toother regulatory bodies; providing historic environment information

to consultants;

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 providing advice to developers and theiragents on appropriate archaeologicalmitigation measures; to represent the interests of member councils
in consultations with national heritageagencies and professional organisations; to provide historic environment information toresearchers and to the general public.
1.3

The WoSAS model of service delivery

The current Archaeology Service was set up asa shared local authority service specifically toprovide a high-quality service to a wide size-rangeof councils in the most cost-effective manner.
From its inception, and intermittently thereafter,other service delivery models have been examined
and compared to the shared service approach.
Past service reviews have shown that forarchaeological advice in a regulatory context,
joint services represent best value for Councils,
rather than an in-house service, because of theeconomies of scale and the team-wide variety
in expertise which they offer. Despite thesebenefits, there are also concomitant weaknesses.
The primary weakness is a perceived lack of“ownership” at local level. Depending on therelative sizes of the membership and their relative
resource levels and policy priorities, there may bearguments about appropriate levels of financial
contribution, especially in difficult economic
circumstances. Nevertheless, shared services arestill recommended by the government and others
as the most cost-effective way to deliver services
when resources are limited.
There is little track record in Britain of the provisionof full regulatory archaeological planning advice
by the private sector, with the two most prominentattempts in the former Berkshire County area andin the West Midlands area ending with the advice
provision returning to the public sector. Thereare examples of regulatory archaeological advice
being bought externally by single Councils, but
in each case the scope of work has been more
limited than the WoSAS remit, and was therefore
tendered for and delivered on a more limited basis
than is provided by WoSAS.

In Scotland, only the Loch Lomond and Trossachs
National Park Authority has put a fully-specified
archaeological advice contract out to tender (insummer 2012). In direct competition against
UK-wide consultancy firms and a Scottish
private-sector advisory service provider, WoSAS
successfully won the contract.
During the last service options review, the current
shared service delivery model was assessed by
the Scottish Government’s Improvement Service,
who could not offer any suggestions for further
improvement within the resources available.
In true like-for-like comparisons, the costs of
WoSAS continue to compare favourably with theestimated costs of other joint services, of singleCouncil services, and with private regulatoryarchaeological advice provision in Britain.
The historic environment sector in
Scotland
1.4

Scotland’s historic environment is widely
recognised as contributing positively to oursense of place, well-being and cultural identity.
It has been shown to have economic value, forexample through its positive effects on tourism
and the construction industry, but also has an
intrinsic value as a tangible connection between
our past, present, and future. Many elementsof the historic environment are vulnerable todamage and cannot be replaced, so require carefulmanagement. The curation of these valuable
cultural assets has been entrusted to a range ofdifferent bodies over time, with the decisionmaking responsibilities following the requirementsof the regulatory instruments used to managechange.
This has given local authorities a major role in
the active curation of the historic environment
through their responsibility for planning. The
active involvement of local authority archaeology
services in this regulatory function of the councils
has meant that in Scotland these services
have distanced themselves from the type ofarchaeological work which is regularly required ofdevelopers by planning authorities. Archaeologicalwork arising from the implementation of
conditions placed on planning consent istypically carried out by independent commercial
archaeological contractors.
This separation of the roles of curator andcontractor provides transparency and impartiality
in decision-making and can ensure that noconflicts of interest affect the regulatory process.
The local authority archaeological service can
independently assess the issues arising fromdevelopment proposals and advise the planning
authority appropriately. The separation of roles
also means that developers can be assured thatthey are being obliged to undertake only what
is required to satisfy current national and local
government policies.
Recent and ongoing changes to the status
and responsibilities of the national historic
environment agencies reinforce this system of
separation of roles in the historic environment
in Scotland. The formulation of policy, thedesignation of nationally important assets, andthe curation of those and other assets will be
undertaken by different agencies, and local
authorities will continue to be expected to playa major part in this management regime for thehistoric environment, as set out in “Our Placein Time - The Historic Environment Strategy for
Scotland”.
The aims of WoSAS are to meet the needs of
its member councils, and in challenging andchanging circumstances it will adapt its remit toreflect those needs and meet them in the mostcost-effective manner.
The current remit of WoSAS is outlined in Section
1.2, and is taken from the WoSAS Planning
Service Level Agreement (Appendix 1) as agreed,subject to subsequent minor modifications, by
the WoSAS Joint Committee in 2002. This planfor the next three years will strive to adapt the
WoSAS remit to meet current requirements andwill allow the delivery of identifiable resultsthat are in accord with the purpose, aims andobjectives of the joint service.

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Business Plan
2

Delivering the WoSAS remit

Our purpose - to provide specialist
archaeological advice
2.1

WoSAS was set up in 1997 by a Minute ofAgreement of eleven councils in response to
National Planning Policy Guideline 5 (NPPG 5)
which for the first time in Scotland, made thetreatment of archaeological matters a material
consideration in the planning system. NPPG 5 hassince been superseded, and the current planningpolicy document is the Scottish Planning Policy(SPP), recently revised and issued in June 2014.
Planning Advice Note (PAN) 2/2011: Planningand Archaeology is also of direct relevance, andprovides more detailed guidance on how to
implement the Scottish Ministers’ policies.
Development Management advice on the historic
environment has formed the majority of the work of
WoSAS since our inception. We have worked closelywith our planning officer colleagues to develop
systems and procedures that integrate with theplanning system and which are responsive to thepolicies of our councils. Since we began to compile
detailed computerised statistics in 2001, we haveprovided advice on more than 12,000 planningapplications which raised potential historic
environment issues. These applications have been
in both urban and rural areas, and have ranged insize from single house extensions to proposals forlarge windfarms and major road-building projects.
No other local authority archaeology service in
Scotland has such a breadth of experience.

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The team-based, joint service approach of WoSAS,
built around wide-ranging specialised expertise,has delivered economies of scale and levels of
consistency in performance which would otherwise
be difficult to deliver.
Our aim – to provide accurate, mediatedinformation
2.2

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) states that planning
authorities should have access to a professionallycurated Historic Environment Record to underpin
the positive management and preservationof the historic environment in their areas. For
planning purposes, an HER is the definitive
record of archaeological and historical sites andmonuments, the archaeological interventions or
events resulting in their discovery, and information
relating to their interpretation and preservation.
In 2004 WoSAS won an RTPI National Award in
Development Control for the creation and use of
our primary working tool, a GIS-based Historic
Environment Record system.
Planning Advice Note 2/2011 provides a definitionof a Historic Environment Record (HER) forplanning purposes. In 2012, the Institute forArchaeologists (IfA) produced a Standard andGuidance document for archaeological advice byhistoric environment services. Both documents
explicitly link the data within an HER together witha dedicated, archaeologically skilled staff resource.
It is the expertise of the advisory staff which allows
the interpretation, assessment and collation of therelevant baseline data held in the HER to provide
full and up‐to‐date information. Judgementson the relevance of the information, and on theimportance and significance of the resources
concerned are based on an understanding of any
local, regional and national research frameworks
and agendas.

Objective 1: to maintain and update the
WoSAS HER

The broad experience of the WoSAS staff teamhas been gained from close association with thehistoric environment of a consistent geographicalarea, and has allowed local information to
be provided to a wide range of commercial
archaeologists working for developers so thatthey could focus their time and resources more
effectively on behalf of their clients.

The Institute for Archaelogists (IfA) Standard andGuidance for archaeological curators states that”An HER is a dynamic and constantly-evolving
resource, requiring a continuous process ofmaintenance and enhancement, as new research
is undertaken and new information about thehistoric environment comes to light. It requires
appropriately-qualified, dedicated expertise for
its upkeep and use by the public, both on-site andonline.”Experience is shared across the WoSAS council
areas, enabling effective local, regional, and subnational level comparisons of the significance ofarchaeological assets from all time periods at local
site level, and across broader historic landscapes.
This “oversight” role undertaken by WoSAS staff
within the member council areas provides firsthand information which can be passed on where
relevant, and which has added value whencompared to that contained in later publishedreports, and is available more quickly.

2.3

A professionally-curated Historic Environment
Record is essential to facilitate the positive
management and preservation of the historic
environment, and this is why maintaining andupdating the WoSAS HER is a priority for the Service.

The UK Forum on Information Standards in
Heritage (FISH) recommends the adoption of
the MIDAS Heritage data standard to facilitate
the sharing of information between heritageorganisations and the migration of data to otherinformation management systems.

11Commission on the Ancient and Historical
Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) and the Local
Authority Archaeologists, OASIS provides anonline index to archaeological reports produced
as a result of developer funded fieldwork. These
reports are checked and validated by the HER
staff before they are accepted and integrated into
the relevant historic environment records.

The WoSAS HER was initially collated from
specialist historical and archaeological informationon already known cultural heritage resources, andnow comprises MIDAS compliant databases linked
to a dedicated geographic information system(GIS), and associated reference material. Public
online access to the HER is maintained through the
WoSAS website and a smartphone app.
Over the last two years, WoSAS has worked
with the Association of Local Government
Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) to represent
local authorities in the development of theScottish Historic Environment Data Strategy(SHED Strategy), a collaborative national public
information resource for the historic environment.
This ongoing joint venture between local andnational bodies comprises shared and linked
digital records. Its primary purpose is to delivera more efficient process for handling historic
environment records, helping to make the record
more complete, more reliable, more accessible,
and easier to understand.
WoSAS is an active partner in OASIS (Scotland)a strategic partnership across the professionalarchaeological community in Scotland.
Supported by Historic Scotland, the Royal12

New information is continually added to the
HER as a result of casework-related research
work by WoSAS staff, and following the results ofcommercial archaeological interventions initiatedby the planning system. Information is also derived
from external sources including amateur andacademic fieldwork and research, community
projects and other heritage organisations. All
information has to be assessed for spatial accuracy
and relevance to relevant research frameworks,
and filtered to remove duplications and to ensurecompliance with agreed data standards. The
integration of additional information and datacleaning operations are relatively time-consuming,and are vulnerable to neglect under pressures oftime.
This objective is an ongoing area of work whichsustains the primary working tool of WoSAS andmerits greater consideration for future work
programmes.
Objective 2: to provide Development
Management advice to planning officers
2.4

Planning Advice Note (PAN) 2/2011 states that
it is essential that planning authorities shouldhave access to a professionally-curated Historic
Environment Record. The PAN indicates various
stages in the development process where theadvice of the specialised archaeological adviser
may be required.
The advice WoSAS provides is tailored to thespecific requirements of the questioner, and thedetails of the case. Advice can include scoping
requests, an assessment of importance andsignificance, cultural role, tourism potential, land
management, and other issues. Where insufficient
information exists to make an informed decision,
WoSAS will advise on how this can be remedied
cost-effectively.

The depth of the WoSAS expertise in such mattersallows our advice to be impartial, cogent andproportionate, and to reflect local, regional andnational archaeological contexts consistently
over time. In this way, and through providing
information to member authorities for theirPlanning Performance Frameworks, we will facilitatea higher quality Development Management service
in member councils by providing added value totheir work as planning authorities.
advising which archaeologicalmonuments raise potential issues
2.4.1

Archaeological Consultation Trigger maps
(ACTmaps) were provided for member councils toallow their planning staff to identify some of theplanning applications which had the potential toraise archaeological issues. These ACTmaps were
initially produced annually as a filtered sub-setof records in the WoSAS HER, and showed only
reliably-located known heritage assets whichmight be vulnerable to development. Poorly
located sites, or the locations of artefact scatters or
isolated finds were excluded, as were large-scaleareas with archaeological potential but without
proven remains. The maps were specifically notintended to be used as Constraints Maps, andwere not able to be used to identify all possible
archaeological issues.
The maps were intended to allow cases to be
identified at an early stage in the application
process by avoiding delays in receiving weekly
lists of applications by post, writing to request
details, and waiting for the response, all while
the application processing timetable wascontinuing. The maps were useful for flagging up
small, relatively simple applications in areas ofpossible archaeological sensitivity as requiringarchaeological comments before they were dealt
and possibly fast-tracked for early determination.
Since the inception of the e-planning system,
the usefulness of the ACTmaps has decreased
markedly, as the modern online planning systems
allow WoSAS staff to monitor weekly lists andto assess the application details as soon as they
are put online. Due to their time-consuming
production process, the ACTmaps are now

updated and produced only on demand from theplanning services, and their overall effectivenessfor their original purpose is now highly
debateable.
The desirability of maintaining this objective by
this means will be reviewed in consultation with all
member authorities.
advising whether archaeologicalmitigation should be required
2.4.2

The Scottish Historic Environment Policy (SHEP)
states that it is the policy of Scottish Ministers
that the protection of the historic environment
is not about preventing change, but thatchange should be managed intelligently andwith understanding. Scottish Planning Policy(SPP) and Planning Advice Note (PAN) 2/2011
guide planning authorities towards specialisedarchaeological advice when weighing thesignificance of the historic environment issue inrelation to other material considerations.
The specialised advice WoSAS provides is informed
and impartial, and balances the actual or potential
significance of historic environment assets against
the likely impacts on them. WoSAS takes accountof current archaeological knowledge, the planninghistory of the area, and relevant central and local
government policies before recommending acourse of action for the planning authority. A wide
range of archaeological techniques is available
to address historic environment issues, but somewill not be appropriate to each case. Whether togather additional information to aid decisionmaking, or to secure investigations in mitigation ofadverse impacts, WoSAS assesses what would be
the most appropriate method to cost-effectively
address the issues that have been raised.
In addition to responding to direct consultations
from planning officers, WoSAS monitors weekly
lists of planning applications and assesses eachapplication against information in the HER.
Where a potential historic environment issue canbe identified, the details of the application areassessed through the online e-planning system,so that the planning officer can be informed ofpotential issues.

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advising how mitigation measures can be
securedadvising whether mitigation has been
undertaken satisfactorily

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) and Planning Advice
Note (PAN) 2/2011 state that where feasible,
historic environment assets should be preserved insitu, and in an appropriate setting. SPP states that
where this “is not possible planning authorities
should, through the use of conditions or a legal
agreement, ensure that developers undertake
appropriate excavation, recording, analysis,
publication and archiving before and/or during
development.” WoSAS provides planning officers
with advice on what is the most appropriate
mitigation methodology, and which form ofplanning condition or legal agreement would be
most effective in securing that mitigation.

Both the Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) and
Planning Advice Note (PAN) 2/2011 identify arole for local authority archaeological advisers inassessing whether a developer has adequately
implemented a required scheme of work after
the attachment of a planning condition or as
the requirement of a legal agreement. In thisregard, a detailed knowledge of archaeologicalmethods and practices is required, along with anunderstanding of the archaeological context of thelocal area and the specific site.

In some cases, relatively simple developments
can raise relatively complex historic
environment issues which require careful
treatment. In such cases, specialised expertiseis required to match the most appropriate
mitigation measures to the circumstances, andto assess how these can be secured while being
fair and reasonable to the developer.
Archaeological conditions are relatively rarely
used, so specialised advice on what form ofcondition would be most appropriate is often
welcomed by planning officers. There may
be scope to enhance the understanding of
the issues of development management of
the historic environment through WoSAS-led
professional development updates and casestudies for development management staff inmember councils.

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2.4.4

WoSAS staff, with long-term and wide-ranging
experience of the historic environment within
the member councils’ areas, are able to provide
a contextualised assessment of the adequacyof any archaeological project or report. Such anassessment from WoSAS, backed up by detailed
knowledge of the archaeological background ofeach case, allows the development management
officer to make a judgement as to when an
archaeological condition can be discharged.
The monitoring of archaeological contractors who
are acting on behalf of a developer is a normalpart of a local authority archaeology service’s
duties, and is recognised by the Institute forArchaeologists (IfA) as a professional responsibility.
As an impartial curator, WoSAS is also well-placed
to advise on whether the results of a project
merit further analysis and wider than usual
dissemination through full publication.
As this function benefits both the planning
authority and the developer, there may be scope
to examine the possibility of generating external
fee income from executing this role.

Objective 3: to provide Forward
Planning advice to member councils
2.5

The current remit states that on the specificrequest of the planning service of the member
councils, WoSAS will provide comments on draft
Development Plan Policies, will check areas
proposed for development release through theDevelopment Plan for potential archaeologicalissues, and provide comments on development
briefs, Conservation Area Appraisals andPlanning Statements.
Recent performance with regard to this objective
has often fallen below agreed performancestandards, where response times have been
subordinated to the requirements of development
management casework.
The requirement for, or timetabling of thistype of consultation requires to be assessed inconsultation with the member councils. Thisobjective requires more consideration for the
future work programme.
Objective 4: to further facilitatesustainable development
2.6

Changes to the planning system in recent years
have placed a different emphasis on advanceconsultation with the regulatory authorities
in order to speed up the determination ofplanning consent and to ensure that sustainable
development targets are met.
Developers are now expected to identify, consult
on, and address as many potential planning issues
as they can before lodging a planning application.
This “front-loading” of responsibilities onto
applicants has reinforced what was previously
best-practice, and has resulted in an increase in
pre-application casework.
WoSAS helps to facilitate this process in a numberof ways:providing pre-application advice todevelopers and their agents
2.6.1

Planning Advice Note (PAN) 2/2011 strongly
recommends that developers seek early advice
from local authority archaeological services.
Such pre-application consultations can identify

potentially serious archaeological issues at an earlystage and allow discussions on how these might
best be avoided or dealt with, thereby assisting
the smooth processing of a subsequent planningapplication by minimising unnecessary andpotentially costly delays.
The provision of archaeological advice todevelopers before a planning application has been
lodged with the planning authority is subject
to a charge as outlined in the WoSAS Access toInformation and Charging Policy, approved by the
WoSAS Joint Committee on 3 April 2009.
providing historic environment advice toStatutory Undertakers
2.6.2

The Scottish Government has set out its policies
for the historic environment in the Scottish
Historic Environment Policy (SHEP) document,
which emphasises the importance of the historic
environment, and Scottish Ministers’ expectationthat all public agencies operating in Scotland
should have regard to current policy and guidance
for the historic environment. Statutory Undertakers
consulting with WoSAS before commencing
fieldwork are provided with archaeologicalinformation from the HER, are advised of potential
issues arising from their proposed works, and of
how to address those issues.
WoSAS is under no obligation to provide thisarchaeological information without charge andtherefore its provision, and that of any advice issubject to a fee in line with the WoSAS Charging
Policy, referred to in 2.6.1.
providing historic environment advice toother regulatory bodies
2.6.3

Until the termination of the scheme in the current
year, advisers to the Scottish Rural Development
Programme (SRDP), a national agri-environment
scheme funded through the European Union
Common Agricultural Policy, sought information
and advice on historic environment resources
within SRDP project land parcels. Information andadvice for this scheme, and its precursors, wasprovided in return for grant-aided support fromHistoric Scotland.

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Discussions at national level regarding the EU’s
successor scheme to the SRDP are still ongoing, but
it is unlikely that the replacement scheme will require
such advice on undesignated heritage assets.
The Forestry Commission regularly seeks advice
from WoSAS on the historic environment throughits regulatory role in forestry works. No agreement
has been possible to date on recouping the costs
of officer time which would be spent responding
to these unresourced requests.
In the current circumstances, WoSAS has nocapacity and is under no obligation to meetdemands for unresourced external work forother regulatory bodies. Unless appropriate feecharging regimes can be agreed or supporting
grants are obtained, this objective should besuspended.
providing historic environment
information to consultants
2.6.4

Planning Advice Note (PAN) 2/2011 and theInstitute for Archaeologists (IfA) Standards andGuidance documents assume that consultants
acting for developers will seek historic
environment information from local authority
archaeological services.
Small-scale queries are normally self-serviced byconsultants from the WoSAS website, but larger
or more complex structured database extracts arerequested from WoSAS in return for a fee leviedin accordance with the WoSAS Charging Policy, as
referred to in 2.6.1.

16

providing advice to developers and theiragents on appropriate archaeological mitigation
measures2.6.5

Having provided advice to the planning authority
on the historic environment issues raised bydevelopment proposals, WoSAS can and does
provide advice to developers and their agentsregarding the means and measures most likely
to address those issues to the satisfaction of theplanning authority.
General discussions with developers and theiragents on the scale and scope of work required
to address archaeological issues raised by their
proposals can be said to be directly tied to theregulatory function of WoSAS as advisers to theplanning authority.
However, WoSAS staff time spent checking,advising, and agreeing the paperwork drawn
up by the developers’ agents to implement therequirements of archaeological conditions would
constitute “added value” which benefits thedeveloper by potentially shortening the approvalof the required documentation.
As this detailed advice benefits the developer,
there may be scope to examine the possibility ofgenerating external fee income from executing
this role.

Objective 5: to represent the interestsof member councils in consultations withnational heritage agencies and professionalorganisations
2.7

Either as a sub-national-scale joint service for athird of all Scottish planning authorities, or as acontributing member of the Association of Local
Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) atboth UK and Scottish level, WoSAS consults widelywith other heritage bodies and organisations.
Liaison across council boundaries with other local
authority historic environment practitioners to
examine areas of common cause and concern
has allowed matters of interest to our member
councils to be carried into discussions andconsultations at national level.
The joint service approach of WoSAS again delivers
economies to member councils in officer timespent in specialised external consultations, andpromotes a greater level of consistency across themember council areas.
Invitations to consult or contribute to various
discussions exceed the staff time available withincurrent workload commitments. Only thosematters with more direct relevance or importanceto the member councils are taken up.
Some examples of roles taken on under thisobjective include: Representing Glasgow City Council and WestDunbartonshire Council on the Antonine Wall
World Heritage Site Working Group.
 Representing the interests of the local
authorities as an invited consultee on the
Scottish Government review of SHEP andon the consultation on the new Historic
Environment Strategy for Scotland Representing member councils in thediscussions on professional data standards
in the Scottish Sites and Monuments Record
Forum (SMR Forum), and on the developmentof the Scottish Historic Environment Data
Strategy (SHED Strategy).

2.8

Objective 6: to provide historic
environment information to researchers and to
the general public
Lectures on the planning work of the Archaeology
Service and training seminars are provided onrequest to local archaeological and historicalsocieties and other bodies, and wherever
possible we support local archaeological projects
and community groups with information andassistance in kind.
Non-commercial researchers and enquirers
are encouraged to make use of the online HER
with its text-based and map search tools which
are freely available on the WoSAS website for
their research, but where possible requests forarchaeological information from students andmembers of the public, especially those without
internet access, are dealt with directly by WoSAS
staff, provided that the requests are simple orrelatively minor in nature.
Following WoSAS’s establishment as primarily aplanning-related service, this public information
or educational outreach role has not been a main
focus of our existing remit, although WoSAS was at
the forefront of making HER information available
to others online.
This objective is an active and ongoing area ofwork for future development.

 Representing the interests of planning
authorities in Historic Scotland discussions on
the roles, responsibilities and resources of local
and national government for managing thehistoric environment following the merger ofHistoric Scotland and the RCAHMS.

17

Delivery of the remit to date and proposed future emphasis

2.9

The table below sets out the current WoSAS remit and assesses recent performance levels in each area asreferred to above. The final column sets out proposals for renewed emphasis in the work programme tobe carried forward to 2017.
Table 1 An assessment of the outcomes of current workload against the WoSAS remit
Current
performance

Remit
Purpose: provide specialist archaeological advice
Aim: provide accurate, mediated information
Objectives:
1.
2.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
3.
4.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)

5.

6.

SustainSustain

Explore possible cost-neutral
enhancements
to provide Development Management advice to planning officers on:which archaeological monuments raise
Explore the need to continue in
potential issues (ACTmaps)
the present form
whether archaeological mitigation should be
Sustainrequired
how mitigation measures can be secured most
Sustaineffectively
whether such mitigation has been undertaken
Sustain, and explore options tosatisfactorily
generate fee income
to provide Forward Planning advice to member
Explore options to improve thiscouncils
to further facilitate sustainable development by:providing pre-application advice to developers
Explore options to generate fee
and their agents
incomeproviding historic environment advice to
Sustain where fee-earning
Statutory Undertakers
providing historic environment advice to otherSustain where fee-earning
regulatory bodies
providing historic environment information to
Sustainconsultants
providing advice to developers and their agents
Explore options to generate fee
on appropriate archaeological mitigation
incomemeasuresto represent the interests of member councils in
Sustain, subject to priorities ofconsultations with national heritage agencies
time and relevance to remit
and professional organisations
Sustain, and explore possible
to provide historic environment information tocost-neutral HER links andresearchers and to the general publicenhancements
to maintain and update the WoSAS HER

satisfactory

18

Emphasis 2014-17

issue(s) raised

action neededTable 1 indicates that discussions should be heldwith member council planning staff regarding:

Table 1 indicates that WoSAS should undertake
exploration of: Objective 2 i) WoSAS providing ACTmaps
advising which archaeological monuments
raise potential planning issues;

 Objective 2 iv) options to generate fee income
from monitoring whether archaeologicalmitigation has been undertaken satisfactorily; Objective 3 WoSAS providing Forward
Planning advice to member councils.

 Objective 4 i) options to generate fee income
from providing pre-application advice todevelopers and their agents;

Table 1 indicates that WoSAS should explore
options towards:
 Objective 1 maintaining and updating the
WoSAS HER; Objective 6 providing historic environment
information to researchers and the generalpublic.

 Objective 4 v) options to generate fee income
from providing advice to developers andtheir agents on appropriate archaeologicalmitigation measures.
Finally, Table 1 indicates that where there is no
obligation on WoSAS or its councils to provide
information or advice free of charge, WoSAS
should only continue to comply with such
requests on a chargeable basis with regard to: Objective 4 ii) providing historic environment
advice to Statutory Undertakers;
 Objective 4 iii) providing historic environment
advice to other regulatory bodies.

19

Business Plan
3

The WoSAS programme plan 2014 -2017
3.1

Budget 2014/15

The WoSAS budget for financial year 2014/15 is£172k. The budget comprises five main areas of
expenditure:
Staff costs (not inc. mileage):		

£142.5k

Accommodation costs:			

£ 11.5k

Admin. Suppies and Services:		

£ 7.5kIT Purchases and System Support£ 5.5kCasework mileage costs		£ 5.0k

A statement of the projected Income andExpenditure account for the year is presented inAppendix 2. The budget is managed on behalf of
WoSAS by Glasgow City Council as host authority,
subject to authorisation of payments andinvoices by the WoSAS Manager. Glasgow City
Council provide internal auditing of the accounts
as part of the services they provide which areresourced through an identified host council
charge, and an annual external audit is carriedout by Audit Scotland.

20

3.2

Staffing 2014/15

Following service restructuring, the WoSAS staff
comprises three full-time salaried posts, all funded
directly from the WoSAS budget.
 WoSAS Manager
 Senior Archaeologist
 Archaeologist/HER Officer
Currently, the full-time WoSAS staff members arebeing assisted by a part-time unpaid volunteer,
who is undertaking HER data input and datacleaning tasks to enhance the WoSAS HER and to
gain up-to-date work experience.
To illustrate the cost-effectiveness of theService, the most recent Scotland-wide staffing
survey by the Association of Local Government
Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) recorded 24.6
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) archaeological staff
working on planning–related matters across the
33 Scottish planning authorities. Within these
totals, the 3 staff in WoSAS currently provide
advice to 11 of these authorities.
3.3

Planning work 2014/15

The largest component of the WoSAS workload
will continue to be the provision of planningrelated advice to the planning services of themember councils, which is underpinned by theservice’s main working tool, the WoSAS Historic
Environment Record.
3.3.1

Maintaining and updating the HER

While new information is always being added to the
HER during the processing of planning casework,and after commercial archaeological, pressuresof work can lead to delays or omissions in the
integration of additional information. The creationof new records and concomitant data-cleaning
operations are relatively time-consuming, and arevulnerable to neglect under pressures of time.
Nevertheless, the HER is such a critical tool in theformulation of planning-related advice to themember councils that all means to improve its
maintenance and updating must be explored.
WoSAS will liaise with national and local bodies

amd individuals to improve the datasets accessible
from within the HER, and will undertake every
opportunity to enhance its content.
3.3.2

Provision of ACTmaps

The current WoSAS remit states that annual
updates of the Archaeological Consultation
Trigger maps (ACTmaps) will be provided tocouncils. Over time, this update schedule has
been allowed to slip, partly because the semiautomated production of the maps is relatively
time-consuming and slows down other computerfunctions, but also because the maps’ former
primary purpose has been overtaken by changes
in the planning system.
The ACTmaps were originally intended to allow
development proposals which might adversely
affect significant archaeological sites to be
identified at an early stage in the application
process by council planning staff who were notarchaeologically trained, so that a consultation
response could be requested from WoSAS before
processing of the application began. This wasimportant when all correspondence was subject
to postal delays. The introduction of e-planningallows WoSAS to identify and assess applications
as soon as they are registered and put online.
It appears that some authorities are using the
ACTmaps as a form of Constraint map for forward
planning. This lies outwith the purpose the maps
were designed for, and the data filtering which
produces the ACTmap GIS cover is not robust
enough to identify all currently known andsignificant planning issues. There is a danger that
ACTmaps used in this manner may confuse or
mislead applicants and their agents attempting to
identify potential archaeological issues at the preapplications stage as recommended by current
policy and guidance.
WoSAS would like to open a dialogue with theplanning services of the member councils to discuss
the limitations of the ACTmaps, and whether they
can be revised or amended so as to improve theirusefulness, or whether their use can be abandoned
having been overtaken by newer technology.

21

3.3.3Development Management

Development management issues will form thelargest category of casework for the member
councils. Technological advances arising fromthe introduction of the e-planning systemhave reduced delays in receiving weekly lists ofregistered planning applications, and in assessing
the applications for potential archaeologicalimpacts, and giving notice of these potential
impacts to the planning service.
WoSAS will work with the Development
Management staff in the councils to promote theService to Development Management planners
and to establish an agreed optimum timetable toprovide a response to consultations dependingon the likely complexity of the issues raised by thecase. Simple “no issue” responses will be issued assoon as assessed.
Where mitigation fieldwork or other action
is required prior to, or after determinationof an application, WoSAS will liaise with theDevelopment management Officer regarding
the monitoring of progress and the satisfactorycompletion of the archaeological work.
WoSAS will seek to facilitate sustainable
development by providing appropriate information
and advice at each stage of the planning process todevelopers, consultants and contractors.
3.3.4

Forward Planning

Where possible, WoSAS provides commentson draft Development Plan Policies, checks
for potential archaeological issues on areas
proposed for development release throughthe Development Plan, and comments ondevelopment briefs, Conservation Area Appraisals
and Planning Statements on the specific requestof the planning service of the member councils.
In some cases requests arrive when staff areunavailable or staff time is short because of otherwork requirements, and response deadlines
are missed. The WoSAS Manager will liaise with
the Officer Steering Group to determine if an
improved consultation method can be put in place
where such advice is necessary.

22

Collaboration, communication andoutreach
3.4

WoSAS will continue its work with
ALGAO:Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland
the new, merged national heritage agency, andwith others, in the development of the Scottish
Historic Environment Data Strategy (SHED
Strategy). This collaborative joint venture between
local and national bodies comprises shared andlinked digital records forming a national public
information resource for the historic environment.
In addition to the links inherent in the SHED
Strategy, WoSAS will make direct contact withthe museums, Libraries and Community servicesof member councils to exchange web-addresses
and live online links so that the online HER canbe accessed by as many of the public as possible
within each member council’s premises. It is hopedthat this will markedly increase access to the HER
with minimal costs to staff time.
WoSAS will liaise with the Officer Steering Groupto obtain contact details for the press office ofmember councils to enable each council’s publicity
staff to be informed when a news item relevantto the council area is mounted on the WoSAS
website, and so that each council press office has
the opportunity to build reciprocal links to thearchaeological service.
3.5

Project work 2014/15

WoSAS has been involved in a number of projectsof varying sizes. Most of these projects wererelatively small in scale. Project funding was used
to engage dedicated project staff or temporary
assistance to cover core WoSAS functions for theperiod of the commitment of WoSAS staff to therelevant project.
WoSAS was engaged to assist the City Council
in managing the archaeological contracts
associated with the M74 Completion project in2007-8. Following the completion of the mainroad construction, a Project Evaluation Reporton the cultural heritage impacts is required toreport on the success, or otherwise, of the roadproject’s mitigation strategy. WoSAS was asked to

produce this report for the M74 Completion teamon a fee-earning basis, and will complete it in the
coming year.
WoSAS staff continue to co-ordinate joint
ALGAO:Scotland proposals for HER enhancement
projects through the Scottish Historic Environment
Data Strategy. Projects are proposed and approved
on a national basis, and to date grants have been
disbursed to other organisations which do not yet
meet the standards of the WoSAS HER. A mapbased data enhancement opportunity for the
WoSAS HER has been identified, and will be carriedforward in outline as a project for consideration.
An in-house “facelift” for the WoSAS website has
been programmed for the coming year. It is notexpected that major structural changes will be
required to the site, but the user interface requires
simplification and a more modern look. A newpage layout will improve site navigation for the
new or casual user.
3.6

Other tasks

A number of other matters to do with the
management and governance of WoSAS andwith its role and relationship with other elementsof the historic environment sector require to beaddressed or explored in the coming year.
3.6.1

Accommodation

WoSAS currently occupies office space in a
Glasgow City Council building and is re-charged
by the City Council for rates, services and utilities,
but not for a commercial rental element. As hostauthority, Glasgow City Council is responsible
for the provision of appropriate office space for
WoSAS. The City Council has outsourced theproperty management of its estate to an armslength external organisation, Access LLP, whohave just begun discussions on the possibilityof matching the future accommodation
requirements of WoSAS with available officelocations in the same building or elsewhere.
The building currently occupied has become
surplus to the City Council’s requirements, and due
to changes in WoSAS staff numbers, the current
office is larger than required. Current office spacerequirements could be reduced further were it not
for a considerable quantity of old casework files
and archival material in hard copy, which cannot
currently be disposed of.
A preliminary search of external commercial
property available in the Glasgow conurbation
indicates that current budget levels are unlikely
to allow alternative accommodation for staff andhard copy files to be secured at full commercial
costs. Office removal costs and IT connectivity
requirements to maintain working efficiency
and communications will also be major factors.
It is expected that one-off expenditure, such as
removal costs, would be met by drawing down thenecessary sum from WoSAS reserves.
These budgetary and spatial considerations aretied to the City Council’s responsibilities as hostauthority for WoSAS, and will require multilateral
discussion and agreement to source cost-effective
alternative accommodation with a suitablecombination of office size and IT connectivity.
The WoSAS Manager and the host department
within the City Council will discuss options with
Access LLP to bring forward a sustainable solution.
3.6.2

Digitisation of casework files and records

WoSAS holds a considerable quantity of oldplanning casework files and archaeologicalarchival material which dates from before theadvent of the “paperless office” and the e-planningsystem. This material includes information on
potentially “live” planning consents and past casehistories which are of continuing relevance, andwhich cannot currently be safely disposed of.
The most appropriate long-term solution tothis storage problem is digitisation of therelevant records and their integration into the
HER. Unfortunately, archaeological expertise isrequired to filter the relevant details from thelarger quantity of planning data included in the
casework files, which requires an unacceptableamount of staff time to be diverted from current
casework. Working time records for a volunteer
scanning backlog files and carrying out theassociated HER data entry tasks show that this23

approach to digitisation would be unable toaddress the quantity of paper files and reports
held by WoSAS at the current staffing levels.
Should available office space be at such a
premium that continued storage of the hard copy
files and reports is no longer possible, it would befeasible to have the files scanned and returned indigital form by commercial document handling
contractors. Costs for this type of service havefallen markedly in recent years, and advances inscanning technology have improved the quality ofthe digitised documents.
Filing the resultant digital documents andintegrating their information into the WoSAS
HER is a task that would have to be carried out
by WoSAS, and which would also take time awayfrom current casework and other tasks, but could
be done on an ad hoc or needs-based basis
until a more comprehensive scheme could beresourced. Although this would not solve theinformation backlog issue, it would address thespatial storage problem.
Costs of digitisation would depend on what
proportion of the range of documents currently
held by WoSAS was put out to contract. An
estimate based on a visual appraisal of thefiling cabinets and storage tanks was quoted in
the range of £10k - £15k. It is proposed that in
preparation of any office relocation, a revised
quotation for such scanning be obtained, andif acceptable, commissioned. The costs of suchan exercise could be met by drawing down theappropriate sum from the WoSAS reserves, subject
to the agreement of the WoSAS Joint Committee
and the partner authorities.
3.6.3

Reserves Policy

The current level of WoSAS reserves isapproximately £122k. On previous occasions
sums have been drawn down from the reserve
to meet one-off or unexpected costs, such as
replacement of a faulty computer server, orto meet staff severance costs. In recent years,
the Officer Steering Group has recommended
setting budgets which allow member councils

24

contribution reductions or freezes, with projectedshortfalls being met from the reserves. Again, in
recent years, prudent management of the WoSAS
budget has resulted in modest surpluses, withconcomitant increases in the reserves to theircurrent level.
Given the level of reserves held, and the possible
uses to which some of them may need to be put(see sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2 among others), it
would be prudent to establish an agreed Reserves
Policy for WoSAS, to be drawn up by the Manager
in consultation with the Officer Steering Groupand brought before the WoSAS Joint Committee
for consideration.
3.6.4

Charging Policy

The current WoSAS Access to Information andCharging Policy (Appendix 3) was approved by
the WoSAS Joint Committee on 3 April 2009. Since
that date there have been substantive changes
to the planning system, and to the government’s
policy framework. In the continuing challenging
economic environment, budgetary pressures
are such that new consideration is given to thecharging policy, and its level of fees.
Member councils’ planning services can use thecurrent planning guidance documents’ emphasison making developers address issues before
lodging planning applications to insist that theprospective applicants consult with and makeuse of up-to-date advice from WoSAS prior to
submitting an application. In addition to speedingup the processing of any resultant application, thisis likely to substantially increase the opportunity
for WoSAS to generate additional income frompre-application enquirers.
In addition to the current charging regime, there
is considerable scope to charge for other “addedvalue” elements of the regulatory role carried out
by council archaeology services. WoSAS staff timespent checking and agreeing paperwork drawn up
by consultants and contractors to implement therequirements of archaeological conditions, and
WoSAS staff costs associated with monitoring offieldwork carried out for developers implementingthose archaeological conditions are elementsthat have benefits to the applicant and developer.
Given the wide range of projects of all sizes andpotential complexity which are dealt with throughthe planning system, and the large geographicalarea covered by WoSAS, it is likely that a sliding
scale of pre-set charges would have to be applied
rather than re-charging on the full time spent or
the full distance travelled.
While charges for staff time spent on these tasks
have yet to be introduced by any Scottish Council,
they have already been implemented without
challenge in England by Buckinghamshire,
Durham, and Worcestershire County Councils, andare being actively considered by others.
The WoSAS Manager and the Officer SteeringGroup will review the rates and application of theAccess to Information and Charging Policy and willreport to the Joint Committee.

3.6.5

Professional accreditation

The Institute for Archaeologists (IfA) was granteda Royal Charter in February 2014 and it isexpected that this will increase pressure towards
the complete accreditation of all archaeologicalprofessionals. The Institute has continued topress for more curatorial bodies such as WoSAS
to apply for the IfA’s Registered ArchaeologicalOrganisation (RAO) status, but only a very small
minority of UK curatorial services has done so, or
is currently preparing to apply. There are costs intime and money in preparing an application for
RAO status, and annual costs in retaining it.
While the principles behind all professionalarchaeological bodies moving towards RAO status
are laudable, and institutional accreditation may
become advisable in future, given the current
staffing levels and workload within the service,and the fact that the lack of RAO status is not
currently a disadvantage to curatorial services, thecosts of attaining such status cannot be justified atpresent.
Institutional corporate membership of the IfA is
not essential for curatorial services, and the lackof institutional accreditation currently carries noprofessional disadvantage. However, with the
IfA’s achievement of Chartered status, it would
be advantageous if WoSAS advisory staff weremembers of the organization on a personal basis.
Those WoSAS staff who are not yet IfA members
will apply for membership of the Institute within
the current service year.

25

WoSAS PROGRAMME PLAN 2015-17
3.7

WoSAS Work Programme and Governance

The role of local authority historic environment
advice services in the planning system is unlikely
to change radically in the first half of the periodof this Plan. However, following major changes
to the structure and status of the main national
government heritage agencies which will not becompleted until late 2014 at earliest, there will bechanges to system of Statutory Designation andConsents which may have relevance to the work of
the local authorities, and which are likely to comeinto force during 2015.
The recent transfer of Policy staff from Historic
Scotland to a new Historic Environment Policy Unitin the Scottish Government, the establishment of a
Scottish Government/COSLA Joint Working Groupfor the Historic Environment, and the impending
merger or Historic Scotland and RCAHMS (soonto retain their existing branding within a new,merged Historic Environment Scotland, HES)
means that a new joint approach to designation
and regulation may need to be taken into accountin future work programme planning.
The effects of the recent release of the Scottish
Government’s latest strategy document “Our
Place in Time - The Historic Environment Strategy
for Scotland”, and the imminent launch of asector-wide Archaeology Strategy for Scotland
by Historic Scotland will also need time to “beddown” across the historic environment sector. The
archaeological profession will also be adapting to
the new Chartered status which is expected to be
confirmed for the Institute for Archaeologists (IfA).
In addition to this wide range of contemporaneous
external changes in the historic environment
sector, work proposed for WoSAS in the first yearof this Plan may also lead to a reassessment of
the balance of services carried out, the officeaccommodation requirements, the proportion offee-earned income which can be secured, and theoverall budget of the Service in the latter part of
the Plan period.
The Business Plan will therefore be refreshed at theend of its first year to align with the existing remitof WoSAS, and to add value in light of the current
planning context.

26

3.8

WoSAS Management and Reporting

The WoSAS Annual Report provides statistics
relating to the work of the service over eachfinancial year, and a report on the activities
undertaken in each service work area and acrosseach council’s geographical area. It has been
proposed that a new format of report should be
developed that retains its statistical worth, but
is less rigid in its presentation of archaeologicaloutcomes across the WoSAS service area.
Work carried out to assess the continuing validityof the current WoSAS remit is not likely to becompleted in time to take into account for the
2013/14 Annual Report, but will be able to feed
into the structure of the following Report for
the year 2014/15. If there are changes to the
WoSAS remit, then it is likely that there will
also be changes to the recorded performanceindicators for the service. Any such changes will beincorporated into the reporting arrangements ofthe service to the WoSAS Joint Committee.
3.9

Finances 2014/15

A proposed Financial Programme for the financial
year 2014/15 is provided as Appendix 2. The
proposed budget provides projections of income
and expenditure and assumes a standstill inbudget contributions with the exception ofWest Dunbartonshire, which has been adjusted
downwards to take account of the reductionin its council area for planning purposes since
the creation of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs
National Park as a planning authority.

3.10

Finances 2015/17

No budget projection is included in this Planfor the financial years beyond 2014/15. In eachprevious year, reports made to the WoSAS Joint
Committee have included a three-year rolledforward financial projection. Such projections havepreviously been drawn up with some certainty
over the main budget headings. This year, there is
uncertainty over the currently unresolved questionof future accommodation costs for the service.
This uncertainty may be reduced or removed in
the near future, but currently it is not possible topredict how this might affect the overall budget.
The WoSAS Manager and the Officer SteeringGroup are proposing no major alteration tocouncil contributions or to main budget headings.
If accommodation costs remains stable, underlying
costs of approximately £172,000 per annum areprojected for the following two financial years. It is
hoped that any increase in accommodation costs
can be met with increased fee earnings following
the review of the Access to Information andCharging Policy.
3.11

WoSAS Financial Reserves

The WoSAS financial reserves currently standat approximately £122,000. Amounts may berequired to be drawn down from this reserve
to meet one-off costs of moving office and /or document scanning to reduce storage
requirements in the long term.

The projected core costs for the Business Plan
period remain relatively static at £172,000 per
annum. In keeping with actual out-turns against
projections in previous years, it is expected thatthe small projected deficit will be largely or wholly
counteracted by a combination of underspends inprojected supply and services costs in non-salarybudget heads and by greater than projected feeearned income.

27

Business Plan
PHOTOGRAPH DESCRIPTIONS
Cover
A: Remains of the first Glasgow Water Works, built in 1806-9 on what was to become thesite of the award-winning 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village. The
remains were excavated during preparation of the site in advance of the Games.

A

Page 4
B: The Cill Naoimh (Kilnave) Cross, an 8th century early Christian High Cross next to the ruinsof a small late medieval chapel on the Isle of Islay. It is thought that the High Cross stands on
the site of an early monastic settlement.

B

D

C

E

F

G
H

J

Page 5
C: A “meridian pillar”, aligned with the mid-day sun by pioneering astronomer Sir Thomas
Brisbane in 1819 so he could accurately map a North-South line through the UK.
D: The view of the nearby town of Largs through the meridian pillar’s aperture.
E: The ruins of Brisbane’s early 19th century private observatory today.

Page 6
F: The Boiler House (l) and the Engine House (r) of the 1806-9 Glasgow Water Workson the site of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village. Begun fifty years
before the more famous Loch Katrine Scheme, the earlier Glasgow Water Works were themodern world’s first attempt at a full public water supply for a major city.
I

Page 11
G: Excavating the evidence for medieval houses found under Rutherglen Town Hall.
H: The medieval well in the cloister of the 15th century Glasgow Greyfriars’ (Franciscan)
Friary which was identified and excavated before development at Shuttle Street.
I: The high-quality stonework of the filtering well at the 1806-9 Glasgow Water Works.

Page 12
J: The steps leading down to the basement floor of the huge 1806-09 Engine House of
the first Glasgow Water Works. James Watt advised on the design and operation of thetwo large beam engines which were installed here to pump water into and out of thetreatment works.

K
Page 14
K: The famous Clachan Bridge, or “Bridge over the Atlantic” joining the Isle of Seil to themainland south of Oban. Designed by Thomas Telford to allow the passage of small
vessels, it was built in 1792 by engineer Robert Mylne.

L

M

O

Q
R

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M: The remaining upstanding stones of the Colmac Circle, a 13-metre diameter prehistoric Stone Circle at Ettrick Bay on the Isle of Bute. Originally there may have been ninestones in the circle. The site has spectacular views to the south-west, towards Arran andKintyre.

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N: The Inveraray War Memorial on the shore of Loch Fyne. The bronze statue of aHighland Infantryman by Glasgow sculptor Kellock Brown commemorates the seventytwo men and one woman of the area who lost their lives in World War I, and the ten men
who died in World War II.

N

PPage 16
L: Laser scanning the rebuilt and repaired façade of a large early 19th century
limekiln during its excavation and recording before a housing development near
Stewarton, East Ayrshire.

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O: A medieval corn-drying kiln being drawn and recorded during excavation in advanceof a housing development in a field at Dreghorn, in Irvine New Town. Other kilns andbuildings found alongside a track there showed that the modern village had shrunk insize after the medieval period.
Page 26 The modern archaeological process:
P: Alexandria in 1913. The undisturbed land around the mansion that became the Vale ofLeven Hospital was identified by WoSAS as having archaeological potential.
Q: The unique, multi-phase late Neolithic (c. 3,000-2,700 BC) ritual site found duringarchaeological evaluation of the area, and excavated before development.
R: The Vale Centre, the state-of-the-art community health centre whose development
raised the archaeological issue, and resulted in important new discoveries.