WEST OF SCOTLAND ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE JOINT COMMITTEE'SMINUTES.
Glasgow, 19th September 2019.
West of Scotland Archaeology Service Joint Committee.
Present:

Rhiannon Spear (Convener)
Rosie O’Neil
Ian Clarkson
Iain McLaren
Lawrence Fitzpatrick

Glasgow City Council
East Dunbartonshire Council
North Ayrshire Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
West Lothian Council

Apologies:

Iain Linton
Gordon Jenkins
Stewart Miller
Natalie Don
Brian McGinley
Alistair Fulton

East Ayrshire Council
East Ayrshire Council
East Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council
South Lanarkshire CouncilAlso present:

Hugh McBrien

West of Scotland Archaeology
Service
East Dunbartonshire Council
Glasgow City Council
South Lanarkshire Council
Audit Scotland
Audit Scotland
Glasgow City Council

Max Wilson
Gillian Dick
Gwen McCracken
Eilidh Nelson
Iain Lochhead
Maureen Hughes (Clerk)

Appointment of Councillor Rhiannon Spear as Convener unanimouslyapproved.
1The Clerk advised the Joint Committee that in terms of its Minute ofAgreement it required to appoint a Convener. Councillor Fitzpatrick, seconded byCouncillor McLaren moved that Councillor Rhiannon Spear be appointed Convener.
There being no other nominations, the joint committee unanimously agreed toappoint Councillor Spear as Convener.

Appointment of Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick as Vice-convener
unanimously approved.
2The Clerk advised the Joint Committee that in terms of its Minute ofAgreement it required to appoint a Vice-convener. Councillor Spear, seconded byCouncillor McLaren, moved that Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick be appointed Viceconvener. There being no other nominations, the joint committee unanimouslyagreed to appoint Councillor Fitzpatrick as Vice-convener.

Glasgow City Council, City Chambers, Glasgow G2 1DU

Pits, Pots and Post-holes; the archaeological landscape of lands of Greenan
since the Stone Age – Presentation noted.
3The Joint Committee heard and noted a presentation by Robert Engl, AOC
Archaeology Group regarding archaeological work which has been undertaken at
Greenan since 2001, advising that(1)each phase of the major housebuilding development had been preceded byfield evaluation and excavations which revealed evidence of more than
10,000 years of settlement there and the different uses of the landscape overtime;(2)

the earliest remains found were 4 very rare Mesolithic huts or shelters next towhat had been a coastal lagoon when the first humans returned to the land
after the end of the last Ice Age;(3)

these remains would never have been discovered had it not been for thearchaeological conditions placed on the planning consent.

Minutes approved.
4The minutes of the Joint Committee of 28th March and 26th August 2019were submitted and approved.

Annual Report of West of Scotland Archaeology Service 2018/19, approved.
5There was submitted a report by the Manager of the West of ScotlandArchaeology Service detailing the activities of the service for the year from 1st April
2018 to 31st March 2019, confirming that(1)

the WoSAS had dealt with 1918 new casework items, 144 more than theprevious year which represented an increase of 8.1% in casework partly due
to the introduction of East Dunbartonshire Council to the Joint Service, butwith the underlying trend of casework figures in the areas of the pre-existing
Council services continued to rise by 2.5%;(2)the monitoring of the weekly lists, along with direct referrals from planning
officers had identified 930 new planning applications, which required furtherdetailed assessment, 47 % of which raised issues justifying archaeologicalintervention, while a further 395 new casework items in other categories also
arose in the reporting period;(3)

spatial data from the Historic Environment Record (HER) was provided to thelocal government Improvement Service’s Spatial Hub website, allowing ourauthorities to meet the historic environment element of their statutory
responsibilities under the EU INSPIRE Directive without the need foradditional resources;

Glasgow City Council, City Chambers, Glasgow G2 1DU(4)940 new site records were added to the HER database, 483 existing site
records were amended, 278 archaeological events records were added, theHER was informed of the commencement of 197 new fieldwork events and,following the receipt of reports on previous archaeological projects, 238
archive records were created;(5)

the Service took part in Glasgow City Council’s Internship Programme for
Glasgow-based students and a third-year undergraduate was recruited todeliver a project to geo-reference and record approximately 140
archaeologically significant sites in Glasgow;(6)

during the reporting period, the Service assisted or liaised with 2 local
amateur archaeological or historical groups in the preparation of local heritage
fieldwork projects or funding bids, and assisted 3 PhD candidates with theprovision of data for their theses, or by responding to requests for interviews
or research survey responses; and(7)the Service received more than 55 working days’ assistance in the reporting
period from a volunteer member of the public, a post graduate archivist who
had now donated worktime to the Service over a 2-year period;

After consideration, the Joint Committee approved the report, which gave details
regarding(a)planning applications for each of the joint committee's local authorities;(b)

the running of the service;(c)Historic Environment Record Maintenance and Development;(d)advice provided to other local authorities and organisations;(e)information and advice to developers/agents and to statutory
undertakers;(f)agri-environment advice;(g)the annual performance statistics for 2018/19; and(h)the revenue account for the year ended 31st March 2019.

Update on Officer Steering Group consultation regarding future service
delivery options and funding noted.
6With reference to the minutes of 28th March 2019 providing a verbal updateon progress regarding consultation with member authorities on future service
delivery options for the Services, there was heard and noted a further verbal updateby the Manager of the West of Scotland Archaeology Service advising that as a

Glasgow City Council, City Chambers, Glasgow G2 1DU

result of Glasgow City Council’s equal pay award, pay structures within the Council
were currently being evaluated and would require to be finalised before the Service
Level Agreement and thereafter Minute of Agreement could be finalised.

West of Scotland Archaeology Service – 2018/19 draft Annual Audit report
noted.
7
There was submitted and noted a covering letter and report by Audit Scotland
regarding an independent audit of the 2018/19 financial statements of the West ofScotland Archaeology Service, which detailed key messages and significant findingsthat had arisen from the 2018/19 audit.

Glasgow City Council Internal Audit Annual Report 2018/19 noted.
8
There was submitted and noted a report by the Head of Audit and Inspection,
Glasgow City Council regarding an internal audit annual report which provided
members with an overview of the work of Glasgow City Council’s Internal Audit
section for the year ended 31st March 2019, including a draft Annual GovernanceStatement 2018/19 as an appendix to the report, which would form part of theCouncil’s audited 2018/19 Annual Accounts.

West of Scotland Archaeology Service – 2018/19 Annual Accounts approved.
9There was submitted the 2018/19 Annual Accounts for the West of Scotland
Archaeology Service, advising that(1)

the balance of usable reserves at 1st April 2018 was £105,318; and(2)in 2018/19 total expenditure was £154,722 and total income £172,712, which
resulted in a surplus for the year of £17,990, with a balance of usable
reserves at 31st March 2019 of £123,308.

After consideration, the Joint Committee approved the 2018/19 Annual Accounts for
the West of Scotland Archaeology Service.

Report by Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers.
10
There was submitted and noted a report by the Association of Local
Government Archaeological Officers entitled “Archaeology in Development
Management and Its Contribution in England, Scotland and Wales.”Glasgow City Council, City Chambers, Glasgow G2 1DU