ITEM 3
24 January 2013
WEST OF SCOTLAND ARCHAEOLOGY SERVICE.
Glasgow, 12th April 2012.
West of Scotland Archaeology Service Joint Committee.
Present:Apologies:

Also present:

Jean McFadden (Convener)
Stewart Miller
Innes Nelson
Eileen Logan
Denis Agnew
Martyn Day
William Petrie
Kathy MorriceDavid Wilson
Susan Jones
Celia Lawson
Stan Fisher
Hugh McBrien
Alison Donald
Julie Nicol
Cathy Johnston
Robert Forest
Neil Feggans
Gordon Cameron
Ranald Dods
Maureen Hughes (Clerk)

Glasgow City Council
East Renfrewshire Council
Inverclyde Council
South Lanarkshire Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
West Lothian Council
Argyll and Bute Council
East Ayrshire Council
Inverclyde Council
Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council
South Ayrshire Council
West of Scotland Archaeology
ServiceEast Ayrshire Council
East Renfrewshire Council
Glasgow City Council
North Ayrshire Council
South Ayrshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council
West Lothian Council
Glasgow City Council

Improvements to West of Scotland Archaeology Service Website and Public
Accessibility - Presentation noted.
1
There was heard a presentation by Hugh McBrien, West of Scotland
Archaeology Service highlighting the work undertaken by the Archaeology Serviceon improvements to the Service’s website and public accessibility.
After discussion, the joint committee thanked Hugh McBrien for his presentation.

Minutes approved.
2
The minutes of the meeting of the joint committee of 17th May 2011 weresubmitted and approved, subject to the addition of Alan Williamson, West2

Dunbartonshire Council to the sederunt and an amendment to paragraph 1 regarding
the repatriation of artefacts to read“noted that Provost Agnew questioned the wisdom of collections of artefacts
remaining in national collections rather than being returned to the areas where they
were found, and that he felt the matter should be raised with the relevant nationalauthorities. “Annual Report of West of Scotland Archaeology Service 2010/11 noted etc.
3
There 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
2010 to 31st March 2011, confirming that(1)during the report period, the West of Scotland Archaeology Service had dealt
with 1776 new casework items, compared with 1763 in the previous year, andcarried out work on a further 1581 casework items registered in previousyears;(2)818 new planning and listed building applications had been identified aspotentially requiring archaeological advice across the area covered by theService, a decrease of 7.15% on the previous year;(3)

during the report period 3,399 new site records were added to the Sites andMonuments Record database, of which 2669 were imported from the Stirling
Council SMR to prepare for the provision of advice for the larger area of theLoch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, amendments or additions weremade to 671 existing site records, 348 archaeological events records wereadded, 158 of these from the Stirling SMR and 179 archive records werecreated, including 67 derived from Stirling Council’s records; and(4)there were 98 recorded archaeological events (excavations, surveys,watching briefs, desk-based assessments etc) during the report period.

After consideration, the joint committee
(a)

noted
(i)

1811MINS/LMcC

the report, which gave details on(A)planning applications from 2006-11 for each of the jointcommittee's local authorities;(B)

the running of the service;(C)

the Sites and Monuments Record maintenance anddevelopment; and(D)advice to other local authorities and organisations;

3(b)

(E)

information and advice to developers/agents and to statutory
undertakers;(F)

agri-environment advice; and(G)management of the M74 completion archaeology contracts(ii)

the annual performance statistics for 2010/11; and(iii)the revenue account for the year ended 31st March 2011; andagreed that the summary of the Annual Report and the work carried out by
the service for each individual council be forwarded to members to circulate
as appropriate within their own authority.

West of Scotland Archaeology Service – 2010/11 year end accounts etc noted.
4There was submitted and noted a report by the Treasurer setting out therevenue expenditure for 2010/11 for the West of Scotland Archaeology Service.
After consideration, the joint committee noted(1)

the income and expenditure account and balance sheet which showed an
accumulated surplus of £149,888 in the account for 2010/11;(2)

a cash flow statement for the year ended 31st March 2011; and(3)

an independent auditor’s report.

Proposed Business Plan – Report by Service Manager.
5With reference to the minutes of 17th May 2011 noting that a draft businessplan would be submitted to a future meeting of the joint committee, there wassubmitted and noted a report by the Service Manager regarding progress on thedraft business plan intimating that(1)

while there continued to be no immediate financial issue for the Service, it
was recognised that action would be needed to address the changing
circumstances foreseeable in the medium term;(2)

a draft operational business plan had been drawn up on the basis of current
service provision following restructuring, and was currently monitoring Service
performance and researching other public and voluntary sector organisations
for additional background information to better inform the development of theupdated Business Plan

1811MINS/LMcC

4(3)

(4)

the draft business plan was currently being developed with the support ofofficers in the member authorities and currently consideration was being given
to:(a)

a review of the strategic context for the provision of archaeologicaladvice to local authorities in accordance with current policy at national
and local level;(b)a review of the perceived need for a local archaeological service within
the local authorities, taking into account the views of the private andvoluntary sectors;(c)the provisions of the Service Level Agreement;(d)the current service delivery model, its advantages and disadvantages
relative to alternative models in use elsewhere;(e)appropriate management and governance arrangements; and(f)details of staffing, service performance and financial sustainability inchanging circumstances; anda draft business plan would be considered by the Service’s Steering Group ofSenior Officers after the Local Government elections and a report would thenbe submitted to a future meeting of the joint committee.

Changes to Central Government Provisions for the Historic Environment –Report by Service Manager noted.
6There was submitted and noted a report by the Service Manager regarding
new documents published and reviews which had been instigated by Central
Government sources which had relevance to the work of the Archaeology Service.

Inverclyde Council – Continuing dialogue regarding withdrawal from Service –Report by Service Manager agreed.
7With reference to the minutes of 17th May 2012 noting the formal withdrawalof Inverclyde Council from the Archaeology Service, there was submitted a report by
the Service Manager intimating that(1)since the last meeting, discussions had taken place to identify the reasons
behind Inverclyde Council’s decision to withdraw from the Service ;(2)

it was felt that some of the service provision to the Council had been
overlooked and insufficiently benchmarked and the Head of Planning at
Inverclyde Council had expressed a willingness to discuss the matter morefully.

1811MINS/LMcC

5

After consideration, the joint committee authorised the Chair of the Steering Groupand senior officers to meet with the Head of Planning at Inverclyde Council todiscuss the future service provision options.

Other business
Retiral of Bailie Jean McFadden - Valedictory.
8Provost Agnew advised that this was Bailie Jean McFadden’s last meeting of
the joint committee before her retiral from the Council after 41 years service as acouncillor, more than 14 of which were as Chair of the joint committee.
On behalf of the joint committee, Provost Agnew thanked Bailie McFadden for hercommitment to the service and valuable contribution to its success and wished her along and happy retirement.

1811MINS/LMcC