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Councils cut conservation services by half in a decade
Image: Historic England
Local authority building conservation services have declined by 50% in just over a decade, with 6% of local authorities currently offering no services at all, research has revealed.
The Institute of Historic Building Conservation last month
published research into specialist conservation provision in local authorities
in England that revealed a 48.7% decline since 2009.
The research will inform the briefing note on England’s
planning white paper from the new Conservation Places and People All-Party
Parliamentary Group on 4 November.
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The news also comes ahead of an all-day virtual conference hosted by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) this week (5 November) called Future Skills for Traditional Buildings, which examines the “critical” loss of traditional craft skills and how to balance this with the need to move to modern methods of working.
IHBC chair David McDonald said: “This survey demonstrates just how much local authority conservation services in England have been reduced over the last decade. Access to specialist advice decreasing by almost 50% since 2009 is a statistic that speaks for itself. If we add to that the loss of senior staff and the consequent wealth of knowledge and experience that is no longer available the overall picture is even worse.
"Of similar concern are those authorities that do not have access to any conservation advice. Not only are they failing in providing an adequate service, but also there must be an increased risk of Ombudsman complaints or Judicial Reviews.”
Fiona Newton, IHBC’s lead on this work since
2006 said: “Conservation advice is the critical frontline for protecting the
historic environment and once lost it can never be recovered. With 6% of local authorities
now having no access to conservation advice and many others having just part
time access to advice this lack of advice exposes the nation’s heritage to the
real risk of harm.”
IHBC director Seán O’Reilly said: “The loss of 48.7% of
conservation provision across England since 2009 can only have had a
devastating effect on local authorities and some may be no longer even able to
carry out even their statutory conservation duties. The reduced levels of
conservation staffing in most Local Authorities mean that Listed Building
owners and developers are often no longer able to get detailed proactive and
practical support and advice from the Local Authority to help them to maintain
and protect the heritage for which they are responsible.”
The November/December 2025 issue of Construction Management magazine is now available to read in digital format.
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