BEFS Bulletin – Making your mark in the sector

BEFS News

After the Scottish Parliament voted to approve the National Planning Framework 4 (11 January), next in the process is the commencement of provisions of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. This is expected to happen on 12 February 2023, with the intention that Scottish Ministers will adopt and publish NPF4 on 13 February 2023 at 9am. The Minister’s and Chief Planner’s Letter lays out key dates including impacts on strategic development plans and any current supplementary guidance.

Entries to the RTPI Scotland Awards for Planning Excellence 2023 are now open. The awards look to showcase and celebrate the best plans, people and projects in 15 planning related categories. The closing date for entries is 21 March 2023.

In a time of deepening societal inequality and increasing sectoral precarity, inclusive heritage volunteering is key to building a more equitable society and resilient heritage sector. In the latest BEFS blog Erin Burke, Communications Officer for the Make Your Mark in Volunteering initiative introduces the campaign and explains why inclusive heritage volunteering is important for Scotland’s heritage and communities.

The first few weeks of January saw a lot of social media activity across the sector. The Heritage Treasures day gave us many inspiring examples; see all the contributions on Twitter at #heritagetreasures. BEFS twitter challenge for Members and Associates on names/acronyms is still ongoing. Here you can read how to participate and see some of the excellent responses!

BEFS are delighted to welcome Joe Traynor as the new Director of the Scottish Civic Trust. Joe has previously worked in a number of heritage and culture roles. Most recently, Joe worked for Museums Galleries Scotland where he led on the development and delivery of Scotland’s National Strategy for Museums.

Finally, Glasgow City Heritage Trust is looking for a new Director, who will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the Trust and be an ambassador for the Trust’s values and mission statement – a face and voice for the organisation.

 

Consultations

Historic Environment Scotland’s first Regulatory Framework
HES
The Regulatory Framework is a high-level description of the regulatory and advisory services HES deliver.
Closes 14 February 2023

Cities for Girls Cities for All (UN-Habitat October 2022)

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Review update report (Heritage Fund November 2022)

Heritage Enabled Regeneration in Towns (NI-DfC and AHF 13/12/2022)

Response from Angus Robertson to Clare Adamson, Convener Constitution, Europe, External Affairs & Culture Committee regarding its report on culture funding for 2023-24 (Scot Parl 20/12/2022)

Written Statement: Visit Wales Themed Year 2023–‘Llwybrau – Wales by Trails’ (Welsh Gov 09/01/2023)

Delivering a fair and secure zero carbon energy system (SG 10/01/2023)

Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (SG 10/01/2023)

Scottish Parliamentary debate on the National Planning Framework 4 – Meeting of the Parliament Wednesday 11 January 2023 [Draft] (Scot Parl 11/01/2023)

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee Budget Scrutiny Report 2023/24 (Scot Parl 12/01/2023)
Official report on the Debate [Draft]

Chief Planner Letter: NPF4 stakeholder update (SG 16/01/2023)

Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee Report on the Historic Environment (Wales) Bill
(Welsh Senedd 23/12/2022)
Initial Consideration, Senedd Cymru Plenary Session (17/01/2023)

Scotland: Levelling Up Case Studies (UK Gov 17/01/2023)

News Releases

Managing continuity and change in Scotland’s landscapes – A summary of the SLA 2022 Debate (SLA 29/11/2022)

New Historic England Report Shows Learning About Local Heritage at School Improves Local Pride (HE 07/12/2022)

Strategies for green guest journeys with Blenheim Palace (blooloop 20/12/2022)

Study looking at long-term effect of home insulation in England and Wales finds it only provides short-term reduction in household gas consumption (University of Cambridge (01/01/2023)

Call for volunteers: Church recording project – Scotland’s Churches Trust (AHSS 03/01/2023)

Revised Draft National Planning Framework 4: Parliamentary Debate Briefing (RTPI Scotland 10/01/2023)

 

Opinion & Comment

The Potential Impacts of New Legislation on Short-term Lets in Scotland (CaCHE 22/12/2022)

17 Books showing cities, buildings, communities — and even sewers — in a new light (Bloomberg 27/12/2022)

Lessons from Vienna: a housing success story 100 years in the making (Financial Times 30/12/2022)

UK castles, museums and theatres to close as energy prices hit (The Observer 31/12/2022)

Almost 67,000 properties unoccupied across Scotland (Scottish Housing News 04/01/2023)

Gove promotes idea for architecture school to raise standards of urban and public realm awareness amongst built environment professionals (Housing Today 04/01/2023)

We need a ‘School of Place’ for clients, not just architects (Building Design 05/01/2023)

Why we live in the age of renovation (Art Review 05/01/2023)

Glasgow tower block campaigners pin hopes on securing listed status (The Herald 06/01/2023)

What public space designed for men, means for women (Talking Landscape podcast 07/01/2023)

New planning rules to help hit Scottish emissions targets (BBC News 11/01/2023)

How can data and technology can be used to address the net zero challenge? (RICS video discussion 11/01/2023)

Long-established Planning course to close (Cliff Hague 13/01/2023)

Washed away: can Britain’s crumbling castles be saved from the sea? (The Observer 14/01/2023)

Scottish churches pray for miracle to save buildings and treasures (The National 15/01/2023)

How Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford home had a major influence on design (The Herald 15/01/2023)

 

Parliamentary Questions and Answers

Questions marked with a triangle (?) are initiated by the Scottish Government to facilitate the provision of information to the Parliament. Questions in which a member has indicated a declarable interest are marked with an “R”.

S6W-13064 Mark Ruskell, Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: 09/12/2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08334 by Tom Arthur on 17 May 2022, whether it will provide an update on phase 3 of the review of permitted development rights
Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 January 2023

Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 14/12/2022
S6W-13136
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on home insulation programmes in each year since 1999.
S6W-13137
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to each local authority to provide local home insulation programmes in each year since 1999.
Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 9 January 2023

S6W-13324 Donald Cameron, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 19/12/2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding was allocated to each local authority from the Town Centre Fund Capital Grant in for each year since 2019-20.
Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 January 2023

S6W-13337 Liam Kerr, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 19/12/2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12638 by Patrick Harvie on 15 December 2022, when it will publish the data, in light of it already being used for policy formulation and implementation.
Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 10 January 2023

S6O-01743 Donald Cameron, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 21/12/2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to accelerate the reopening of historic sites managed by Historic Environment Scotland.
Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 January 2023

S6M-07442 Tom Arthur, Renfrewshire South, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: 09/01/2023
The Fourth National Planning Framework
That the Parliament gives its approval, as required by section 3CA(1) of the Town and Country planning (Scotland) Act 1997, to the draft revised National Planning Framework 4 laid in the Parliament by the Scottish Government on 8 November 2022, enabling the Scottish Ministers to proceed to adopt and publish the Framework in accordance with the provisions of that Act.
Supported by: Ivan McKee, Richard Lochhead, John Swinney
Meeting date: Wednesday 11 January 2023

S6W-13299 Maurice Golden, North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 16/12/2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to establishing a register of quarries.
Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 January 2023

S6W-13646 Paul Sweeney, Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 06/01/2023 R
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will assess the potential of piloting a VAT offset or rebate scheme in Scotland that is focused initially on properties listed on the Buildings at Risk Register maintained by Historic Environment Scotland, in order to test its efficacy as an incentive to promote retrofit, renovation and reuse of Scotland’s most at-risk built heritage.
Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 13 January 2023

S6W-13331 Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 19/12/2022
To ask the Scottish Government when the Green Heat Finance Taskforce last met and what actions were agreed.
Current status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 16 January 2023

S6W-13927 Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 13/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many compulsory purchases of a building or land under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 have taken place in each year since 2003, broken down by local authority area.
Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 January 2023

Sarah Boyack, Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 05/01/2023
S6W-13624
To ask the Scottish Government whether relevant stakeholders, including PLACE and community councils, were consulted before it took the decision to delay the implementation of commercial short-term let licensing by six months.
S6W-13625
To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons it is delaying the implementation of commercial short-term let licensing by six months.
Current status: Answer expected on 19 January 2023

Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 13/01/2023
S6W-13925
To ask the Scottish Government how many buildings have had works undertaken by the relevant local authority under the Town and Country (Planning) (Scotland) Act 1997 in each year since 1997, broken down by the local authority and cost of the project.
S6W-13926
To ask the Scottish Government how many dangerous buildings notices have been issued under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 in each year since 2003, broken down by local authority area.
Current status: Answer expected on 27 January 2023

 

Motions

S6M-07369 Sharon Dowey, South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 06/01/2023
Impact of Long-term Historical Site Closures Managed by Historic Environment Scotland
That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the importance of historic sites to communities across the South Scotland region, and the rest of Scotland; believes that any long-term closures to sites managed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) could have a severe impact for Scotland’s tourism industry, and a devastating impact on any communities and businesses that rely on these attractions being fully open; understands that the heritage sector is a vital part of Scotland’s tourism industry, and considers that it is responsible for attracting millions of visitors from around the world to Scotland each year; further understands that 60 historical sites managed by HES are closed, and that the inspection programme is expected to conclude in April 2024; recognises what it sees as the need to address the shortage of skilled labourers, such as stonemasons; notes the calls on the Scottish Government to make additional funding available to accelerate the reopening of closed sites, and further notes the view that it is vital that all efforts are made to secure the long-term viability of Scotland’s historic sites.
Supported by: Paul Sweeney, Roz McCall
Current status: Eligible for Members’ Business, Pending Cross Party Support

 

Events

For further listings, please see our events calendar.

CIfA – Evening chat followed by career shift discussion and guidance
Date & Time: Monday 23 January 2023; 6-7:45pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Social networking event for discussions with others in the archaeology field who have changed careers, are currently in the process of a career shift, or are returning to archaeology after a break; with CIfA staff joining the conversations to share their experience and advice.

The Church of England – Measuring Your Church’s Carbon Footprint Webinar
Date & Time: Tuesday 24 January 2023; 12-1pm
Location: Online
Does your church want to know it’s carbon footprint? Find out how, and why it’s important.
This practical webinar will explain what you need to know to use the Energy Footprint Tool; what information you need to have to hand, and how to enter it. It also touches on the wider 360 Carbon tool, for those keen churches which want to go further.

PAS – Creating Better Places for Scotland’s Gypsy/Traveller Communities
Date & Time: Wednesday 25 January 2023; 10am-1pm
Location: Online
PAS and Impact Engagement will explore how Scotland’s Gypsy/Travellers can ensure access to key services and be included in the decisions impacting on their lives. This event will focus on access, engagement and inclusion in planning, housing, health and social care, connectivity, education, decision making and more.

Architecture & Design Scotland – Reflections and Projections: our work in 2023
Date & Time: Wednesday 25 January 2023; 11-11:45am
Location: Online via Teams
Architecture and Design Scotland Chair Ann Allen and the Scottish Government’s Place Principle lead Sam Cassels will share A&DS review of 2022, present plans for the new year and discuss how the public sector and partners are working together to create better places in Scotland.

AHRC UKRI – ‘Where Next?’ Launch Event
Date & Time: Wednesday 25 January 2023; 2-4:30pm
Location: Online via Zoom
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is launching its ‘Where Next?’ event for people to find out more about the submission process for this scheme, how AHRC will process submissions and how develop ideas.

Rebuilding Heritage – Communicating Effectively in Times of Change
Date & Time: Wednesday 25 January 2023; 10-11:30am
Location: Online via Zoom
Over the last few years, the Heritage landscape has been greatly affected by both Covid-19 and, more recently, the Cost of Living Crisis. This webinar will look at how heritage organisations can ensure they are sending clear messages through times of change.

GCHT – Gizza Hoose: Post-War Housing Struggles in Glasgow – 1948 to Today
Date & Time: Wednesday 25 January 2023; 7pm
Location: Online via Zoom
This talk will look at how housing movements and tenant struggles have shaped, and been shaped, by Glasgow’s ever changing housing stock. Tenements, high rises and new builds have all called forth different tactics, strategies and demands as the city transformed, and the talk will trace a tradition of rent strikes, occupations and protest that continues up to today.

Volunteer Organisers Network – Coffee Morning
Date & Time: Thursday 26 January 2023; 11am-12pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Attend the Make Your Mark Volunteer Organisers Network bimonthly coffee morning for volunteer organisers within Scotland’s heritage sector! This is a great opportunity to talk with people in similar roles, share your volunteer organiser insights, ask questions and pick up practical tips.

Icon Scotland Group – Burrell Collection Conservation Tour
Date & Time: Friday 10 February 2023; 10:35am-1pm
Location: Burrell Collection, Pollok Country Park, Glasgow
Glasgow’s Burrell Collection recently reopened after a major refurbishment, required to ensure that the collection and its architecturally significant home are safeguarded for the future. This project involved a massive amount of activity for the conservators at Glasgow Life, who are partnering with the Icon Scotland group to offer a tour with a conservation focus.

AHSS Joseph Sharples – Researching the Granite City for ‘The Buildings of Scotland’
Date & Time: Monday 13 February 2023; 6:30pm
Location: Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL (wheelchair accessible)
Note: Lectures will also be streamed online via Zoom
Joseph Sharples reflects on his year spent in Aberdeen researching and writing about the city’s architecture for the Buildings of Scotland volume on Aberdeenshire: South and Aberdeen.

AHSS Simon Green – Old Churches, Why Bother?
Date & Time: Thursday 16 February 2023; 7:30pm
Location: Renfield Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow
Note: Lectures will also be streamed online via Zoom
Simon Green celebrates some of the ecclesiastical heritage of Scotland which is transitioning from the ownership of the Church of Scotland. He will also look at examples of adaptation and reuse, some of which are perhaps more successful than others.

 

Training

A&BS – Legacy giving. Now is the time – if you do it right. Learn how to!
Date & Time: Thursday 2 February 2023; 9:30am-1:30pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Looking to develop a legacies campaign but not sure where to start?
This course focuses on how to integrate legacies into your current fundraising at little or no cost. Backed up by data and peppered with useful real-life examples as well as easy to action techniques, this is a must-do training for those with a fundraising remit.

A&BS – Attracting Sponsorship for Regional & Rural Organisations
Date & Time:  Thursday 9 February 2023; 10am-12pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Are you seeking business sponsorship for your organisation’s activities or specific projects and are based outside the central belt?
This short course will explore a range of tools and tactics for small/medium organisations across Scotland to identify local sponsorship opportunities and implement the most effective approaches to attract corporate partnerships.

MGS – Developing My Leadership 2023
Date & Time: Thursday 23 February 2023; 10am-4pm
Location: Online
Developing My Leadership offers an opportunity for new and aspiring leaders in the cultural heritage sector to connect, share challenges, good practice, and experience with peers. It’s designed to support learners to develop key leadership skills in order to work productively with those around them and lead in an effective and authentic way. Deadline to apply is 14th February 2023.

 

Vacancies

Glasgow City Heritage Trust – Director
Salary: £47,000 – £52,000 with excellent benefits
Status: Full-time
Location: Glasgow/Hybrid working
Glasgow City Heritage Trust is seeking a Director, who will be responsible for the operational management of the Trust. The role, which reports directly to the Chair of the Board of Trustees, will involve managing a dynamic team of 9 staff. The successful candidate will hold the most senior position within the Trust, managing day-to-day operations, whilst acting as an ambassador for the Trust’s values and mission statement. As GCHT embarks on a new strategic 5 year-plan, there is great scope for revaluation and making organisational change. This is an exciting opportunity to lead a small, passionate and collaborative team at the heart of Glasgow’s built heritage.
Further details and applications
Closing date: Friday 27 January 2023

Simpson & Brown – Heritage Consultant/Assistant
Salary: £27,000 – £33,000 (F. T. E. if part time; depending on experience)
Status: Fixed-term of 1 year with possibility of extension. Full or part time; flexible working arrangements
Location: Edinburgh
Simpson & Brown is looking for enthusiastic and dynamic people to join the Heritage Consultancy Team. As leading experts in historic buildings and sites with 44 years of experience working with some of the United Kingdom’s most important built heritage, the Heritage Consultancy Team provides expert advice on how to balance the conservation of our historic buildings and sites with the social, cultural and economic needs of today. The Heritage Consultant/Assistant role primarily consists of researching and writing a variety of documents relating to the built environment. Further details and applications
Closing date: Midnight on Sunday 29 January 2023

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