BEFS Bulletin – New Reports, Strategies, Appointments and Latest News

BEFS News

BEFS and Under One Roof welcome the final release of the Provision of Building Reserve Funds (BRF) Independent Report for Tenement Dwellings – this piece of work forms part of the Scottish Government workplan in relation to Tenement Maintenance. The research report underlines the importance of the work taking place, and reiterates much already commented upon by those working in this area previously. The complexity of Building Reserve Funds continues to raise questions, rather than solutions – but we hope that the additional knowledge, and qualitative research presented here can further drive forward action in this area. Tenement Maintenance is a topic which sits pivotally between Net Zero aims, Heat in Buildings, and Fuel Poverty. Action in this area will improve the quality of individual lives and sustain our existing built environment for generations to come.

The strategy supports museums and galleries to meet changing environmental, economic, and social contexts and to strengthen their invaluable role at the heart of Scotland’s communities. BEFS Director was delighted to attend the launch in Edinburgh, and we look forward to working with MGS and the wider sector to support future delivery.

Thinking of sector strategy, HES have a range of workshop opportunities to discuss the consultation on Scotland’s new Historic Environment Strategy; please see the link to all of HES’ regional workshops for more information.

SURF Chief Executive, Euan Leitch, and BEFS Director, Ailsa Macfarlane have been asked to join the CaCHE Housing and Place Delivery Forum. BEFS are delighted to be part of the conversations and look forward to contributing.  We also know that a conference is planned on the Delivery of NPF4 in April 2023 – we’ll share more details when we have them.

Entries are now open for the Scottish Civic Trust My Place Awards celebrating community-led built environment projects. Eligible projects include new buildings, historic buildings or monuments that have been reused or refurbished, designed public realm schemes such as street-works or parks, and designed landscapes such as gardens or public green spaces. The deadline for entries is 12 February 2023.

The Committee driving forward Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy is recruiting new members with expertise in land management, commercial archaeology and archaeological science.

Last call for applications to Europa Nostra’s inaugural Heritage Youth Residencies programme taking place in Italy in March this year, aimed at 18-35-year-old cultural heritage students, professionals, stakeholders and individuals involved in regional regeneration in Europe and beyond. The deadline for applications is 12 February 2023.

And finally, BEFS Board and team are delighted to officially welcome Sonya Linskaill as a Trustee of BEFS.

Consultations

News Releases

Diversity in the Heritage Workspace (IHBC 22/01/2023)

First European Heritage Youth Residency to be held in Naples, Italy (Europa Nostra 23/01/2023)
The Residency will investigate innovative models of governance and management based on collaboration, cooperation and active involvement of communities, encouraging implementation of strategies for promoting innovative forms of cohesion and spatial regeneration in urban contexts.

Budget Bingo – common themes in Committees’ pre-budget scrutiny (SPICe 24/01/2023)

Willie Rennie: There are now 43,000 homeless Scots and 43,000 empty homes (Liberal Democrats 29/01/2023)

Levelling Up – the view from Scotland (SPICe 30/01/2023)

ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards (ArchDaily 31/01/2023)

Opinion & Comment

The Cities Keeping Their Car-Free Spaces (Bloomberg 22/12/2022)

Waterfronts Are Great for Cities — When They’re Done Right (Governing 06/01/2023)

Podcast: What is a historic building and how can they be developed and adapted for future generations? (Forsters 12/01/2023)

Why there are so many empty buildings in the UK — and how we should be using them (Country Life 12/01/2023)

‘We need trees’: green vision struggles to take root in Europe’s cities (The Guardian 16/01/2023)

Holyrood event explains role of history and heritage (Angus World 17/01/2023)

13 churches to close across Inverness and Nairn in sweeping Church of Scotland reforms (Press & journal 19/01/2023)

High-rise demolition that turns Glasgow’s COP26 on its head (Bella Caledonia 20/01/2023)

It’s time to reform EPCs so they are accurate and useful (The Times 22/01/2023)

Delivering NPF4 requires a mindset shift (CaCHE 23/01/2023)

Scottish Government land register “hugely detrimental” to churches (Holyrood Magazine 24/01/2023)

Mackintosh rebuild to be ready by 2030 for £100m (The Times 25/01/2023)

Effectively retrofitting UK housing requires “compromise between performance and heritage” (Dezeen 27/01/2023)

Glasgow houses: Conversion of heritage buildings crucial (The Herald 28/01/2023)

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”.

Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 13/01/2023
S6W-13927
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

Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 16/01/2023
S6W-13922
To ask the Scottish Government how many buildings in Scotland have been included on Historic Environment Scotland’s Buildings at Risk register in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.
Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 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: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 January 2023

Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 13/01/2023
S6W-13923
To ask the Scottish Government how many waste land notices have been issued in each year for which records exist, broken down by local authority area.
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.
Current status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 24 January 2023

S6W-13926 Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 13/01/2023
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: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 27 January 2023

S6W-14197 Miles Briggs, Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 20/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government what actions are being taken to promote skilled heritage jobs, including stonemasonry.
Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 31 January 2023

S6W-14281 Sarah Boyack, Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: 24/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it expects to make a decision on whether to establish a public inquiry into the 2014 and 2018 Glasgow School of Art fires, in light of the correspondence with the Scottish Parliament’s Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, in 2022, and the reported ongoing concerns about the works to restore the iconic Mackintosh building
Current status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 31 January 2023

S6W-14220 Liam McArthur, Orkney Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: 24/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its consultation on proposals to improve energy efficiency in non-domestic buildings.
Current status: Answer expected on 7 February 2023

S6O-01840 Siobhian Brown, Ayr, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: 25/01/2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on culture organisations in Scotland of the UK Government Levelling Up funding.
Current status: Taken in Chamber on 01/02/2023

Donald Cameron, Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: 27/01/2023
S6W-14471
To ask the Scottish Government what the total budget allocation has been for Architecture and Design Scotland for each year since it was founded.
S6W-14472
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the efficacy of Architecture and Design Scotland.
S6W-14474
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of what Architecture and Design Scotland’s budget is allocated to.
Current status: Answer expected on 10 February 2023

Events

For further listings, please see our events calendar.

Workshops: Consultation for Scotland’s new Historic Environment Strategy
Dates & Times: Tuesday 7 February & Friday 10 February 2023; 10am-1pm
Locations: Moat Brae (Garden Room) 101 George Street Dumfries DG1 1EA & Glasgow City Heritage Trust 54 Bell Street Glasgow G1 1LQ
These workshops have been designed to help gather feedback during the consultation period to inform the final version of HES strategy which will be published in the Spring. They will introduce the new draft strategy and focus on seeking feedback on key elements of the draft, including mission, priorities, actions and delivery.?Sessions will include a short break as well as a light lunch from 12pm onward. Spaces at the workshops are limited; book now.

Scotland’s Churches Trust – Recording Scotland’s Closing Churches: A Race Against Time
Date & Time: Wednesday 8 February 2023; 7pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Around 400 of Scotland’s churches are likely to close in the next year or two. Working with Historic Environment Scotland, Scotland’s Churches Trust’s pilot project will recruit volunteers from across the country to record the contents of as many as possible of these buildings before they shut their doors and are put on the market. Find out more about this project and help make a record of this fragile cultural heritage, in its current social and historical context, before it is scattered and lost forever.

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.

Aberdeen City Heritage Trust – Caring for Historic Buildings- Advice and Work of SPAB
Date & Time: Wednesday 15 February 2023; 7-8pm
Location: Online
With 144 years of experience, the SPAB knows that caring for old buildings can seem daunting at times, but it doesn’t have to be! Hear more about easy traditional building maintenance tips and techniques and the activities of the Society in this first lecture of the Aberdeen Heritage Lecture series. Guest speaker is Tyler Lott Johnston BA MSc, current Chair of the SPAB in Scotland, Trustee for the SPAB, and Trustee for the Built Environment Forum Scotland.

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.

SoAoS February Lecture – Rethinking Weapons in Bronze Age Shang China
Date & Time: Thursday 23 February 2023; 6pm
Location: Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL (wheelchair accessible)
Note: Lectures will also be streamed online via Zoom
Dr Qin Cao’s lecture will explore the significance of weapons to early Chinese civilization, and how the application of European archaeological theories and methods benefit research into Chinese Bronze Age material remains.

Training

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

Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust – City Heritage Fund/Grants Officer
Salary: £28-35,000 p.a. (subject to experience)
Status: Full-time, 3 year fixed term contract (initially)
Location: Perth/Hybrid working/homeworking considered
An exciting opportunity to join a small, dynamic heritage charity that makes a big impact. Perth & Kinross Heritage Trust are looking for someone with historic building conservation knowledge, and strong financial and reporting skills, to manage an established grant scheme enabling transformational projects within Perth city.
Further details and applications
Closing date: Friday 10 February 2023

The Scottish Civic Trust – Trustee
Salary: non-remunerated
The Scottish Civic Trust is recruiting for a new Trustee to Chair the Finance and Audit Committee. Trustees help the trust to deliver an exciting and sector-leading range of priorities, aimed at celebrating Scotland’s built environment, taking action for its improvement, and empowering its communities. Candidates would need to have experience in the Financial Sector as well as knowledge and experience of charity fundraising
Further details and applications
Closing date: Friday 17 February 2023

Doors Open Day – Regional Co-ordinator Volunteers
Doors Open Day are looking for an enthusiastic volunteer or group of volunteers to help co-ordinate events across Scotland. Regional co-ordinators are responsible for canvassing prospective venues, developing and promoting local programmes and liaising with the national team regarding their programmes. The role takes place annually, from April to October, and support is provided by a national network of Doors Open Days coordinators.
To apply, please contact Laura Paton Doors Open Days National Coordinator
Closing date: Friday 17 February 2023

SURF Alliance for Action Programme – Girvan Facilitator
Salary: £33,000 (pro rata)
Status: Part-time (17.5 hrs per week)
Location: Girvan
SURF is seeking a part-time Facilitator to support its new Alliance for Action programme site in Girvan, South Ayrshire. The successful applicant will be responsible for helping to build on local progress towards the town’s regeneration, supporting collaboration and project delivery in response to community demand. Specifically, the post-holder will be responsible for helping to build on local demand for complementary economic, physical and social improvements in the town, following consultation activities in recent years including those that informed a 2021 Girvan Place Plan and the emerging Place-based Strategy for Girvan.
Further details and applications
Closing date: Tuesday 28 February 2023