Impact of Heritage Sector Local Authority Funding Cuts in South West England
By Fran Haswell-Walls, Tim Dixon, Chris Barlow
This independent study provides important new information about how people feel about local authority heritage services in the South West. It shows good user satisfaction overall, but highlights some issues which users perceive to be linked to recent cuts to heritage services.
The first study of its kind asked people who had used a local authority heritage service since January 2014 about their experiences, to gain an insight into the impact new ways of delivering those services in the era of austerity are having on customers.
On the whole, service users have positive views of historic environment services, and value skills and expertise, timely delivery, and value for money. However, they also report concerns about delays to projects, poor access to experienced and specialist staff, the lack of staff time available to them, and poor online guidance and resources relating to heritage management.
This research was carried out by ERS on behalf of Historic England. It was commissioned by the South West Historic Environment Forum and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (now National Lottery Heritage Fund) South West.
Contents
- Headline Findings
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Study Context
- 3. Study Methodology
Overall Approach
Survey
Qualitative Interviews - 4. Study Findings
Survey Respondent Profile
Services Used
Service Experiences
Qualitative Responses - 5. Conclusions
- Appendix 1: South West Historic Environment Forum Membership
Additional Information
- Publication Status: Completed
- Pages: 25
Accessibility
If you require an alternative, accessible version of this document (for instance in audio, Braille or large print) please contact us:
Customer Service Department
Telephone: 0370 333 0607
Email: [email protected]
