Having spent many years answering enquires I know how time consuming some
can be, and understand that filtering is necessary on ocassions althogh I
would say that as a rule of thumb, the most time consuming were
public/academic enquiries. When requesting HER data in order to write a
specification for a watching brief or the like, what we want to see is the
data that the planning condition was made against, not a filtered dataset.
I am not opposed to paying for time taken to produce the relevant dataset,
we all need to earn our crust, and on the bright side of charges if I am
going to be paying I can expect a speedy service.
With regard to finding what information your client requires and in what
format we find on-line forms can often be helpful for both sides in
establishing what is needed but they do have their problems. Most don't
give us a copy of what we have asked for, many don't get a response so we
are left uncertain if they have been received, and many don't allow you to
attach GIS polygon to show the area you are interested in.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nicholson, Andrew" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: Charging for HER searches
> Most of the rates quoted seem very high, given that it is the service that
> is meant to be charged for, not the information. £30 an hour works out at
> £57,720 per annum, £65 an hour works out at £125,060.
Our Council policy is to charge staff time at 180% to cover administrative
overheads for the Council, plus there is always the £30 charge for the cost
of processing the invoice.
> But I think the more interesting discussion is what service are the people
> getting when they pay. People are talking about undertaking research for
> the client but as far as I aware most of my enquiries to an HER are
> answered
> within ten minutes after a few clicks of a mouse. I send a GIS polygon,
> sites are selected within that and I get an email reply back. Time spent
> on the enquiry is very limited, no physical resources are used.
All our information is processed prior to export, to give the client the
data they require. I'll have to check with them whether they want to include
findspots, whether they want Listed Buildings, or unlisted buildings of
architectural interest. Do they want records which have no planning
constraints? Do they require Source data? All these will require me to run a
number of different queries on the database. What we don't do is give out
unmitigated data dumps. I know the dataset, so clients tend to find its
worth paying for us to filter the data first, as we can do it more quickly,
and they have to spend less time processing it at their end. Even the most
standard data extract requires me to run a minimum sequence of five queries,
with a couple of filters to remove duplications.
Also, do they need point data for GIS, or do they want polygonised data? Do
they want just archaeology, or do they want Listed Buildings, Designed
Landscapes, Conservation Areas, etc. Each layer will require its own
extraction from the different datasets.
Finally I have to find out what form the client requires the data in - some
want a database extract, others don't have database software and want it in
a spreadsheet, or even in a word document - then there's the question of GIS
formats, which might require me to convert layers prior to export.
With big queries, such as all historic environment data within 20km of a
windfarm, it's not uncommon for me to spend four or five hours processing
the data before export.
Andy
Andrew Nicholson
SMR Officer
Dumfries and Galloway Council
Planning and Environment (Archaeology)
Newall Terrace, Dumfries, DG1 1LW
Tel: 01387 260154 (int. 64154)
Fax: 01387 260149
+ <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
. Drop Point 228
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