----- Original
Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, October
29, 2013 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: B&A2013
- Welcome to the HER Benchmark and Audit
Discussion
Hi,
From my perspective I think there are three fundamental
questions that the HER community needs to address first.
Do we need HER benchmarks?
I think this is a good question to ask and personally I
think the answer is a resounding yes, but it’s fundamentally tied up with
the answer to the second question.
What do we, as a community, want the HER benchmarks
for?
I think that the HER benchmarks can be used to define
what a HER or HER service is. Thanks to the NPPF access to a HER is now a
requirement for a planning authority, but although we have a lot of guidance
(IFP2 etc.), we seem to lack a full and proper definition. Personally I
think this is important in helping us to protect our services at a time when
discretionary spending in local authorities is under such pressure. I also
feel that reporting our progress against the benchmarks helps inform those
authorities supporting the HER as to the range and quality of the service
which they are paying for. Furthermore, failure to reach a national
benchmark or standard is valuable evidence when trying to garner support for
HER development.
How do we measure ourselves against the benchmarks?
Personally I think the HER Audits should be an important
part. The audit should provide the baseline data from which we can measure
ourselves against the benchmarks, BUT we will still need some form of
external moderation if we are to achieve a robust measurement. Should this
be an integral part of the English Heritage audit or perhaps we could submit
our assessment to our regional ALGAO HER groups for comment? With the
latter, it does provide an opportunity to provide an ALGAO ‘stamp of
approval’, the former English Heritage’s.
Best wishes
Rob
Rob
Edwards
Historic Environment
Records Officer
Cheshire
Archaeology Planning Advisory Service
Tel: 01244 973667
Email: [log in to unmask]
Location: The Forum, Chester, Cheshire, CH1 2HS.
-----Original Message-----
From:
Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of MacLean, Sarah
Sent: 28 October 2013 08:05
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:
B&A2013 - Welcome to the HER Benchmark and Audit
Discussion
Dear all,
Today we are launching the HERs Benchmarks and Audits
discussion here on HER Forum. The discussion will remain open until
5pm on 15th November to ensure as many list members are able to participate
as possible. For the background to this discussion please refer to my e-mail
of last week - https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=herforum;620e7b93.1310
. Before we start I thought it would be useful to outline how we intend for
this to work.
Last week we provided some broad themes we hope to
cover in the course of the discussion. To help structure and focus the
discussion, and to start things off, we have set out a number of specific
questions at the end of this e-mail (although discussion is not limited to
these).
As mentioned in my previous e-mail we have put a copy
of the 2002 Benchmark report and the current Audit specification in the file
area for reference. The files are in a folder called 'Benchmark and Audit
Discussion' (see https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=HERFORUM&f=/Benchmark_and_Audit_Discussion)
The HER Forum list will still be open for business as
usual so do feel free to post on other topics. To make it easier to follow
the discussion please include B&A2013 in the subject line of your
e-mail.
The HER Forum e-mail list is open to anyone with an
interest in HERs and all list members are welcome to participate in the
discussion. Please can you ensure that when you post, even as a reply, you
sign off with your name and organisation (if applicable). Can I also take
this opportunity to remind list members that the HER Forum archives are
publically available online and can be read by non list
members.
If you want to change your e-mail settings please use
the HER Forum FAQ (available here https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=HERFORUM)
for details on how to do this.
We always welcome feedback on the format of these
discussions, what worked and what didn't. Please get in touch with me off
list if you have any comments (including ideas for future topics) we can use
to improve future discussions.
If you have any queries about this specific
discussion, please get in touch with me off list.
The discussion is now open. To start off the
discussion the questions we would like you to consider are:-
* Do you currently use the
benchmarks?
* If so, for what
purpose?
* If you do not use the
benchmarks, why?
* How do you see development of the
benchmarks going forward?
* How do you see the inter-relationship
between benchmarks and the HER audit process?
In your response it would be helpful if you could
indicate if you have undertaken an audit, and if so when.
Over to you!
We hope you will all enjoy the
discussion.
best wishes
Sarah
Sarah MacLean MA MIfA
Heritage Information Partnerships Supervisor English
Heritage Designations Department Engine House Firefly Avenue
Swindon
SN2 2EH
E-mail: [log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Telephone: 01793 414880
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