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Hi Jess We charge for HER searches based on a set and hourly rate, all searches conducted by the Strategic Planning Team will be charged at an hourly rate of £115 for the first hour, and then £46 per subsequent hours (or part thereof), plus VAT. In response the HER search and report conducted by RCBC staff within 10 working days. An expedited search and report service is available where a response will be provided within 2 working days. For this service there is a charge of £190 for the first hour, and £65 per subsequent hours (or part thereof), plus VAT. Users are still welcome to visit the HER in person, but by prior appointment only, and conduct their search for free for the first half hour, followed by £35 per hour plus VAT, and in all cases additional charges for printing, postage etc are applicable. We may allow our consultant to directly support applicants in preparing briefs etc in very limited circumstances but at their cost but this is not very often, generally I pick up the costs of assessing post decision conditions etc. On a major application with significant HER implications I would look to recover abnormal costs in a Section 106 agreement. We withdrew from Tees Archelogy along with a couple of other LPAs because we were not getting VFM, we now employ a consultant archaeologist who advised on the set up of the HER and its ongoing management and he does case advice also. Our associated costs have reduced from around £40k a year to £15k and we have the benefit of a locally managed HER resource and on call advice. The service is unlikely ever to be self-funding which is the objective but we offset as much cost as we can and we find developers, on the whole, are happy to pay if the service is of a good quality. We do not charge pre application advice at present but that may come. Regards Adrian Miller Adrian Miller BA (Hons) Dip TP MRTPI Regulatory Services Manager Regeneration Directorate Redcar and Cleveland House Redcar Yorkshire TS10 1RT DD 01287 612454 Mob 07833 294467 Government Security Markings NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED - IMPACT LEVEL 0 Information that is destined for the public or subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations From: Issues related to Historic Environment Records [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jess Tipper Sent: 06 October 2015 10:09 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Charging for HER searches and planning advice Dear All, I'm in the process of negotiating a charging schedule for the purpose of recovering the Council's costs of delivering it's archaeological service (both for undertaking commercial HER searches and for advice), and it has been called-in by Councillors (so I have to defend the proposal at Scrutiny Committee next week). I would be very grateful to know how many other local authorities still do not yet charge for these : a. HER/UAD searches b. for advice (preparing the brief, monitoring fieldwork, scrutinising the WSI and report, etc.). Many thanks in advance, Jess Jess Tipper Archaeological Advisor, Commercial Services, Colchester Borough Council, Rowan House, 33 Sheepen Road, Colchester, Essex CO3 3WG Tel: 01206 508920 or 07961 804443 www.colchester.gov.uk<http://www.colchester.gov.uk/>