Plans for new heritage trust approved

Plans to transfer Devon’s heritage services to a newly formed charitable trust have been approved by the County Council’s cabinet today.

The move will see the responsibility for storage, preservation and display of the county’s irreplaceable historical collections passed on to new heritage trust shared with Somerset County Council.

The council says the move will protect the service from further rounds of budget cuts in the next two to three years which would otherwise see “public access and future development of the service severely affected”.

Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council's Cabinet Member with responsibility for the heritage service said: "Our revenue budget for the service has already reduced by 30 per cent over the past five years, and is set to fall a further £94,000 by 2017.

"Moving the service to an independent charitable Trust with Somerset, which will have doors open to financial opportunities currently unavailable to it, will give it a more sustainable future.”

The plans mean that the collections would remain under County Council ownership with the joint trust acting as their custodians.

While no decisions have yet been made on how access to the heritage service, there are likely to be changes under the new trust.

These changes could see the physical collection at Barnstaple library reduced in favour of digital access as the trust would build on Somerset council’s experience of digitalised archives.

Enhancements to Barnstaple Library to improve its digital access are also being considered.

The physical collections at Barnstaple could instead be moved to the services Exeter headquarters after the recent consultation highlighted demand for Devon's archives to remain in the county.

Cllr Croad said: “"The continued digitisation of our archive is essential for the service, and as a trust, that aim will be achieved.

"While some collections of archival material could be retained in Barnstaple, there is scope for rationalising the physical storage of collections from North Devon to Exeter, and the trust could manage access on an outreach model in Barnstaple.

"By looking at ways in which similar services are now run by other local authorities, we believe such an arrangement would likely be supported by the National Archives.

"Further discussions will need to take place before decisions are taken, but our aim would be to maintain access to the archive and an enhanced heritage service at Barnstaple Library, as well as improving digital access online."

It also highlighted recognition by service users that moving it to an independent trust provides opportunities for the service to develop new and innovative solutions and improve its long-term sustainability.

They heard that moving to a trust provides best scope for retaining and sharing the level of professional expertise required in future, whereas if kept in-house, such expertise would be significantly eroded over the next 2 to 3 years.

And that the trust would have clear plans to digitise the service, improving online access to archives, building on Somerset's already extensive digitisation expertise.

"The continued digitisation of our archive is essential for the service, and as a trust, that aim will be achieved.

"While some collections of archival material could be retained in Barnstaple, there is scope for rationalising the physical storage of collections from North Devon to Exeter, and the trust could manage access on an outreach model in Barnstaple.

"By looking at ways in which similar services are now run by other local authorities, we believe such an arrangement would likely be supported by the National Archives.

"Further discussions will need to take place before decisions are taken, but our aim would be to maintain access to the archive and an enhanced heritage service at Barnstaple Library, as well as improving digital access online."

The plans were approved following an extensive public consultation with service users.

The consultation found that most users visit the service at its headquarters in Exeter, with a smaller number (20 per cent) of visits made to the North Devon Record Office, based in Barnstaple Library.

A third of visitors were also shown to come from outside Devon or even outside the UK.

It also highlighted that service users recognised that moving it to an independent trust would provide opportunities for improvements.