Game over for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), at least as an independent organisation. It was annouced by culture secretary Fiona Hyslop on Wednesday that it would be swallowed by Historic Scotland.
As Hyslop said: “From the evidence presented in the options appraisal I believe that a merger between RCAHMS and Historic Scotland could offer the best route to securing RCAHMS’ important contribution to Scotland’s culture."
Rather more pithily, one watcher described the move as "all rather Serbian". The full press release is here and previous notes from this blog, here.
Two people with knowledge of the matter said that no RCAHMS job cuts were expected for two years.
The Scotsman analysis is here:
A merger was first touted as far back as 2001, and the incoming SNP government set out plans to scrap it in 2007 as part of a “bonfire of the quangos”, although this proposal was later dropped.
Historic Scotland is responsible for protecting and promoting the country’s historic environment.
The merger would lead to savings of about £156,000 a year, once complete, over a three-year period. There would be transitional costs of about £329,000.
RCAHMS receives core Scottish Government funding of about £4m each year, but this is supplemented by an additional £2m of dedicated project income.
The Herald coverage is a bland rehash of the press release.
There is a bleakly amusing connection with the previous post – Calgacus' speech before the Battle of Mons Graupius in AD82: "They create a wasteland and call it peace".
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