Ancient Monuments (Hansard, 22 October 1984)

§ Mr. Weetch
asked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) how many ancient monuments in Wales, for which consent to develop or destroy has been issued, have been archaeologically excavated; and in how many cases total excavation took place;
(2) in how many cases, by region of Wales, there was a public local inquiry or a specific hearing before a person appointed by his Department in order to determine applications relating to scheduled monument consents;
(3) how many scheduled monument consents have been issued since the implementation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 in the appropriate regions of Wales;
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(4) how many applications, by region of Wales, there have been from developers and archaeologists, respectively, in relation to scheduled monument consents, since the implementation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979;
(5) how many scheduled monument consents, by region of Wales, given since the coming into operation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, were unconditional; and how many made prior archaeological excavation a condition of consent;
(6) in how many cases by region of Wales publicity was given, and in what form, relating to applications received

Scheduled Monument Consents issued: Scheduled Monument Consents issued for development where the site has been the subject of:

County Unconditionally Conditional on prior archaeological investigation^* Total Scheduled Consents Issued^† Partial excavation Total excavation

Mid Glamorgan Nil Nil 4 Nil Nil

South Glamorgan 1 Nil 11 Nil Nil

West Glamorgan 2 Nil 11 Nil Nil

Gwent Nil Nil 14 Nil Nil

Dyfed Nil 6 29 1 2

Clwyd Nil 3 12 1 Nil

Gwynedd 3 1 13 Nil 1

Powys 1 3 7 3 Nil

Totals 7 13 101 5 3

^* Does not include Consents issued specifically for archaeological investigation.

^†; Includes Consents issued with conditions other than prior archaeological investigation eg "watching archaeological brief during works.

§ Mr. Weetch
asked the Secretary of State for Wales what specific sums of money, and what proportion of the total finance in connection with archaeological excavations of ancient monuments in Wales, was provided by his Department, local authorities and the Manpower Services Commission, respectively, over the most recent convenient period.

§ Mr. Wyn Roberts
In the 1983–84 financial year the Welsh Office spent £475,000 on archaeological excavations and related work in Wales. This figure includes the grant-aid given to the Welsh archaeological trusts and the direct costs of Departmental excavations at monuments in our care. During the same period the Manpower Services Commission provided financial assistance totalling £723,000 for such work. Records of local authority expenditure on archaeology are not kept by the Department.

§ Mr. Weetch
asked the Secretary of State for Wales in how many cases, as envisaged by part II of the 1979 Act, investigating authorities were consulted in Wales in connection with applications for scheduled monument consents, since that Act became operational.

§ Mr. Wyn Roberts
Investigating authorities under part II of the 1979 Act have not been appointed in Wales.

§ Mr. Weetch
asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many sites in Wales have been scheduled as ancient monuments since the implementation of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979; and how many such sites have been descheduled. 412W for scheduled monument consents, since the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 became operational.

§ Mr. Wyn Roberts
The information is listed in the following table, which covers the period 9 October 1981 –30 September 1984. No application has been the subject of a public local inquiry or hearing. Nor has any publicity, as such, been given to the applications; but details of all applications are notified to interested bodies (eg local authorities, archaeological trusts, amenity groups) for their comments and observations. It is not always possible to distinguish between applications from developers or archaeologists.

§ Mr. Wyn Roberts
Since the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 was implemented on 9 October 1981, 50 monuments have been scheduled and five have been descheduled.

	Scheduled Monument Consents issued:		Scheduled Monument Consents issued for development where the site has been the subject of:
County	Unconditionally	Conditional on prior archaeological investigation^*	Total Scheduled Consents Issued^†	Partial excavation	Total excavation
Mid Glamorgan	Nil	Nil	4	Nil	Nil
South Glamorgan	1	Nil	11	Nil	Nil
West Glamorgan	2	Nil	11	Nil	Nil
Gwent	Nil	Nil	14	Nil	Nil
Dyfed	Nil	6	29	1	2
Clwyd	Nil	3	12	1	Nil
Gwynedd	3	1	13	Nil	1
Powys	1	3	7	3	Nil
Totals	7	13	101	5	3
^* Does not include Consents issued specifically for archaeological investigation.
^†; Includes Consents issued with conditions other than prior archaeological investigation eg "watching archaeological brief during works.