We have just received this statement from the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and MP for Twickenham, Vince Cable:
‘This is an object lesson on how not to cut public expenditure: poor consultation and disproportionate cuts in service provision relative to senior management, which has created many of the problems.’
Members of the campaign team have written to other politicians seeking their views on the matter, as well as presenting the findings of our research – facts, not myths – to the relevant Minister, Michael Wills. The matter is also to be discussed at the next meeting of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council on National Records and Archives on 12 November 2009.
Naturally, we will keep you posted on these initiatives. In the meantime, we suggest you continue to write to your MPs with your comments and views.
I am exchanging correspondence with the Director – when was the post designated as ‘Chief Executive, ? – on the subject of the staff reductions,and the general dumbing down of TNA. The desruction of the library I find particularly annoying as I have to waste time hunting for the calendars and other books that I need. Add the wasted space and money by providing a bank of computers that were roped off on my last visit in September and the £4million ‘refurbishment ‘, it is clear that the upper echelons at Kew have no idea what they are managing. Throwing the archives open to commercial enterprises and the subsequent digitization of the records has created problems for serious researchers.The word was that the ledgers from the family Record Centre would be digitized but,according to one staff member I queried on the subject,’It was too expensive’. The closure on Mondays is ridiculous when visitors from abroad have limited time at their disposal. I travel for seven hours – return – on my visits from the Wight. Add the consequential expense and the increase in the price of fuel, the car parking charge could be the finalk straw for me and I would have to either reduce the frequency of my visits or bring them to a close. If it had not been for apiece in Private Eye recently, I would have been unaware of the proposed changes as the ‘newsletters’ sent out by e-mail has made no reference to them. Joined-up thinking ? I fear not.A shambles ? Definitely