C8.1      Staffing
     C8.2      Mechanisation
     C8.3      Management structure
     C8.4      Health and safety

C8.1 Staffing

C8.1.1 Employed staff

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The current full-time staff is:

Head Warden

Deputy Head Warden

Warden

Assistant Warden

Education Warden (currently a contract post).

In addition, there is a regular student placement during the summer from Merrist Wood College. Trainees from the local Agricultural College, NT Careership, YTS or TEC are also taken when opportunities and finance allow.

When fully staffed, the Fen is well provided for. However, peaks for labour occur during reed, sedge and litter cutting; the efficiency of these operations is periodically reviewed and there has been a positive policy of investment in appropriate machinery (see below) in order to meet these needs. From 1992, staff duties will include routine monitoring.

The William Thorpe Building provides a base for staff, including office space. Secretarial help for the Wardens is becoming increasinly desirable; options include some link with Anglesey Abbey, or volunteer help.

Communication between the Fen staff and the Regional Office has been rationalised since 1992 by the introduction of meetings at intervals throughout the year. Regional Office must be consulted for professional advice on:

building works;

health and safety;

legal matters;

publicity, public relations and publications;

historical matters,

finance.

C8.1.2 Volunteers

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National Trust work camps ('Acorn Projects') during the summer are of great benefit to the Fen. They may be used to achieve large scale, or labour-intensive works that would otherwise be impossible to achieve, or may work alongside the Fen staff, for example in litter harvesting.

With the increase in availablility of higher degree courses in environmental management for conservation, it is likely that sites such as Wicken will attract applications from biology and geography graduates to spend some time gaining work experience in the field. Two such applications were received in 1992; one student who lives locally was taken on for two months on a voluntary (unpaid) basis, but the other, seeking longer-term experience, could not be accommodated. These students offer a resource of time and expertise that could be very valuable to the Fen, especially in monitoring. Further thought should be given as to how they might be employed.

A regular rota of recruiters and ticket sellers operates.

Volunteers play an important role in visitor management; this could be developed further, especially in relation to the Fen Cottage and Education, but also in office duties.

In the period 1987 - 1992, mechanisation has undergone radical changes, which have improved the quality and diversity of equipment and have had a dramatic effect on the efficiency of the management of the Fen. The aim of the programme has been to improve the efficiency of time and labour use and so to complete jobs within the time required by the management plan.

An important consideration in deciding which machines to employ has been low ground pressure capability, which minimises the potentially damaging effect of using machinery on a soft surface. Versitility is an important additional criterion.

A workshop has been established to service and maintain the increasing amount of machinery. A large proportion of necessary maintenance can be carried out on site and any specialised items can be designed and built in situ. There is currently a problem, however, regarding storage space and security; this is being addressed (Section C6.2.5).

There have also been improvements in the woodworking workshop, mainly due to the acquisition of machinery from the M.S.C. Community Programme scheme. This enables staff to carry out repair and construction work on, for example, the boardwalk.

The National Trust now has a supplies catalogue which gives information and provides financial packages with suppliers. However, local suppliers continue to be used and good relations with them are regarded as essential; the Cambridge Machinery Sales at Milton has been an excellent source of second-hand machinery.

Proposals for new acquisitions should be judged individually on merit, within the financial constraints placed on purchase of equipment.

C8.3.1 Introduction

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The delegation of responsibility for the management of Wicken Fen is in accordance with the National Trust Act 1971, Section 13(1) and (3), which states that "The executive committee may, with the approval of the council, delegate to regional committees such powers and duties of the executive committee as the executive committee thinks fit" and " A regional committee shall have power to appoint local committees for special purposes which local committees may comprise such members or other persons whose aid the regional committee judge to be useful in forwarding the objects of the National Trust".

Since the early years of this century the Wicken Fen Local Committee brought to the management of the Fen particularly valuable specialist knowledge, and the benefit of the research carried out there by members of various departments of Cambridge University.

Up to 1987, the Wicken Fen Local Committee, which met annually, in turn appointed its own Executive Committee, with the same Chairman serving both Committees. In 1987 the Wicken Fen Local Committee was reconstituted as the Wicken Fen Local Advisory Panel. The former Executive Committee of the Wicken Fen Local Committee was reconstituted as the Wicken Fen Local Management Committee, and reports directly to the Regional Committee of the National Trust.

The Regional Committee's approval is required whenever additions to the Wicken Fen Local Management Committee are proposed. An Annual Report is submitted by the Wicken Fen Local Management Committee to the Regional Committee after it has been discussed by the Wicken Fen Local Advisory Panel.

The scope and guidelines within which the Wicken Fen Local Management Committee operates are as defined in the Management Plan, which may be amended in joint agreement with the Regional Committee of the National Trust and the Nature Conservancy Council. The advice of the Local Advisory Panel must always be sought when substantial changes are proposed.

All Committee members are unpaid volunteers. As a management body, the Local Committee is self-financing.

C8.3.2 Structure of Local Management Committee

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The Local Management Committee currently consists of five officers (Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Botanical Secretary and Zoological Secretary), together with 6 ordinary members. The Committee has power to co-opt in all not more than three members. The Trust's Land Agent is the National Trust's representative on the Local Management Committee, and English Nature is also represented. The Head Warden and the Deputy Head Warden attend meetings of the Local Management Committee.

The Local Management Committee appoints its own officers annually from among the Ordinary Members, and reports the appointments to the Regional Committee of the National Trust and the Local Advisory Panel. The Chairman and Secretary also serve the Local Advisory Panel.

Ordinary members are appointed by the Regional Committee of the National Trust as vacancies occur, having due regard to any particular recommendations or specific needs which may have been expressed by the Local Management Committee and the Local Advisory Panel through their Chairman.

Ordinary members are appointed for a term of three years, and those who have served on the Local Management Committee for four or more years are not eligible for re-appointment in the year in which they retire from the Committee. (This means that ordinary members can serve a maximum continuous term of six years.)

C8.3.3 Functions of Local Management Committee

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1. To supervise the implementation of the Trust's policies at the property in accordance with the Management Plan agreed by the East Anglia Regional Committee, the Nature Conservancy Council, and the former Local Committee. The Management Plan may be amended by the Local Management Committee, with the agreement of the East Anglia Regional Committee of the National Trust and English Nature. The Local Advisory Panel should be kept informed of proposed changes.

2. To initiate and comment on proposals for the preservation and conservation of the property.

3. To prepare an annual report, together with a financial statement, for the Regional Committee.

4. To encourage local interest in the property, and participation by the Trust's members where appropriate.

C8.3.4 Structure and functions of Local Advisory Panel

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The Wicken Fen Local Advisory Panel is composed of invited members selected to provide a broad spread of expertise relevant to the management of the Fen. The Panel includes and operates under the same Chairman and Secretary as the Local Management Committee. Its functions are:

1. To meet at least once a year to discuss the Annual Report and Accounts, to comment on them before they are submitted to the East Anglia Regional Committee of the National Trust, and to inspect and comment on the management of the Fen. At this meeting the Panel should also be informed of the membership of the Local Management Committee for the coming year, and of the names of the Officers who have been appointed, and may make particular recommendations for future membership of the Committee, as opportunity occurs. The Panel should also be informed of any significant proposed changes to the Management Plan so that its advice and comments can be made available before any changes are made.

2. To meet additionally at any other time, at Wicken or elsewhere, to discuss matters relevant to Fen management.

3. To encourage local interest in the property, and participation by the Trust's members where appropriate.

C8.3.5 Implementation of the Management Plan

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The Management Plan should first be approved by the National Trust Regional Committee and English Nature before being adopted. The Local Management Committee has delegated responsibility for the day-to-day implementation of the plan to its Secretary.

The Secretary (in consultation with others as he/she deems necessary) gives specialised, technical and scientific direction to the Head Warden and they agree a work programme in accordance with the Management Plan. Any minor variations in the work programme are dealt with at this level but any major changes of policy must be agreed at Committee level.

The Managment Plan shall be revised by the Secretary in consultation with the Head Warden, the Land Agent and the officers every five years, and submitted to the Regional Committee. Addenda may be added as necessary at any time, subject to approval by the Local Committee and after consulting the Local Advisory Panel. Any new management projects must be referred to English Nature.

To assist the Secretary, certain other responsibilities are delegated to the Trust's Land Agent and through him/her to members of the Regional management team. These responsibilities fall into six broad categories:

1. Personnel:- recruitment, conditions and terms of employment for staff, their salaries, annual appraisals, training/career development, health and safety, and staff discipline. The Head Warden is responsible to the Land Agent through his Contract of Employment, likewise the other staff through the Head Warden.

2. Management of resources:- day-to-day financial control, budgets and efficient use of resources. The Local Management Committee liaises with the Land Agent and Regional Staff through its Treasurer (see also Section B of the Management Plan).

3. Land and property:- management of let land; leases, licences, wayleaves and any other legal matters; public rights of way; insurance claims; valuations; sales and acquisitions of land and property; marketing and promotion of the property.

4. Buildings:- maintenance and improvement of all buildings; planning permission; control of contracts.

5. Marketing:- publicity, liaison with the press, interpretation, promotional activities, visitor care (see Sections C7.1, C7.3).

6. National Trust Policies:- keeping the Local Management Committee abreast of all Trust policies and any changes, and giving any other help and advice to that Committee, as requested.

All Health and Safety directives will be forwarded to the property from the Regional Office. It is the responsibility of the Fen staff to comply with correct procedures.

The staff undertake a regular Health and Safety audit of working practices and equipment, and any faults should be rectified as soon as they are identified.

In 1991, there was an accident on the Fen, when a contractor's vehicle fell into a dyke whilst crossing a bridge. The National Trust was prosecuted under Health and Safety at Work legislation in the Newmarket Courts. A survey of bridges has been carried out to provide safe working loads, and regular surveys of the structural elements of the bridges will be made to ensure their continued safety (see Section A4.1.1, A3.6)

For tree safety, see Section A6.6; for fire on the Fen, see Section A6.9.

A small amount of chemicals may be kept for scientific and educational purposes (for example, 70% i.m.s.); this should be kept in a lockable fire-proof cabinet under supervision of the Education Warden.