Memorandum submitted by the Museums Association
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Museums Association (MA) is an independent
membership organisation representing museums and galleries in
the UK and people who work for them. The Association has over
5,000 individual members and 600 institutional members. These
institutional members encompass around 1,500 museums in the UK
ranging from the largest government-funded national museums to
small volunteer-run charitable trust museums. Formed in 1889,
it is a charity, receiving no regular government funding, which
seeks to inform, represent and develop museums and people who
work for them in order that they may provide a better service
to society and the public.
1.2 The MA represents not only museums but
also galleries which hold permanent collections. Throughout this
submission, "museums" should be taken to mean "museums
and galleries" of this kind.
1.3 The MA welcomes the fact that the Committee
has explicitly included museums within the scope of this inquiry.
It is of course the case that some key heritage issues likely
to figure in the forthcoming white paper, such as the planning
framework, are of only marginal relevance to museums. Nevertheless,
museums are instrumental in preserving and making accessible large
parts of the nation's heritage and have to be included in any
consideration of the future of heritage funding and structures.
1.4 There is often some confusion—within
the sector as much as outside—in the way the terminology
is used. "Heritage" sometimes means built heritage,
and sometimes refers to a broader sector which includes museums.
The MA would encourage the Committee during this inquiry both
to be clear what it means by heritage and to take as broad a perspective
as possible.
1.5 In practice, the links between museums
and the built heritage sector are getting stronger all the time,
and there has certainly been a marked shift in perception over
the last 20 to 30 years. For example, in the 1960s, the National
Trust in England was apparently hostile to the idea that its buildings
could be considered museums.[46]
Now, the National Trust runs more recognised museums than any
other governing body, 8% of the total accredited under the scheme
run by MLA. And around 50% of all museums are housed in historic
buildings, so museums play a major role in making the historic
environment accessible to the public.
1.6 To take another example, Heritage Link
is a new umbrella body which brings together organisations working
in the heritage sector in its broadest sense and it has helped
to increase the dialogue between organisations concerned with
the built historic environment and museums and others concerned
with "moveable" heritage.
1.7 This closer working is not yet reflected
in the structures within DCMS and its NDPBs. Museums and "heritage"
(including the built heritage and archaeology) are the responsibility
of separate departments within DCMS and the two departments could
work more closely together and do more to foster links between
museums and other heritage organisations on the ground. English
Heritage is the lead body for archaeology in England but could
take a greater role in supporting museum archaeology.
1.8 The Committee's announcement cited the
forthcoming Heritage White Paper, as well as changes to Lottery
funding prompted by the London 2012 Olympics, as the context for
this inquiry. The inquiry is also timely in that it coincides
with an ongoing review of the museum sector by DCMS. DCMS set
out to examine the challenges facing the museum sector, with a
consultation document published in 2005, Understanding the Future.
DCMS is still formulating its response to the views expressed
during that consultation and the Committee may wish to comment
on the issues covered by this review. Further details on the structural
issues at stake are given below in section 4.
2. ACCESS TO
HERITAGE AND
THE POSITION
OF HERITAGE
AS A
CULTURAL ASSET
IN THE
COMMUNITY
2.1 New research carried out for DCMS suggests
that 43% of people living in England have made at least one museum
visit in the previous year.[47]
Museums are popular institutions and, in common with other heritage
organisations, they have placed much emphasis in recent years
on broadening their audiences. This emphasis on access is welcome
and must continue. However, the drive to increase audiences must
go hand in hand with a continuing and strengthened commitment
to developing and preserving heritage in all its forms. For museums,
this means a renewed commitment to developing and making best
use of their collections.
2.2 In 2005, the Museums Association published
a major report, Collections for the Future. The report makes proposals
that will ensure that more people have more opportunities to engage
with museum collections, and that those collections are as rich,
diverse and inspiring as they can possibly be. One prompt to producing
the report was to dispel the notion—sometimes current in
recent years—that paying attention to audiences and attention
to collections are somehow mutually exclusive. Pressure to increase
audiences has sometimes led to declining investment in collections.
In the long run this is counter-productive. If people are entitled
to access to museums, then they have to be entitled to engage
fully with collections. Otherwise "access" is meaningless.
2.3 This perspective is very pertinent to
this inquiry. Across the broader sector, there is no point preserving
heritage unless it can be explored and enjoyed in some way; and
there will be nothing to explore and enjoy unless our heritage
is preserved and developed. We urge the Committee to keep in mind
the twin imperatives of preservation and public access when considering
the future of the UK's heritage.
2.4 The question of what constitutes "our
nation's heritage" is of course not straightforward and the
Committee should also consider questions of diversity when developing
its recommendations. The heritage sector has already taken significant
steps to ensure that what is preserved reflects a broader range
of people's lives and experiences than was the case in the past.
Museums, for example, have for a long time recorded the working
lives of ordinary people. More recently, they have worked with
diverse community groups to collect objects which reflect their
lives. And an increasingly prevalent trend has been to explore
existing collections from new perspectives, looking for material
relating to neglected subject areas; one initiative for example
has looked for material related to the lives of disabled people.
We urge the Committee to make recommendations which help to increase
the range and richness of the heritage that is preserved and presented
to audiences.
2.5 If museums are to succeed in reflecting
the diversity of society in their collections and in their work,
they will need to do more to ensure the diversity of their workforce
and governing bodies. Fewer than 2% of people working in core
museum roles associated with collections and their presentation
are from ethnic minorities, compared to 7% of the UK workforce
as a whole. The Museums Association's Diversify project has been
working with museums and universities to help people from ethnic
minorities gain the right skills and experience to step onto the
career ladder. By the end of this year, the MA will have offered
at least 50 positive-action traineeships or bursaries, many funded
by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, as part of the
Renaissance in the Regions initiative to revitalise England's
regional museums. Diversify is a success story; however, there
remains much more to be done to ensure that people in more senior
roles and in particular on governing bodies reflect the diversity
of the communities museums serve.
2.6 The MA's Collections for the Future
report argues that museums must do more to ensure that more of
their collections are actively used and enjoyed by the public.
This is in large part a challenge for the sector, but it also
presents challenges to the government and to funders. The report's
action plan is based on working with others to deliver the plans
it sets out. DCMS's discussion paper, Understanding the Future
and Collections for the Future share much common ground. The MA
hopes that DCMS will give priority to taking forward the outcomes
from its consultation exercise to ensure that museums are in the
best possible position to meet the challenges they face. Further
comment on the structural issues discussed in Understanding the
Future can be found in section 4.
3. FUNDING
3.1 MLA's programme of funding for regional
museums in England, Renaissance in the Regions, has represented
the most significant opportunity for English non-national museums
in a generation. The additional funding has helped important museums,
which were in many cases suffering from decades of under-funding
and cheese-paring cuts, to regain strength and begin to improve
the service they offer to audiences.
3.2 Renaissance establishes an important
principle: that central government has a responsibility to support
non-national museums with revenue funding. It reflects the understanding
that regional museums and their collections form part of our national
heritage, alongside national museums. In this sense, the Museums
Association believes that Renaissance represents the way forward
for museum funding in England.
3.3 However, the programme has yet to be
fully funded. Of the nine English regions, three are funded to
a level that enables them to deliver change on the scale required:
the North East, the South West and the West Midlands. The other
six have received a lower level of funding; this was increased
following the 2004 Spending Review but is still only at the level
of 60% of the total needed. It is vital that investment in Renaissance
continues and is increased in future Spending Reviews to ensure
that users across the whole of England are able to benefit.
3.4 Moreover, it should be stressed that
Renaissance is not a panacea for all the problems facing English
museums. Although it does have widespread benefits, it should
not be made to stretch too far. Renaissance aims to strengthen
the most important regional museums and it may become ineffective
if it does not keep this focus. It needs to be acknowledged that
other museums still have serious funding difficulties and that
there is a need for a coherent approach to museum structures and
funding across England. We say more about this in section 4 of
this submission.
3.5 Alongside Renaissance, the National
Lottery has presented a very significant opportunity to UK museums.
Capital projects funded by the Lottery have brought about a transformation
of museum infrastructure on a scale not seen since the nineteenth
century. More recently, the emphasis on funding programmes of
activity has enabled many museums to carry out worthwhile and
innovative work.
3.6 The museum sector is of course concerned
about the threat to the future of Lottery funding for heritage.
The museum community recognises that the London Olympics in 2012
represent a significant opportunity for the country as a whole,
including the cultural sector. Nevertheless, the likelihood that
the amount of funding available for heritage projects will decline
as a result must be a concern, particularly to those outside London.
The MA urges the Committee to encourage DCMS to ensure that heritage
retains its percentage share of the main pot of Lottery funding.
3.7 The MA's report Collections for the
Future confirmed that museums are faced with serious challenges
in collecting. The concern must be that museums are no longer
developing their collections with the vibrancy and rigour needed
to ensure that they serve the needs of current and future audiences.
Funding for acquisitions is scarce. The problems faced by art
museums are relatively well documented, as the price of major
works continues to rise well above the rate of inflation. The
funding the Heritage Lottery Fund is able to make available for
acquisitions has declined as its income has fallen and as it is
subject to other pressures. And museums in some other subject
areas may face even greater difficulty: there is almost no funding
available for the purchase of natural history specimens for example.
3.8 Some charitable and voluntary organisations
have taken steps to assist with museum acquisitions. For example,
the Headley Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts,
has set aside funds to enable regional museums to buy artefacts
classified as treasure under the Treasure Act 1996. But the scale
of the challenge is such that the government has to take the lead
in addressing this problem. In particular, every decade, a handful
of very important works come on to the market; if these are to
be retained in the UK for everyone to enjoy, more government funding
must be made available. Tax incentives for acquisitions are also
vital. The Acceptance in Lieu scheme enables museums to make significant
acquisitions every year but there are many more opportunities.
This whole area was explored in detail by the Goodison Review,
published by the Treasury in early 2004 and apparently now forgotten.
The MA urges the Committee to revisit its recommendations.
4. ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1 Museums in the UK are funded by central
government, local government, the armed forces, universities and
by charitable and voluntary organisations including the National
Trust.
4.2 The structures for museums and galleries
in England are somewhat piecemeal, the result of local enthusiasm
and individual vision, rather than centralised planning. This
is of course in many ways a great strength, since it can bring
museums close to the passions and aspirations of their local communities.
However, it does mean that individual museums stand or fall on
the basis of the support of their governing bodies, and that significant
museums may decline or even close without a framework for intervention
from a national body. Every year we hear of many museums, especially
smaller museums run by local authorities, which are under threat.
Reorganisation within local authorities has often weakened the
position of museums, leaving them stranded as anomalies within
departments primarily concerned with something else and easy targets
for funding cuts. Renaissance is rebuilding the strength of the
most substantial regional museums but it does not—and was
never intended to—solve the problems facing every non-national
museum. The Museums Association believes that there is a need
for a proper national strategy for all English museums, which
takes account of the needs and potential of the whole sector,
and which provides a framework for supporting and encouraging
local authorities and other bodies that run museums.
4.3 A national strategy would articulate
the role that all kinds of museums play as part of a wider network.
It would provide a more rational context for decision-making about
the future of museums under threat. It would also better define
the nation-wide role of the national museums. A crucial foundation
for a national strategy is to create a single funding and strategy
council for museums. Renaissance has shown that much more can
be achieved when funding allocation and strategic direction is
overseen by one body. The Museums Association believes that this
should be extended across the museum sector, to include the national
museums. A further advantage of this would be that a single funding
council would be well placed to build appropriate links with the
broader heritage sector as well as with libraries and archives,
as in the current structure.
4.4 This inquiry is, of course, limited
in its formal scope to matters concerning England. However, notwithstanding
the reality of devolution, museum professionals regularly need
to work across borders within the UK. The nature of the UK's history
and continuing development means that bodies concerned with cultural
and heritage in each nation within the UK need to cooperate closely.
In our sector, MLA has established some links with its sister
bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, we are
concerned that this spirit of cooperation needs to be extended
to government and believe that DCMS could do more to cooperate
where appropriate with the administrations in Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland, and vice versa.
4.5 It follows from those comments that
it is also essential for heritage bodies to operate within an
international context. There are many positive examples of museums
cooperating with partners in the EU and beyond but the potential
for cooperation remains under-exploited, particularly for smaller
organisations which find it difficult to access funding. We urge
the Committee to take an international perspective in making its
recommendations.
5. CONSERVATION
EXPERTISE
5.1 In its reference to conservation skills,
the Committee's brief primarily focuses on the care and preservation
of historic buildings. However, it should also be noted that there
are also concerns about the possibility of future skills shortages
in the conservation of museum objects. The new Institute of Conservation
will be the lead voice for the conservation of cultural heritage
in the UK and will be developing strategies for addressing these
concerns. (The Museums Association has a number of initiatives
to address actual or potential deficits in specialist skills in
other aspects of the care and interpretation of museum objects.)
5.2 The recently created Creative and Cultural
Skills Sector Skills Council encompasses all aspects of skills
and workforce development within museums and the broader heritage
sector, among other areas. The establishment of CCS is another
indication of the growing links between museums and the rest of
the heritage sector. CCS is well placed to begin to address skills
shortages and to work towards a more capable and mobile workforce
able to provide better services for the public.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 The Museums Association urges the Committee
to give its support to the following points in particular:
6.2 Renaissance, the programme of funding
for regional museums, must be sustained and expanded.
6.3 DCMS must work with the sector to develop
a comprehensive national strategy for museums, which pays particular
attention to the needs of smaller museums.
6.4 DCMS should develop better links internally
between its heritage and museum departments.
6.5 DCMS should encourage English Heritage
to work more closely with the museum sector, especially on museum
archaeology.
6.6 The Heritage Lottery Fund's share of
National Lottery good causes money must be maintained.
6.7 The government must take a lead in addressing
the issue of funding for museum acquisitions.
6.8 DCMS should support initiatives to increase
the diversity of the museum workforce and, in particular, governing
bodies.
18 January 2006
46 A recent article appraises changes to the museums
and galleries sector over the last 40 years by comparing the current
situation to that described in 1963 in the "Survey of Provincial
Museums and Galleries", published by the Standing Commission
on Museums and Galleries, and more commonly known as the Rosse
Report. No historic houses or other historic buildings were included
in that survey. (Babbidge, Adrian (2005). Forty Years On. Cultural
Trends, 53, 3-66.) Back
47
Taking Part: The National Survey of Culture, Leisure & Sport,
DCMS, 2005. Provisional results from the first three months of
the 2005-2006 survey. Back
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