Memorandum submitted by Leeds City Council
Museums and Galleries
This submission will comment on the following
areas from Leeds Museums and Galleries perspective:
1. Museum funding especially that of Heritage
Lottery and Renaissance in the Regions.
Outline the impact of the Hub funding
on Leeds.
Consider the potential in the future
if the Hub becomes fully funded.
Address the impact of any reduction in
funding.
This submission offers an view of the impact
of Renaissance funding as it effects Leeds Museums and Galleries.
There will be a separate response from Yorkshire Renaissance itself.
2. Comment on the MLA's contribution and
impact.
3. Comment on the issues of proposed changes
to collections acquisitions and disposals approaches.
INTRODUCTION
Leeds Museums and Galleries form part of the
Learning and Leisure Department of Leeds City Council. The Service
currently operates seven sites open to the public, has four Designated
Collections and a staff of c.125FTE. In 2007 the Leeds Museums
Discovery Centre will open and in 2008 a new Leeds City Museum.
The Service is part of Yorkshire Renaissance (the Yorkshire Museum
Hub) consisting of the Services of Sheffield, York, Hull, Bradford
and Leeds.
1. MUSEUM FUNDING
Lottery funding has been key to museum development
over the last decade. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for example
is providing capital funding which is transforming our buildings
and making them fit for purpose as 21st Century museums including
the provision of modern public facilities (visitor, educational
and commercial). The Service has benefited massively to date with
investment into Abbey House Museum, Temple Newsam House, Kirkstall
Abbey Visitor Centre, Leeds City Museum and the Leeds Museums
Discovery Centre. We still have major capital needs though for
other sites such as Leeds City Art Gallery and the Leeds Industrial
Museum. These can only be met with this sort of substantial external
infrastructural investment in our existing stock of museums, galleries
and historic listed buildings. It is important to view funding
strands like Renaissance as complimentary to this capital investment.
Renaissance helps to provide the capacity needed to submit and
implement huge capital bids and the revenue to deliver programmes
that match the resultant increase in expectations of our users
and assists us to deliver on the educational, social and economic
agendas of both the Government and Leeds City Council.
Yorkshire Renaissance was one of the Phase two
hubs that have to date received the lower level of funding (it
rises to around 60% of full funding by 2007-08).
Impact of Renaissance Hub funding on Leeds Museums
and Galleries Renaissance funding to date has, despite being some
way short of full funding had a significant impact on the service.
It shows how a small amount of funding can lever significant public
benefit.
Government support has demonstrated
to the Council the importance of the City's collections and historic
sites, and has assisted in persuading them to invest in the largest
capital and revenue investment programme the service has ever
seen. Over £33 million is being invested in developing the
new Leeds City Museum, the Leeds Museum Discovery Centre, restoring
Kirkstall Abbey and creating a Visitor Centre and on the first
phase of refurbishment works at Leeds City Art Gallery. To support
this ambitious expansion programme the Council is increasing the
service's annual revenue grant by nearly £700,000 pa in addition
to the Renaissance investment.
We have contributed towards the PSA1
target (the 25% increase in contact with school age children)
but the real impact has yet to be seen in the figures as the service
develops its capacity to deliver increased targets. Nearly 30,000
children currently participate in learning programmes across our
sites. This is being achieved through improvements in physical
infrastructure to ensure that there are learning spaces in all
our buildings, that there are trained staff on all sites and targeted
programmes are advertised and marketed to schools.
The impact can be seen from a few of the comments
made in evaluations of learning programmes run by the service:
There wasn't any disruption and
there was more inspiration.
I enjoyed working in a different
environment and it was more relaxed.
If it was school I would love it!
We made fun learning about history
instead of just writing.
It allowed you to be open.
Better atmosphere and nice things
to see and explore.
Listening to another person with
a unique teaching style. Subject knowledge captured the children's
enthusiasm.
The children were able to handle
objects and discover things for themselves rather than just being
fed information.
The children were engaged and interested
and remembered what they were told/shown.
Pupils were really inspired. Their
level of questioning showed their understanding and interest.
New Learning spaces have opened
at Armley Mills and Kirkstall Abbey and refurbished rooms at Lotherton
and Temple Newsam.
Extensive teacher and pupil consultation
has impacted both on the physical design and initial programming
for the new Leeds City Museum and the Leeds Museums Discovery
Centre. The City Art Gallery refurbishment will create a family
orientated learning space as part of its phase one redevelopment.
The Service restructure is dramatically
increasing the number of learning posts across the service.
The Treasury of LearningA
service wide menu of curriculum and key stage targeted programmes
has been produced and distributed to all catchment schools for
the first time.
We know have data (thanks to the
regional MLAs survey of school usage) of which schools do not
use our services and can target these in particular.
Developed new resources for schools
and others by using other funding streams intelligently, eg. Designated
Challenge Fund funded project to catalogue and create a digital
database of our textile collections has included the creation
of learning resources targeted at KS3 and four pupils. We have
also worked with our Hub colleagues to create the My Learning
Website with dedicated resources for teachers.
We have generally contributed to
the PSA2 target but specifically:
Creation of
community and outreach posts to work with community, faith and
interest groups in the community to involve them in the development
and creation of their museums.
Specific programming.
Renaissance has also supported the
development of the new Leeds City Museum by funding the extensive
public consultation campaign (involving children and young people,
faith and community groups, specialist interest groups, teachers
and schools etc as well as the Project Management of the scheme
and the conservation and preparation of objects.
General capacity building across
the service to develop front line learning posts, collections
care and commercial opportunities.
Developing the workforce. Renaissance
allowed us to pilot a training course for front of house staff
to develop our learning and customer care profile.
With the collection of real data
we are now able to target our Audience Development programmes.
Our future potential
The results achieved by the fully funded Hubs
show the impact full funding could have on the Service. With an
increased level of funding we could:
Contribute more towards the PSA targets.
Continue to improve the quality of
our programmes.
Further embed museum learning within
the formal school curriculum.
Make a difference to more people's
livesas individuals and as part of communities.
Help to demonstrate the value of
culture within local, regional and national agendas.
Contribute fully to the economic
development, social inclusion and learning agendas.
Greater access to collections.
Impact of a reduction in funding
A separate DCMS exercise has asked the Hub to
consider the impact of a cut in funding to the Renaissance programme.
Clearly, the focus of any reduction would be partly determined
at a national level, but in Leeds we have identified a range of
possible adverse effects:
Our contribution to PSA targets would
fall. We are currently achieving high visitor numbers in real
terms for all user groups and the pressure of simply maintaining
these year on year should not be underestimated.
The quantity of school visits would
fall as educational capacity was reduced.
Workforce development and skills
within the sector. The Hub as a whole is embarking on a workforce
development programme, for its own services and within the wider
museum sector in partnership with MLA Yorkshire. We are raising
expectations that we would be unable to fulfil, and within Leeds
our drive towards organisational change would slow or be halted.
Leed's ability to support regional
programmescurrently through Renaissance we are directly
working with and funding work in seven non-Hub museums.
We would also ask the Committee to consider
the broader effects of a reduction in funding to the programme.
Renaissance has delivered its numerical targets and is widely
recognised as a successful programme which is starting to deliver
good things. The Phase 1 Hubs illustrate what can be achieved
across the country. Phase two Hubs like ourselves have made a
significant difference with limited funding so far and are poised
to deliver at a higher level. A reduction in funding would lead
to a loss of confidence in the overall programmeRenaissance
would become another short term funding stream rather than a sustained
long term investment in the transformation of regional museums.
Leeds is an example of where that investment has started to trigger
that sort of transformation but sustained investment is key to
embed such change.
2. THE IMPACT
OF MLA ON
THE RENAISSANCE
PROGRAMME
Leeds view equates to that of the Hub generally.
Renaissance could not have been delivered without effective national
co-ordination and leadership. MLA has been a strong advocate for
the sector at a national level, securing the initial funding,
implementing the programme and bidding successfully for an increase
in SR2004. To its credit, it has achieved this as a relatively
new organisation, against a background of internal reorganisation
and a standstill budget.
MLA has ensured that all the regional Hubs adopt
a rigorous data collection regime, which is now providing a strong
evidence base for our work nationally and regionally.
Now that the programme is up and running, MLA
is facilitating collaboration between the regions, allowing us
to share resources, learn from each other and add value to the
programme as a whole.
MLA Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Hub have a strong
collaborative working relationship; we are partners in delivering
the Renaissance agenda within the region. We are also partners
in advocating for museums in Yorkshire, as MLA Yorkshire's strategic
role for the sector is strengthened by the support of the key
museum services in the region. MLA Yorkshire has been strongly
supportive in the attempts to change the organisational culture
of the service in Leeds.
Renaissance is MLA's flagship programme both
regionally and nationally, accounting for the majority of its
funding. We believe that the Renaissance model works and could
be applied to other extended programmes across the MLA sector.
3. COLLECTING
We operate a clear Acquisition and Disposal
policy in accordance with the guidance laid down within the MLA
Accreditation scheme and act in due diligence when it comes to
acquisitions following the Combating Illegal Trade guidelines
as produced by DCMS Cultural Property Unit. We were amongst the
first in Yorkshire to achieve Accreditation. The Hub and MLA Yorkshire
are playing a key role in advising and promoting the new Accreditation
scheme, which is a key indicator within the Cultural Block of
the CPA for local authorities.
Our current policy advice provides a strong
presumption against disposal of collections. Leeds whilst aware
of some of the arguments put forward by some of the larger Art
Galleries of the need to be able to sell or exchange art works
to allow collections to evolve believes the current assumption
against disposal is a crucial safeguard that should remain. Public
Institutions collections are largely the result of individuals
donations. Once it is clear donations could simply be sold on
that attitude will dry up along with donations. Many cash strapped
public bodies will be tempted to dispose of assets in order to
fill short term funding deficits.
September 2006
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