Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Written Evidence


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:

    Pupils comments:

—    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.

    Teachers comments:

—    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 Learning—A 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 lives—as 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 programmes—currently 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 programme—Renaissance 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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