Memorandum submitted by the Yorkshire
Museums Hub
INTRODUCTION
The Yorkshire Regional Museums Hub forms part
of the framework for the national museums strategy, Renaissance
in the Regions. It comprises the museums services of Bradford,
Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York, with Sheffield Galleries &
Museums Trust as Lead Partner.
A phased approach was taken to the roll out
of the Renaissance programme, with three regions receiving funding
to a level that would allow them to achieve the level of transformation
aspired to in the Renaissance in the Regions report. The remaining
six regions, known as Phase 2 Hubs, received about 20% of their
estimated full funding in 2005-06, a figure that will rise to
60% by 2007-08. Yorkshire is a Phase 2 Hub and has received £2,066,000
in the three year period to 2005-06.
Despite the comparatively low level of funding
to date, this submission will:
1. Outline the impact of the Hub funding in the
Yorkshire region.
2. Consider our future potential if we become
fully funded.
3. Address the impact of any reduction in funding.
4. Comment on MLA's effectiveness and impact.
This submission offers a view of the impact
of Renaissance funding to the Yorkshire Museums Hub partnership.
It does not comment on other elements of Renaissance funding in
Yorkshire and should be read in context with other, more detailed,
reports on'the national impact of the Renaissance programme. Individual
services within the Hub may also make separate submissions from
their broader service perspective.
Whilst concentrating our submission on the direct
impact of Renaissance funding, we must also recognise the importance
of lottery funding to museums: The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
for example is providing capital funding which is transforming
our buildings. All of our services still have major capital needs
that Renaissance is not designed to address. Renaissance, however,
is helping to provide us with 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.
1. IMPACT OF
RENAISSANCE HUB
FUNDING IN
THE YORKSHIRE
REGION
Renaissance funding has had a remarkable impact
on England's regional museums. Despite being some way short of
our aspirations for full funding, it is an outstanding example
of how a small amount of funding can demonstrate significant public
benefit for our services, our users and our collections. The example
of Hull Museums Service illustrates this. Before Renaissance funding
it was receiving half a million visitors a year, but with no educational
offer other than a school loans service. It now has a team in
place offering 25+ structured, well presented programmes, all
developed in consultation, which teachers have welcomed with open
arms. In a city with some of the worst educational attainment
in the country it forms a critical part of the local authority's
drive for improvement in educational attainment.
Before Renaissance we operated as a series of
independent fiefdoms. Now we have a group of institutions with
common goals and the money to implement them. This is the first
step towards something much more professional and much more significant—organisational
change anda mindset.
As a Phase 2 Hub, we point towards the Phase
1s to evidence the full extent of our potential. However, our
own achievements are significant, having been strategically targeted
for maximum effect.
Schools and learning
With around 163,000 visits by school children
in 2005-06, the five Yorkshire Hub services have contributed to
the national PSA1 target for a 25% increase in pupils visiting
Hub museums with their schools. In Yorkshire, this figure represents
a 33% of the region's total of 500,000 school visits to museums
every year.
However, the figures only tell part of the story.
It is widely recognised that museums provide high quality, creative
and enjoyable learning opportunities for all children. Museum
visits help children to enjoy and achieve. Every child matters—and
every visit represents a real, potentially life changing, experience
for each child. These quotes are from KS3 children, following
a workshop entitled "Identity in figurative art" in
Sheffield. The resource supports curriculum teaching through citizenship
and art & design and focuses on a contemporary sculpture "Kiss"
by Marc Quinn, which depicts a couple with physical disabilities.
"People with disabilities aren't normally
seen as beautiful, and people might shun them, because they don't
think they are necessarily pretty or like that, but you see this
structure put together and the two people with disabilities look
absolutely beautiful. There's no question."
"It makes me think about it a bit more because
you don't really usually see people like that but when you do
realise that people do have disabilities it kind of makes you
think about it more."
Across the Hub we have:
— Dramatically increased the range
and quality of the services and resources that we offer to schools.
— Created high quality resources that
are designed to support specific Key Stages and curriculum areas
and that use a variety of styles of learning delivery.
— Launched an award winning website
for teachers (www.mylearning.org).
And Hub museums are directing their efforts
where it counts. The 2005 study "What did you learn at the
museum today?" showed that 32% of museum visits were made
by schools from the 20% most deprived areas of the country. Furthermore,
the regional context reveals that Yorkshire museums appear to
be attracting more visits from schools located in areas of high
social deprivation than may be expected considering the deprivation
profile of the region.
Users and communities
The PSA2 target for Renaissance aimed to generate
an additional 500,000 visits to regional museums in England by
new users, predominantly from social groups C2, D & E and
ethnic minorities by 2005-06. Together, the regions achieved an
additional 900,000, with the Yorkshire Hub contributing over 15%
of the total. Our total visitor figures in 2005-06 were around
2,016,000—second only to the North East (a Phase 1 Hub).
Beyond the PSA figures we have also:
— Contributed to lifelong learning—over
15,000 adults took part in Hub museum learning activities in 2005-06.
— Extended our outreach work, specifically
targeting communities with the highest proportion of people in
priority groups.
— Run successful programmes of activity
with hard to reach groups.
Again, we look beyond the figures. Aware of
the need to go beyond the fantastic project, one of Bradford's
initiatives has been to encourage a group of young people to delve
more deeply and become "Young Ambassadors" for themselves
and their cultures and for Cartwright Hall and local heritage.
Ten participants from the 16-25 age group were
gathered together by the project leader, the majority of the group
coming from Asian backgrounds. A series of sessions was planned
to enable the group to absorb information about the collections
and the running of the Museum/Gallery, to undertake creative activities
and to learn or develop skills and enjoy themselves. Quotes from
the young people include:
"At first I was afraid that we wouldn't
be paid much attention to, but our ideas and opinions are completely
valid, it's wonderful that we're actually listened to."
"As a young kid, I always thought art was
a world in which only White people can succeed, but today as Cartwright
Hall displays Black, Asian, etc artist's works, I feel that the
art world is opening to everyone and to new ideas."
Investing for the future
Renaissance funding is not intended to provide
capital funding for services. Nevertheless, we have invested for
the future:
— By supporting the development of
capital projects such as the new City Museum in Leeds and Wilberforce
House in Hull.
— By using Renaissance capacity and
funding to lever in further investment—a total for the Hub
of £30 million to date. For example, £100,000 of Renaissance
funding in Hull's Wilberforce House project has led to a further
£3.7 million of investment.
— By projects that will increase the
capacity and quality of our service provision in the future. For
example, each Hub service has integrated e-learning into its programming
by developing a dedicated e-learning space in parallel with online
resources (learning journeys) housed on the Hub's MyLearning website.
— By capacity building and workforce
development, especially linked to service areas that are public
facing. For example, of the 22 new posts created in 2004-06, 15
are strengthening our learning teams.
— Implementing a rigorous data collection
programme. The strong performance management element of the national
programme allows us to contribute a solid evidence base for our
work. We can begin to measure the instrumental value of our activities
as a means to demonstrate how we can deliver to broader government
agendas, such as Every Child Matters and Local Area Agreements.
— An efficient and effective central
structure. This allows us to administer the financial and data
requirements, communicate our progress and provide a strong strategic
contribution to the region and the national programme.
— Effective partnership working:
— Within the Hub partnership;
— With MLA Yorkshire; and
2. OUR FUTURE
POTENTIAL
The achievements of the three Phase 1 Hubs (North
East, South West and West Midlands) indicate the potential that
could be achieved in our region. We have already invested in the
infrastructure to deliver the Renaissance programme in Yorkshire.
Additional investment will therefore offer even more public value
as it can be channelled directly into service provision. With
an increased level of funding we could:
— Make a difference to more people's
lives—as individuals and as part of communities.
— Broaden our outlook even further,
underpinning and supporting a range of agendas including education
and learning, community cohesion, regeneration, tourism and inward
investment.
— Further embed museum learning within
the formal school curriculum contributing to increased achievement
and improved life chances.
— Continue to improve the quality of
our programmes.
— Support more non-Hub museums to start
to transform their own services.
— Contribute more towards the PSA targets.
3. IMPACT OF
A REDUCTION
IN FUNDING
As we move into our second business planning
period (2006-08), the Renaissance Hub programme in Yorkshire is
really getting into its stride. Staff and partnerships are in
place and we are planning ahead for the significant uplift in
funding next year. There is optimism in our services, and in the
region as a whole, that museums can start to achieve their potential.
A separate DCMS exercise has asked us to consider
the impact of a cut in funding to the Renaissance programme of
around 20% over three years. If this becomes a reality our strategic
response would be to preserve excellence by eliminating entire
programmes rather than diluting their impact rather than to take
a percentage cut over the whole programme—we would stop
some areas of activity completely in order to retain the impact
of what remains. The adverse effects of a cut in funding would
be:
Schools and learning
The number and quality of school visits would
fall. Many children would lose the opportunity to benefit from
the experience of contact with museums. And as a disproportionate
number of our school visits come from the most deprived areas,
this would directly affect children who are already disadvantaged.
Users and communities
Community outreach work has tremendous benefits
for both individuals and communities but is expensive in terms
of staff time and has low impact on our overall visitor numbers.
As our performance is measured in quantitative terms, we would
not be able to sustain the current level of investment. Again,
as we are targeting our outreach work in the most deprived communities,
it is the poorest people who would suffer whilst our contribution
to PSA targets would fall.
Investing for the future
— Our investment in an efficient infrastructure
that will allow new investment to go directly into service delivery
would have the reverse effect in the event of cuts, with any reduction
in expenditure having a direct impact on front line services.
— A reduction in capacity would seriously
reduce our effectiveness in securing additional funding.
— Our workforce diversity initiatives
would grind to a halt. We share the government's desire that the
makeup of our workforce should better reflect that of our communities
and we have programmes in place to start to address this. However,
we are also beginning to understand that one of the barriers to
success is the perception of the museums sector as a place to
work. A reduction in funding to Renaissance would affect both
our work programmes and the increasingly positive spirit within
the sector.
— Workforce development and skills
within the sector. The Hub 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 our drive towards organisational
change and growth would slow to a crawl.
— Our ability to support regional programmes.
In our current plan we are directly funding work in 15 non-Hub
services—representing between them a total of 42 museums—as
well as regional support for accreditation.
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 2 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, ie to reduce its perception
to "just another short term funding stream" rather than
a long term investment in the transformation of regional museums.
It would limit our capacity to lever in additional funding and
restrict our ability to underpin broader agendas.
4. THE IMPACT
OF MLA ON
THE RENAISSANCE
PROGRAMME
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.
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.
5. ACQUISITION
AND DISPOSAL
OF COLLECTIONS
All five of the Yorkshire Hub services operate
clear Acquisition and Disposal policies in accordance with the
guidance laid down within the MLA Accreditation scheme. All five
were amongst the first in Yorkshire to achieve Accreditation and
the Hub and the regional agency are playing a key role in advising
and promoting the new Accreditation scheme, which is a key indicator
within the Cultural Block within the CPA for local authorities.
These A&D policies are vital management tools for good housekeeping
and the efficient use of resources. The level of expertise expected
of an Accredited museum has risen since the former Registration
scheme. Any potential reduction in funding for both the Hub and
MLAY would lead to a reduction in the level of advice able to
offered to the rest of the sector and would run contrary to the
governments pursuit of raising standards through using Accreditation
as a CPA indicator.
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