House of Commons - Culture, Media and Sport

Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Minutes of Evidence

Memorandum submitted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

SUMMARY

1. Museums, galleries, archives and libraries are institutions which are all very different from one another. They also differ considerably in both size and scope within themselves. For example, The National Archives is very different from a local record office and the British Library is a very different institution from a public library. They are different not just in size but also in their function, and importantly for this inquiry, in their collections.

1.1 The collections of these institutions vary from unique and irreplaceable artefacts of great cultural, intellectual or symbolic significance to multiple copies of popular novels that will stay in a library collection for only a year or two. This means that there can never be one single answer to the question of how we approach collections.

1.2 What is needed is an approach that pays close attention to the purpose each collection serves in the institution that holds it. This should be the driver for both collecting policy and the approaches to the care for and study of the collection.

1.3 The two largest sources of funding for collection-based institutions are DCMS and local authorities which, broadly speaking, provide core funding for the national collections and local and regional museums, libraries and archives respectively. In addition to this, considerable amounts of funding is provided for more cross-cutting sectoral development work through the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council, with some contribution for galleries also being made by the Arts Council. Finally, The National Archives is also funded by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

INTRODUCTION

2. This memorandum is submitted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It aims to provide the Committee with general background to inform its inquiry into Caring For Our Collections. The note also provides information on the specific points highlighted by the Committee as to the issues it wishes to address.

2.1 The Department welcomes the Select Committee's interest in the nation's immovable and movable heritage and welcomes the current inquiry as a timely and helpful follow on from the Committee's recent inquiry into Protecting, Preserving and Making Accessible our Nation's Heritage.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES SECTOR

2.2 A great strength of our museum and galleries sector is its diversity and degree of local control. For example, of the roughly 1,450 accredited museums in England, the great majority are funded either by local authorities or are independent charities. There are over 2,000 museums in England as follows:

— 22 museums that are sponsored directly by DCMS, 14 of which are defined as `nationals' by virtue of the importance of their collections, the role of their trustees as guardians on the nation's behalf, and their long-term funding relationship with Government;

— a smaller number of other museums sponsored by other government departments (in particular MoD) and the Devolved Administrations;

— 62 museums whose collections have been Designated as being pre-eminent collections of national and international importance;

— 98 university museums and galleries (some of whose collections have also been Designated for their national and international importance);

— a national network of 689 local authority museums which house collections and artefacts, often primarily of regional or local interest and some which also contain collections which have been Designated as of national importance;

— over 100 museums run by the National Trust, English Heritage, Historic Scotland and Cadw; and

— 811 independent museums managed outside central or local government.

2.3 In addition, Arts Council England invests £38 million in 200 visual arts organisations, including exhibition spaces and some collection based galleries. Museums and galleries are also eligible to benefit from project funding from its Grants for the Arts programme.

2.4 Local authorities (LAs) are also one of the largest funders of the arts in England, spending over £189 million in 2002-03. As well as funding their own galleries, they provide significant partner funding to institutions and projects with core funds from Arts Council England (ACE), universities and elsewhere.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE ARCHIVES SECTOR

2.5 Archives can comprise any form of documentation, from paper through to photographs, or film, or computer-readable media. They are generated by organisations of all kinds (businesses, charities, families, learned bodies etc). The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) estimates that there are 2,150 archives in the UK of either national, regional or local importance.

2.6 This sector is broadly composed of the following three tiers:

— The National Archives, which is responsible to the Department for Constitutional Affairs and which looks after the records of central government and the courts of law;

— a network of regional and local archives which house the country's most important archives and manuscripts; and

— a substantial number of private sector and individual or community archives.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE LIBRARIES SECTOR

2.7 The British Library, a national network of local libraries and other public and private libraries provide both a broad community resource and a repository for books, manuscripts, and electronic data. The components of this sector are broadly as follows:

— the British Library (BL), as the UK's national library, develops, maintains and provides access to the national collection, in particular to institutions of education & learning, other libraries and industry;

— in addition to the BL, five legal deposit libraries—which are entitled to receive one copy of every publication in the UK—also house collections of national and international importance;

— over 3,000 public libraries in England offering free access to reading material and information; and

— a substantial number of other libraries, including those attached to academic, private and other public institutions, which contain books and manuscripts of national significance.

SUMMARY

2.8 Thus, the sectors covered by the Committee's inquiry are all very different in their composition. Each sector has a complex structure and a large number of interested bodies and responsible partners.

2.9 The collections of museums, galleries, archives and libraries are not homogenous. They obviously differ in their subject matter but their collections also differ widely in terms of their use, function and value. At one end of this spectrum are the collections of the big national institutions, which contain many artefacts of high value (either financial, cultural or both), held in trust for the nation and which require great care to conserve and preserve. At the other end of this spectrum are the collections of public libraries, whose value is largely utilitarian: providing access to literature and information to the local community. In the middle of these two ends of the spectrum are a large number of regional and local collections which, to varying degrees, share some of the characteristics of the national treasures and some of the characteristics of the more utilitarian collections.

2.10 It is important to recognise the existence and structure of these different purposes of organisations and uses to which collections can be put. It means that it would be over simplistic to seek a "one size fits all" approach to the care of our collections. What is needed is a set of common standards on issues such as documentation, curation etc. On collections, however, a set of different but complementary approaches is needed, which recognises the complexity of the organisations responsible for the collections and the complexity and diversity of the collections themselves.

SPECIFIC ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMITTE

Issue 1—Funding, with particular reference to the adequacy of the budget for museums, galleries and archives, and the impact of the London 2012 Olympics on Lottery funding for their sector

Introduction

3. As illustrated in section 1 above, the funding landscape for museums, galleries, archives and libraries is complex. These institutions are present at national, regional and local level and the funding available to them comes from four broad sources:

— Grant in Aid.

— Lottery Funding.

— Local Authority Funding.

— Self-Generated Income.

3.1 DCMS deals directly only with the major national institutions. Through the Renaissance in the Regions programme DCMS invests in the large regional museums which make up the nine regional hubs; Renaissance also funds a wide range of support activities and smaller programmes for non-hub museums across the sector. This includes, for example, the Designation Challenge Fund, the Museum Development Fund, training initiatives and specialist networks. The programme is managed on DCMS's behalf by the MLA Partnership.

3.2 At the local and regional level local authorities are responsible for maintaining the network of local libraries, for the upkeep of local Record Offices and for a large number of local museums. DCMS has no direct control over local authority funding, although we do seek to influence the way local authorities invest in their cultural services through Regional Cultural Consortiums.

3.3 The Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) has played a major role in driving up standards across local government and performance indicators for public libraries and museums are included within the present Culture Block for CPA. For example, the CPA Culture Block library indicators are largely drawn from the Public Library Service Standards. The Standards set local authorities targets across a range of core provision. Since their introduction in 2001, the standards have primed significant improvements in library services, particularly in the areas of opening hours, materials acquisitions and in ICT provision.

3.4 The Department, working with Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), the Audit Commission and IDeA is keen to see the development of further indicators that have the support of both Local Government and the sectors concerned.

3.5 In addition to core funding from national and local level, sectoral developmental funding is provided by the MLA and its regional agencies within the MLA Partnership. MLA is an NDPB with both strategic and funding responsibilities across the museum, library and archival domains and is responsible for implementing national development programmes including; Renaissance in the Regions, Framework for the Future, the Archives Action Plan, as well as cultural property functions. The MLA also provides support to other external initiatives and is involved in Museums and Galleries Month, the Archives Awareness campaign, the 24 Hour Museum website and MDA, which provides advice, support and guidance to sector professionals to help them achieve national standards in the management of their collections.

3.6 DCMS published a consultation paper in January 2005 entitled, "Understanding the Future: Museums and 21st Century Life". Collections and their uses was one of five topics raised in the consultation, in order to start a debate on how the museums and galleries sector can best meet the challenges of the 21st century. A summary of the responses to all the questions posed in the consultation was published in November 2005. A small collaborative Working Group has since been formed to consider the purpose, content and potential goals of an action plan and eventual museums strategy.

3.7 Our intention, at present, is shortly to publish a document that will set out the Department's priorities for the sector based on this work.

GRANT IN AID

(i) National Museums and Galleries

3.8 DCMS Grant in Aid allocated to the 17 sponsored museums which are classified as non-departmental public bodies and galleries[9] for the period 2000-01—2007-08 is summarised by the following table[10]:


2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08

£226.29m	£241.46m	£264.96m	£275.63m	£280.37m	£291.99m	£314.93m	£335.66m
+3.65%	+8.0%	+9.7%	+4.0	%+1.7%	+4.1%	+7.9%	+6.6%

3.9 There has been a total increase of 63% in levels of DCMS Grant in Aid funding to national museums and galleries between 1997 and 2008. Over the five years from 2000-01—2004-05 over £1.3 billion has been allocated in Grant in Aid to DCMS sponsored museums and galleries. Within that £1.3 billion we provided around £140 million in compensation, which enabled our museums that formerly charged for entrance to allow universal free admission from 1 December 2001. Some of the highlights of this increased funding include:

— Four years after the introduction of full free admission, visits are up by 67% (5 million) at those formerly charging DCMS national museums and galleries. Visits to those nationals that remained free were up by 2% over the same period (nearly two million).

— Over the same period, however, there has also been a 200% increase in capital funding for DCMS sponsored museums and galleries to ensure that the buildings remain in good shape to welcome the increased number of visitors and to improve care of collections.

— There were 7.8 million child visits to DCMS national museums and galleries in 2004-05, the highest number on record. Of these, an estimated 2.8 million were in organised education sessions either onsite or in outreach programmes.

— Child visits are 70% higher than in 1998-99, the last year before free admission for children was introduced on 1 April 1999.

— There has been a 27% increase in visits by C2DEs on the 2002-03 baseline (6.8 million in 2004-05).

Visits to Visitor Attractions

(ii) The National Archives

3.10 The National Archives is accountable to Ministers in the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA).

3.11 The National Archives was formed in April 2003 by bringing together the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission, a former DCMS NDPB. DCMS supports the archives domain through its funding to the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and support available from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The British Library and a number of the DCMS sponsored museums are also Grant-in-Aid funded to maintain important archives within their collections. The Department is represented on the Inter-Departmental Archives Committee and has Observer status at meetings of the National Council on Archives.

3.12 DCMS, through the MLA, also provides £76,300 per annum to the National Council on Archives partly for the Archives Awareness Campaign. This money is matched by The National Archives who also fund the post of Press Officer for the Campaign. Highlights of this funding include:

Archive Awareness Campaign

— Evaluation of the campaign for 2004 showed that 40% of people who had attended an Archive Awareness Campaign event had not visited an archive before.

— Archives recorded a 24% increase in visits and a 36% increase in new users in the last quarter of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003.

Victorian Voices

Archive Awareness Campaign

(iii) The British Library

3.13 DCMS funding for the British Library over the period 2000-01—2005-06 is as follows[11]:


2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-004	2004-05	2005-06

£82.2m	£88.6m	£85.1m	£89.2m	£88.5m	£97.5m

3.14 The British Library's role, as defined in legislation, is the development and management of the UK's national library; a national centre for reference, study, bibliographical and other services, to make its collection available, in particular to institutions of education and learning, other libraries and industry; and a legal deposit library.

3.15 The British Library has:

— 150 million items in its collection; and

— 625 km of shelf space, growing by 12km per annum;

— 150,000 reader passes;

— 400,000 visits to the reading rooms per annum; and

— a document supply service of 2 million items per annum.

(iv) Regional Museums and Galleries

3.16 As part of the Grant-in-Aid to the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), Government is investing £149.2 million in museum services in the period 2002-03—2007-8 through the Renaissance in the Regions programme. Funding for Renaissance in the Regions is summarised in the following table[12]:


2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08

£10.0m	£11.2m	£21.0m	£30.0m	£32.0m	£45.0m

3.17 Renaissance in the Regions is designed to transform England's Regional museums and make them fit for the 21st century. It was set up in 2002 in response to the capital development needs and previous under-funding for museums in the regions.

3.18 Each region has a "Hub" of flagship museums and museum services, comprising 155 museum sites in total.

3.19 Renaissance priorities are:

— Priority 1: Increase and sustain user participation, including:

1a: creating a comprehensive service for school age children;

1b: increase and diversify audiences; and

1c: increase access to knowledge and information aside from exhibitions and displays.

— Priority 2: Provide benefits to users by developing the organisation and workforce.

— Priority 3: Provide benefits to users through improving access and use of collections, through better collections development, care and interpretation.

3.20 Outcomes since 2002-03 include:


Total number of visits	13.1 million up 5.3%

Visits by children (0-16)	3.6 million up 12.2%
Visits by adults (16+)	9.6 million up 5.4%
Number of facilitated learning contacts between school age children (5-16) and museums in support of the curriculum (on and off site)	1.2 million up 49.6%
Number of participations by adults (16+) in outreach activities away from the museum premises	0.2 million up 86.5%
UK adult BME visits (16+)	0.4 million up 18.1%
UK adult C2DE visits (16+)	2.3 million up 3.7%

3.21 The MLA Renaissance programme also includes other funding strands, including Collections Link, a national advisory service for collections management and the development of Subject Specialist Networks (SSN) as a mechanism for sharing scholarship, collections and collections expertise, research and interpretation skills, with a view to improving the way audiences experience collections. In total, some £48 million will have been invested in museum collections via Renaissance up to 2008.

3.22 The MoD also funds, to a limited extent, a regional network of 69 regimental and other military museums and provides funding of £5.6 million per annum towards the upkeep of these museums. The majority of regimental museums are, however, funded mostly by an independent charity, the Ogilby Trust.

3.23 Arts Council England has awarded over £230 million of capital funds to visual arts facilities. This represents 17% of all large scale capital investment in visual arts facilities and includes £4.6 million to the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and some collection based venues such as £11 million to New Art Gallery Walsall.

(v) Local Libraries

3.24 DCMS has allocated some £130 million of its Private Finance Initiative credits towards library or part-library capital projects and has encouraged the opening of modern new libraries in places such as Bournemouth, Croydon and Oldham and there are other major projects underway in Liverpool and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Elsewhere there have been the opening of attractively designed large and small libraries such as those at Brighton, Norwich, Otley and Peckham.

3.25 DCMS 2003 Framework for the Future public library strategy document set out a vision of libraries fit for the needs of 21st century users. Subsequently, DCMS has funded the MLA to explore ways to address the capacity issues identified in Framework that might hinder attainment of the vision. DCMS has now committed to providing £2 million a year until 2007-08 to continue the work of the Framework for the Future Action Plan.

3.26 So far, amongst other things, the MLA-led, action plan has delivered high quality leadership training to library staff at all levels across the 149 authorities in England, including young "rising stars". Library authorities facing particular challenges have been assisted through peer reviews and work has recently been completed on a study to increase the efficiency of the library stock selection and procurement process through greater collaboration. This project will continue to be developed—with estimated efficiency savings for the sector of £20 million per annum—and will act as a first step to assessing the potential for shared working in other areas of library activity.

(vi) National Heritage Memorial Fund

3.27 The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) is the fund of last resort for the nation's heritage, coming to the rescue by funding emergency acquisitions. Since its creation in 1980 the NHMF has made the following awards:


	Number	Value

1980-81	34	4,066,545
1981-82	53	3,054,348
1982-83	57	4,633,214
1983-84	81	19,238,752
1984-85	90	12,731,167
1985-86	66	5,686,210
1986-87	74	34,988,994
1987-88	80	15,390,695
1988-89	74	11,338,853
1989-90	54	13,063,306
1990-91	75	8,691,988
1991-92	72	19,946,349
1992-93	63	9,953,127
1993-94	62	7,920,412
1994-95	54	10,438,167
1995-96	61	16,677,160
1996-97	34	2,368,296
1997-98	14	1,681,585
1998-99	6	2,112,019
1999-2000	6	4,653,761
2000-01	7	4,903,157
2001-02	5	2,599,607
2002-03	5	22,016,500
2003-04	7	7,724,048
2004-05	4	1,309,515
2005-06	23	5,493,237
TOTAL[13]	1,161	252,681,012

3.28 Highlights of NHMF funding include:

— over 650 grants totalling more than £135 million for the acquisition of cultural property of outstanding importance to the national heritage;

— over £56 million for works of art;

— over £48 million for other historic objects (including for industrial, maritime and transport objects); and

— over £30 million for archive and special library collections.

LOTTERY FUNDING

3.29 Since its inception in 1994 the Heritage Lottery Fund has made 3,125 awards to museums, galleries, archives and libraries. The total value of those awards is £1,469 million.

3.30 The breakdown of HLF awards to museums and galleries by financial year is as follows[14]:


	Awards	Value (£)

1994-95	3	1,069,000
1995-96	90	115,223,672
1996-97	148	217,444,916
1997-98	211	117,230,627
1998-99	191	116,946,967
1999-2000	204	79,424,909
2000-01	183	78,334,883
2001-02	201	90,631,001
2002-03	281	99,920,623
2003-04	303	93,711,043
2004-05	189	120,254,975
2005-06	182	101,375,570
TOTAL	2,186	1,231,568,186

3.31 Highlights of this funding include:

— more than £860 million for the construction and refurbishment of museum and gallery buildings;

— 472 awards to museums and galleries for acquisition of works of art and other objects with a total value of £141 million;

— more than £227 million for collections projects including exhibitions, interpretation, collections management, learning programmes and outreach; and

— more than £406 million to all 22 DCMS-funded museums and galleries, of which more than £334 million to the 14 national museums and galleries.

3.32 Since the establishment of the Lottery, the visual arts have been revolutionised by the emergence of iconic public spaces bringing in new audiences to experience the visual arts. Through Lottery funds, HLF have supported the acquisition of great works of art and cultural objects and enabled many to be preserved for the nation. ACE has supported the Contemporary Art Society's Special Collection scheme which enabled regional museums to acquire contemporary works of art and craft.

3.33 Over the last 10 years the HLF has invested nearly £200 million in helping libraries, archives and other organisations to collect, conserve and open up the UK's rich and diverse written, spoken and film heritage for everyone to enjoy. The breakdown of HLF awards to archives & libraries by financial year is as follows:


	Awards	Value (£)

1994-95	1	13,253,929
1995-96	19	12,562,859
1996-97	42	23,960,545
1997-98	44	12,289,421
1998-99	81	29,231,722
1999-2000	70	13,444,011
2000-01	75	28,025,287
2001-02	112	17,934,603
2002-03	135	20,990,562
2003-04	180	16,986,421
2004-05	116	35,700,011
2005-06	64	12,706,115
TOTAL	939	237,085,486

3.34 Highlights of this funding include:

— more than £123 million to archives;

— more than £53 million to 190 record office projects;

— £15 million to build new record offices in Devon, Surrey, Norfolk and Cumbria;

— more than £6 million to Access to Archives (A2A), Scottish Archive Network and Archive Network Wales;

— £18 million to 26 film and sound archive projects;

— more than £52 million to 96 library projects;

— more than £24 million to the British Library, the National Library of Wales and the National Library of Scotland;

— over £6.5 million to public libraries;

— nearly £5 million to volunteer-led and community organisations;

— more than £31.7 million to 56 university archive and library projects; and

— 115 awards to archives and libraries for acquisitions with a total value of £56.7 million.

3.35 In addition to support from the HLF, the Big Lottery Fund (formerly the New Opportunities Fund and the Community Fund) has also supported collections through projects such as:

— Digitisation programme—which has provided £50 million to "unlock" the learning resources of libraries, archives, museums, galleries, colleges and universities, charities, voluntary organisations and others by converting them into electronic form;

— People's Network—£120 million for the People's Network has enabled public libraries to offer users free internet access in the vast majority of cases. The Network has encouraged new users and its introduction has coincided with over 17m extra visits to libraries in England over the last three years.

3.36 The impact of the Lottery on museums, galleries, archives and libraries has been enormous. It has helped to transform buildings and collections and improve the visitor experience for thousands of people every year. Museums have benefited from the opportunities offered by HLF funding to undertake major refurbishments and create inspiring and stimulating new environments. Funding from the HLF has also helped hundreds of museums, galleries, archives and libraries add to their collections and make them more relevant to people.

LOCAL AUTHORITY FUNDING

3.37 Local authorities play an enormously important role in supporting cultural services at a local level. They provide the second largest amount of public funds for museums and galleries and are by far the biggest contributors to libraries and archives. Funding for local cultural provision is paid to local authorities, un-ring fenced as part of the Local Government Financial Settlement. The funding picture at a local level is illustrated by the following table[15]:


	Net Current Expenditure
	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04

Culture and Sport Expenditure	Out-turns	Out-turns	Out-turns
Conservation of Historic Environment	£15.6 m	£15.5 m	£21.1 m
Art Activities and Facilities	£187.1 m	£188.9 m	£224.7 m
Archives and Records	£36.5 m	£49.6 m	£37.3 m
Museum and Galleries	£143.1 m	£148.9 m	£154.1 m

3.38 Museum provision varies among the 410 principal local authorities in England and Wales. Unlike libraries, museums services are not statutory. As at September 2005, 35% of councils made no direct museum provision, 50% deliver some or all of those services themselves; 10% do so through arrangements with other local authorities; and 5% have devolved their museum operations to museum or culture/leisure trusts, or outsourced them to commercial operators. Depending on how the museum was founded, or the approach adopted to gifts from benefactors, the collections may, or may not, be the Council's corporate property.

3.39 Outside The National Archives, local authority archive services are the key providers for protecting our written heritage. Under section 224 of the Local Government Act 1972, local authorities have a statutory duty to make "proper arrangements" for the care of their own records. Over time, local authorities have also demonstrated a general willingness to take responsibility as far as they are able for the archival resources of their respective localities, to include locally deposited church records and material of private provenance. The MLA has estimated that net revenue expenditure on local authority archives in 2003-04 was £39.6 million, an increase of 9.4% on the previous year[16].

3.40 There are 149 library authorities in England and it is their statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Funding for libraries is paid to local authorities, un-ring fenced as part of the Local Government Financial Settlement. There have been year-on-year real terms increases in the Local Government Financial Settlement since 1997. Over that period the funding made available to libraries in England has increased from £595 million in 1997-98 to £817 million in 2004-05 an increase of over 37%[17].

3.41 The DCMS Framework for the Future strategy (2003) set out a vision for 21st century public libraries as community hubs with particular potential strengths as providers of reading and informal learning opportunities, as facilitators of access to digital content and as enablers of community cohesion. The strategy also identified areas where libraries needed to build capacity. With DCMS funding of £2 million a year, the MLA has devised and led on an action plan to address many of these challenges. This improvement work has included peer reviews of individual library authorities facing particular difficulties, leadership training and a project to streamline the book selection and supply process.

3.42 Local authorities play a central role in supporting the arts regionally, not only through direct funding of arts organisations, events and venues, but also through a range of support services delivered through their arts officers, including provision of affordable arts space, incubator programmes and professional development.

SELF-GENERATED INCOME

3.43 For many of the DCMS-sponsored museums self-generated income represents a substantial contribution to their overall resources. The Tate, for example, generates 67p net for every £1 of grant in aid. The Funding Agreements concluded with our sponsored museums and galleries for 2005-08 include a performance target on profitability. These targets have been negotiated on the basis of each institution's funding plans for this spending review period and beyond and have regard to assets and resources, opportunities and the assessment of risk. Total self-generated income by sponsored museums and galleries over the period 1998-99—2002-03 (the most up to date period for which we have data) is summarised by the following table[18]:


1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03

£118.4m	£121.8m	£134.2m	£129.9m	£107.5m

3.44 The British Library's self-generated income is higher than that of any other national library, and makes up around 25% of their total income as follows:


2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06

£27.9m	£32.2m	£34m	£30m	£32m	£39.3m

IMPACT OF THE 2012 OLYMPICS

3.45 The 2012 Olympics is a top priority for the Government. It provides a huge opportunity to showcase London's major museums to the world. Olympic investment is expected to generate many millions of additional visitors to the UK and especially to London. The Olympics, therefore, offer a unique opportunity for museums and galleries in London to generate increased income from their commercial offer.

3.46 The arrangements for funding the Olympics are set out in the Government's Response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee Report : "A London Olympic Bid for 2012 (HC268)." The Olympics will be funded from the following sources:


Development	Operations

Lottery	Sponsorship
GLA	Ticket Sales
London Development Agency	Other
Other Government

3.47 None of the grant funding in the Olympic Funding Package is taken from DCMS and so should have no effect on the amount of Grant-in-Aid available for the DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries or for the British Library. In addition, all the non-Olympic good causes have had their percentage shares of non-Olympic Lottery income guaranteed until 2019.

3.48 The Lottery contribution of £1.5 billion to the £2.375 billion public sector funding package for the 2012 Olympics consists of:

— £750 million from hypothecated Olympic Lottery games;

— £410 million from the mainstream National Lottery from 2009; and

— £340 million from Sports Lottery distributors to meet the costs of elite sport and associated sports investment.

3.49 In addition to the £410 million, non-Olympic distributors can expect to lose about 5% of their income as a result of sales diversions from mainstream National Lottery games to Olympic Lottery games over the period of the hypothecated games.

3.50 Should costs increase, the 2003 Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Mayor provides for an agreement between them to share the cost increase. The assumption in the Memorandum is that the Government's share of any additional Olympic funding would be drawn from the lottery.

3.51 The Government's aim, however, is to minimise the extent of any additional call on lottery funds to meet Olympic costs.

CONCLUSION

3.52 In broad terms, the last 10 years has seen a significant increase in Grant in Aid to national museums, galleries, archives and libraries. One of the principal benefits of this increased funding has been the provision of free access. However, there have also been other benefits in terms of enhancing the visitor experience both by improving the building stock through capital investment and improving and increasing collections and their display and conservation.

3.53 Grant in Aid through Renaissance in the Regions has also been used to strengthen the national network of regional museums and has transformed them from "surviving" to "thriving" after years of under investment.

3.54 At the same time, the Lottery has helped to spread these same benefits—improved buildings and collections—through to museums, galleries, archives and libraries at the regional and local level throughout the UK.

3.55 It is also clear that the sponsored museums, galleries, archives and libraries have become more experienced in and more efficient at generating income for themselves. They now engage in a wide range of income-generating activities, including both traditional areas such as retailing and catering and more innovative projects.

3.56 The 2012 Olympics, far from being a threat to the museums, galleries, archives and libraries sector, provides an enormous opportunity to showcase our cultural offer to the world.

SPECIFIC ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMITTEE

Issue 2—Acquisition and disposal policies with particular reference to due diligence obligations on acquisition and legal restrictions on disposal of objects

Acquisitions policy

Introduction

4. A museum, archive or library is defined by its collection and this provides the bedrock on which everything else is built.

4.1 However, museums, galleries, archives and libraries are all very different kinds of institutions. Some institutions are set up to be more or less complete collections: eg legal deposit libraries or the Natural History Museum, which aspires to have a reference collection of more or less every species in a particular taxonomic and geographic spread. Archives are in a similar position in that they are striving to preserve records for posterity. Other institutions, on the other hand, have an instrumental approach to their collections. Public lending Libraries need very actively to refresh their stock and dispose more readily of items that are no longer in demand from borrowers. Many museums have collections that are not so much for posterity but to illustrate a particular narrative that is of relevance at a local or regional level.

4.2 DCMS is very much aware of the problems facing museums, galleries, archives and libraries in renewing and refreshing their collections, and in maintaining their financial and curatorial ability to secure work of contemporary relevance for the national and other collections. However, we do not accept that there is one answer to these issues that can be applied to all institutions.

Public Funding

4.3 There is increasing concern that museum, gallery, archive and library collecting has declined considerably. For example, the recent Art Fund Museum Survey 2006: The Collecting Challenge found that 51% of museums surveyed said the main influence on their collecting activity is a lack of funding. However, museums also cited other issues, such as space, staff and expertise as a barrier to acquisitions.

4.4 There is, in fact, a considerable amount of funding available for collecting and which is being spent on adding to collections and keeping them well maintained.

4.5 Between 1997-98—2005-06 the Natural History Museum, British Museum, National Museum of Science & Industry, V&A and Tate spent over £252 million on acquisitions. Since 1992, the Grant in Aid allocation to each of the museums and galleries supported by DCMS has not included a separate ring fenced element for acquisitions. Instead, they have been responsible for setting their own acquisitions budgets using the funds derived from their various income streams. The museums generally agree that this approach is preferable to the system which existed previously.

4.6 Designated Collections are also able to access grants totalling £3.8 million (2006-08) to enhance their collections. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), as the lead strategic body for museums, is making the awards to ensure that these outstanding collections can be enjoyed and appreciated by as many people as possible. The scheme was launched in 1997 for museums only, with a further two rounds in 1998 and 1999 and extended to libraries and archives in 2005. The Scheme now covers over 100 collections held in museums, libraries and archives. Since 1999, £24 million has been awarded to museums, libraries and archives through the Designation Challenge Fund.

4.7 At the same time, substantial amounts of lottery funding through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has been provided for the acquisition of portable heritage items for museums, galleries and archives. For example:

— since 1994 the HLF has made 451 awards to museums and galleries for the acquisition of works of art and other objects;

— the total value of these awards is £139.5 million;

— since 1994 museums and galleries have made 527 applications for HLF to fund acquisitions. The HLF have been able to support 85% of these applications. In no single year has this success rate dropped below 73%; and

— £37 million has been provided for the acquisition of archive material.

4.8 Indeed, both the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) and the HLF have a good track record on funding acquisitions. Between them they have awarded almost £200 million in grants for acquisitions over the past 10 years. The NHMF is topped up each year by a tranche of grant in aid which currently stands at £5 million, but is set to rise to £10 million in 2007-08.

Charitable Donations

4.9 DCMS hosted a forum in July 2006 with leading figures from the museums, galleries, archives and libraries sector to begin a dialogue on collections and to begin to solve the various problems cited. One of the issues that arose from this meeting is that an area in which there is considerable scope for improvement is increasing individual and corporate donations for acquisitions.

4.10 The Acceptance in Lieu scheme (AIL) enables tax payers to transfer important heritage objects into public ownership in payment of inheritance tax. In 2005-06 items valued at £25 million were accepted in lieu of inheritance tax. Works of art of a pre-eminent standard are also exempt from capital gains tax when they are sold to a public collection by private treaty sale (ie not by auction). This exemption also benefits the purchasing collection, which pays a lower price than the market price.

4.11 In addition, to these successful tax concessions there are also a number of tax concessions already available to encourage private and corporate giving. However, it was felt that these concessions are poorly understood by the private sector and are not taken up to any large extent. As a result, DCMS is currently examining the existing tax-based incentives to ascertain whether they could be better deployed by its funded bodies in the cultural sector as a whole, and whether there may be a case to be made for some clarification of the existing legislation. We are also considering how best to promote the use of the existing legislation by the organisations we fund and to develop a culture of giving that extends beyond the traditional charities.

Innovation and training

4.12 Whilst funding is a key factor in the ability of museums, galleries, archives and libraries to acquire new objects for their collections, it would be a mistake to consider this the only factor. There are other issues such as curatorial expertise and training, issues of storage (see below on disposals) and innovation.

4.13 As a result, we are also looking at how we can help museum and other staff to gain the expertise they need. Training as part of the Renaissance programme will have a key role to play. Partnerships between museums or groups of museums can also help, either to co-ordinate individual museums' collecting strategies or in some cases to make joint purchases.

4.14 Arts Council England has supported contemporary collections in a number of ways in the past, most notably through the pilot run as the Contemporary Art Society's Special Collections Scheme (SCS). In addition, their collection, administered by the Hayward gallery, exists as a national resource loaned out to numerous different organisations.

Contemporary Art Society (CAS) Special Collections Scheme

4.15 In 1998 Arts Council England awarded CAS £2.5million, from Lottery funds, towards a £3.3 million project to establish the SCS. This enabled 15 participating museums throughout England to purchase 610 works by 313 different artists.

4.16 The Scheme was widely welcomed as it provided a means of acquiring new works of contemporary art. This was especially important for regional museums and galleries, which often have minimal or no acquisitions budgets. It helped reinvigorate collections, stimulated new audiences and changed the image of a number of museums that were seen as only containing historic collections. It was also seen by curators as an important workforce development exercise, raising the level of curatorial expertise and knowledge in the UK, with a focus on the contemporary art market.

4.17 The Scheme came to an end in 2004. ACE commissioned a detailed evaluation of the Scheme, which was published in September 2005, to allow lessons learnt from the scheme to inform future initiatives. ACE is committed to build on the CAS Scheme and to working with national and regional museums to take this forward. ACE is now working with Tate, the MLA and the CAS to create the first national on-line database of contemporary art in public collections. This will help identify a baseline of collections to inform a future strategy.

Arts Council England's Collection and Hayward Gallery Touring Collections

4.18 Arts Council England's Collection of modern and contemporary British art is now the largest national loan collection of modern and contemporary British art in the world. It is highly regarded for its quality and range. The collection, managed and toured by the Hayward Gallery, has an annual budget of £150,000 and concentrates on younger emerging artists, although it does occasionally acquire an outstanding work by a mature artist. The collection is lent to over 100 venues including regional galleries and museums, libraries and hospitals and to exhibitions in the UK and abroad.

4.19 Beyond its own collection, Arts Council England provides support to organisations wishing to tour exhibitions, recognising that this is an important mechanism for ensuring art reaches as many people as possible. Grants for national touring have increased significantly in recent years, and more work of better quality has been able to reach more people in this country and abroad. Over £6 million was allocated in 2000 to 2004, for over 200 touring visual arts exhibitions and projects.

4.20 In June, ACE also launched its strategy for the contemporary visual arts in England, Turning Point, which highlighted the particular challenge facing art galleries wishing to develop contemporary art collections. Whilst the majority of ACE funded galleries do not hold permanent collections, and thus are not central to the concerns of this inquiry, they often have much of the expertise, and contacts in the commercial art market, which are needed to make informed decisions about acquisitions. ACE is exploring how greater collaboration amongst the workforces within all galleries and museums, irrespective of their funding, could bring greater sectoral confidence and a sharing of skills needed to develop collections. The research undertaken which led to Turning Point noted that the opportunity to share curatorial expertise through commissioning new work, secondments and mentoring is not being realised.

Due Diligence

4.21 There is general agreement within museums, galleries, archives and libraries that the illicit trade in cultural material must be resisted; that they should set high ethical standards for acquisitions; and that they should avoid giving tacit support to the market in unprovenanced material through their acquisition activities.

4.22 DCMS is committed to combating the illicit trade in cultural objects and in October 2005 published Combatting Illicit Trade: Due Diligence for Museums, Libraries and Archives on Collecting and Borrowing Cultural Material to help museums and others avoid the pitfalls associated with acquisition.

4.23 The guidance explains that, if the vendor cannot provide acceptable documentary evidence of the item's provenance, then it is the museum's duty to undertake due diligence checks. That is, they must make every endeavour to establish the facts of the case before deciding to purchase. At any stage of this due diligence process the museum may decide that there are doubts about the item's ethical status and it should, therefore, not proceed with the acquisition or loan.

4.24 DCMS has also commissioned MLA to develop and maintain a website, Cultural Property Advice to provide information to users on a range of cultural property issues, but primarily to the art and antiquities trade on the purchase of art and antiquities, with the aim of giving the user access to information to allow them to assess the likelihood that the cultural object he or she wishes to purchase is being legally traded.

Disposal policy

Introduction

4.25 The decision on whether to dispose of an item from the collection of a museum, gallery, archive or library is generally a matter for that institution. In the case of sponsored museums, galleries, archives and libraries their trustees must pay due regard to their governing legislation or trust deed in reaching any decisions concerning disposal. In the case of local authority funded cultural services it is a matter for the local authority itself to reach decisions concerning disposals. The Museums Association's (MA's) ethical advice has always been guided by a strong presumption against disposing of items in a collection. The Museums Accreditation scheme requires all museums in the scheme to have an approved Acquisition & Disposal Policy. Archives by their very nature preserve records for posterity, while as noted above, libraries have a varied approach to disposal according to their individual responsibilities and requirements.

4.26 It is clear, however, that if an institution continues to expand its collection to reflect emerging and contemporary priorities but does not dispose of any items in its collections then a point will come where it may run out of space altogether to display and store its collections. And even if this is not the case, it may be difficult to make sense of—or put to good use—a collection that has been acquired over many years and without a consistent theme or narrative in mind.

4.27 A number of museums, galleries, archives and libraries are reaching the point at which they need seriously to consider the issue of disposal in order to manage their collections more effectively. DCMS, therefore, welcomes the MA's recent consultation document on whether the MA should adopt a less restrictive ethical position towards disposals. The MA's consultation runs until 31 October and DCMS will be taking a keen interest in the findings.

Deaccessioning

4.28 A particular issue concerning disposal arises in relation to the national museums, galleries, archives and libraries. These institutions are governed by statute, which in most cases only permits the disposal (or "deaccessioning") of items from the collections of these institutions in highly restricted circumstances. There are variations in the different statutes governing these national institutions but the large majority of them have very little room for flexibility when it comes to deaccessioning.

4.29 For the reasons outlined above this is a situation that is of concern to DCMS. The Museums Association's consultation on disposals provides a useful and timely opportunity to reconsider the issues around deaccessioning by the nationals.

4.30 Three areas in which DCMS is particularly active at the moment relate to the deaccessioning of human remains, spoliated items from the Nazi era and loans.

Human remains

4.31 The vast majority of human remains in UK museums are of UK-origin, excavated under uncontentious conditions within a clearly defined legal framework. However, a number of human remains held in British museums and collections were acquired, often between 100 and 200 years ago, from indigenous peoples in colonial circumstances where there was a very uneven division of power. Some human remains were acquired in circumstances that by modern standards, and those of the time, would be considered unacceptable.

4.32 In October 2005 DCMS issued Guidance on the holding and return of human remains held in museums. The Guidance is in three parts covering the legal and ethical framework, the curation, care and use of human remains and claims for the return of remains. It contains a set of criteria which should be adopted as the common standard for museums to use in considering claims for the return of human remains. The final decision on whether to return human remains rests with the museum in question.

4.33 The Human Tissue Act 2004 introduced a new legislative framework for the storage and use of human remains of less than 100 years of age, including licensing requirements. The Act made consent the most important principle for the lawful retention and use of human tissue and established the Human Tissue Authority to advise on and ensure compliance with the Act, develop national operational procedures and guidelines and licence activities using human tissue.

4.34 The publication of the Guidance also brought into effect Section 47 of the Human Tissue Act 2004. The Act allows nine national museums, which hold human remains, to move them out of their collections.

4.35 To complement the Guidance, DCMS has set up, at the request of the museum sector, a Human Remains Advisory Service which smaller museums can call upon to help them reach a decision on claims for the repatriation of human remains in their collections.

4.36 The Advisory Service received its first request for advice in March 2006 and advisers are now working with the holding institution. We would expect the outcome of the claim and the advice provided by the advisers to be published in due course.

Spoliation

4.37 The scale of destruction and looting of private and public collections of art that occurred during the Nazi era was exceptional, even by the standards of the time. From 1933, when the Nazis came to power, to the end of the war in 1945, they carried out a systematic programme for the forced transfer of works of art, and other cultural objects. Members of the Jewish community were particular targets. As a result, cultural objects previously owned by members of the Jewish community and others have been dispersed throughout Europe and beyond.

4.38 The Spoliation Advisory Panel was appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in 2000 to consider any claims which may be made by anyone who had lost possession of a cultural object during the years 1933-1945 where that object is now in the possession of a UK national collection or in the possession of another UK museum or gallery established for the public benefit. The Panel provides independent advice and has a small Secretariat provided by DCMS.

4.39 As already noted, national museums are currently unable to deaccession works of art because of restrictions written into their statutes. In 2005, the Panel recommended that the law should be changed to permit the restitution of objects falling within its terms of reference.

4.40 DCMS issued a consultation paper on 10 July 2006 seeking views on whether the law should be changed to allow museums to restitute objects lost during the Nazi era and, if so, how far such a power should extend. The paper also considers such questions as who should be responsible for taking the final decision as to whether a particular object should be released from a museum collection, what provision, if any, should be made in relation to non-statutory restrictions on disposals from collections and what role the Spoliation Advisory Panel should have. The consultation closes on 10 November 2006.

Loans

4.41 Most museums keep a large proportion of their collections in secure storage. The Department encourages its sponsored museums to share items from their collections, so that other institutions have the chance to make use of them. All of its sponsored museums report regularly on the number of other institutions to which items are loaned, and there have been significant increases in this activity in recent years. The British Museum, for example, loaned items to 150 venues in England in 2005-06, compared to 78 in 2001-02. The V&A loans items to 258 English venues, and maintains a UK Partnership consortium with museum and gallery services in Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Tyne & Wear to promote access among diverse audiences across the country. As well as sharing collections, the national museums sponsored by DCMS have developed partnerships with non-nationals that seek to promote sector-wide staff development and professional capacity.

SPECIFIC ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMITTEE

Issue 3—The remit and effectiveness of DCMS, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and other relevant organisations in representing cultural interests inside and outside Government

(i) Remit of Organisations

Within Government

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

5. DCMS has lead policy responsibility within Government for museums, galleries, and libraries and now for the art market. The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has responsibility for The National Archives. DCMS directly sponsors 22 museums, galleries and libraries. Collectively these are the keepers and conservators of the nation's art and heritage. Including the British Library, they receive over £400 million annually of funding from the DCMS. DCMS also sponsors the two NDPBs—MLA and the Arts Council England—that cover the interests of the museums, galleries, libraries and archives sectors.

Ministry of Defence

5.1 The MoD has responsibility for six national museums which it sponsors directly. It also spends around £5.6 million per year on a network of 69 armed services and regimental museums throughout the country.

Department for Constitutional Affairs

5.2 The National Archives (TNA) is an Executive Agency reporting to the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs. TNA was formed in April 2003 when the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission were brought together. TNA's main responsibility is the care of central Government records and those of the courts of law.

Department for Communities and Local Government

5.3 The Department for Communities and Local Government has overall responsibility for the funding of local authorities throughout England. The funding for maintenance of the network of local libraries and many local museums, galleries and archives is provided from the Local Government Financial Settlement.

Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA)

5.4 The MLA is a wide ranging NDPB covering museum, library and archival issues and is responsible for implementing national development programmes including; Renaissance in the Regions, Framework for the Future, the Archives Action Plan as well as Cultural Property functions. The MLA also provides support to other external initiatives and is involved in Museums and Galleries Month, Archives Awareness, the 24 Hour Museum website and MDA, which provides documentation on museum standards. Most recently MLA provided £20k towards the administration costs of the Gulbenkian Prize.

5.5 The National Archives and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council have jointly contributed to the development of a UK Records and Archives Development Plan under the auspices of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Archives (IDAC). This brings together the major programmes being taken forward in pursuance of Government policy and the objectives established by the Archives Task Force in 2004.

5.6 MLA's programme expenditure is:


Programme	2006-07 £m

Baseline (including Portable Antiquities Scheme and funding for the Regional Agencies)	15.053
Renaissance in the Regions	32.000
Framework for the Future	2.000
Externally funded programmes, including Lottery	3.800
Total	52.853

5.7 Following a peer review in 2005 a number of changes have been introduced at the MLA:

— The MLA Partnership (MLA and the nine independent regional agencies) came into being in April 2006. The regional agencies have rebranded themselves as "MLA Yorkshire", "MLA London" etc.

— A new National Board has now been formed to include the Chairs of all the regional agencies.

— A new executive structure for "MLA National" (the NDPB funded by DCMS) has been designed to reflect the roles and responsibilities that MLA will fulfil within the MLA Partnership.

— A single corporate plan (from 2007-08 onwards) will be directing the work of all 10 organisations.

— Effective partnership working will eliminate duplication of effort, releasing resources to support programme activity in the longer term.

— During 2006-07, restructuring will deliver a headcount reduction in MLA of around 20 posts, reducing "MLA National" to 70 staff by 2007-08.

— MLA is in the process of assimilating staff into a new organisational structure, built around four core functions: Policy, Operations, Communications and Corporate Services. The majority of offers for assimilated posts have been accepted and internal interviews for unfilled posts are now complete.

Arts Council of England

5.8 Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England, distributing public money from the Government and the National Lottery. An important part of its mission is to promote the visual arts, including promoting opportunities for the display of new works of art in galleries and other public spaces.

5.9 Arts Council England has also undergone a thorough Peer Review and is in the process of significantly restructuring the National Office.

Outside Government

Museums Association

5.10 The Museums Association (MA) represents the people and institutions constituting Britain's museums and galleries. It is independent of government and is funded by its membership, which is made up of individual museum professionals, institutions and corporate members. The MA provides information through its website and publications, lobbies government and sets ethical standards through its policy department. It offers a comprehensive professional development programme for members wishing to further their careers in museums and galleries. The MA administers a number of funds designed to enhance collections and to aid MA members and their families in unexpected financial distress.

National Museums Directors' Conference

5.11 The National Museum Directors' Conference represents the leaders of the UK's national museums and galleries. These comprise the national museums and galleries in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the three national libraries, and The National Archives. The NMDC is an independent and non-governmental organisation.

5.12 The NMDC was founded in 1929, in anticipation of a Royal Commission recommendation that the national collections should "coordinate their work and discuss matters of mutual concern". Today the NMDC provides its membership with a valuable forum for discussion and debate and an opportunity to share information and work collaboratively. Recent issues addressed by the organisation include leadership development within the museums, libraries and archives sector, the spoliation of works of art during the Holocaust and World War II period, and the international role of the UK's national collections.

The National Council on Archives

5.13 The National Council on Archives was established in 1988 to bring together the major bodies and organisations, including service providers, users, depositors and policy makers, across the UK concerned with archives and their use. It aims to develop consensus on matters of mutual concern and provide an authoritative common voice for the archival community. The NCA is a membership organization.

Society of Chief Librarians

5.14 The Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) is a professional association made up of the Chief Librarians of each library authority in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. SCL aims to take a leading role in the development of public libraries by influencing statutory, financial and other decisions.

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

5.15 The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) is the largest, most comprehensive membership body for library and information professionals in the UK. It has over 23,000 members and provides a range of member services and advice and support.

Heritage Lottery Fund

5.16 The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) distributes the heritage share of Lottery money for good causes and enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From museums and historic buildings to parks and nature reserves to celebrating traditions, customs and history, the HLF has awarded over £3.6 billion to projects that open up our nation's heritage for everyone to enjoy.

National Heritage Memorial Fund

5.17 The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) is the fund of last resort for the nation's heritage, coming to the rescue by funding emergency acquisitions. The NHMF currently receives an annual income of £5million from the government. In recognition of the vital role it plays and to help it meet an increasing number of applications, the government will be doubling NHMF's income to £10million from 2007.

MDA

5.18 MDA is the UK's lead organisation on documentation and information management for museums. MDA provides advice, support and guidance to museum professionals to help them achieve national standards in the management of their collections. It is a registered charity, funded by a grant from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The initials "MDA" formerly stood for "Museum Documentation Association".

Society of Archivists

5.19 The Society of Archivists exists to promote the care and preservation of archives and the better administration of archive repositories to advance the training of its members and to encourage relevant research and publication.

Arts & Humanities Research Council

5.20 The Arts & Humanities Research Council provides support for higher education museums, galleries and collections on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The Council offers two schemes to ensure that valuable resources are properly cared for, to strengthen the link between collections and teaching and research, and to increase access to collections for the benefit of higher education and the wider community.

Visual Arts and Galleries Association

5.21 The Visual Arts and Galleries Association (VAGA) is the lead national professional body for the contemporary visual arts bridging the visual arts and museum sectors. The Association is a membership body open to organisations and individuals concerned with the exhibition, interpretation and development of modern and contemporary visual art on behalf of the public.

Contemporary Art Society

5.22 The Contemporary Arts Society is a registered charity supported by its Members and grants from Arts Council England, The Henry Moore Foundation, The Arts Council England Lottery Fund, The Crafts Council, The Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund, The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and The Fine Family Foundation.

5.23 It promotes the collecting of contemporary art through its gifts to public museums and the advice and guidance it offers companies and individuals. It organises an annual selling event, ARTfutures presenting some of the best works from degree shows and more established artists, offering an affordable selection of contemporary art. It also arranges various events for its members including monthly contemporary art tours, visits to private collections and overseas trips.

(ii) Effectiveness

5.24 As a direct result of the effectiveness of the policies and funding provided by DCMS and of the delivery of programmes by MLA we have secured the following benefits for museums, galleries, archives and libraries and their collections:

— larger and broader audiences are now accessing collections;

— collections being better cared for in better buildings;

— strong research and interpretation of our collections;

— more educational use of museums, galleries, archives and libraries;

— museums, galleries, archives and libraries having a greater economic impact;

— successful reform and modernisation of the sector; and

— recognition of the importance of museums, galleries and libraries within the Comprehensive Performance Assessment.

September 2006

9 The Ministry of Defence is also responsible for a further 6 national sponsored museums and in 2005-06 provided £14.9 million to these museums. Back

10 Covers DCMS funding allocated to the 17 sponsored museums that are classified as non-departmental public bodies. Excludes allocations to some smaller bodies and DCMS funding streams. open to museums and galleries such as Strategic Commissioning, Reform Pot and the DCMS/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund. Back

11 British Library Annual Reports and Accounts. Back

12 "Pocket Guide to Renaissance". Back