Written evidence submitted by Renaissance
South West (arts 155)
Renaissance is the Museum Library and Archive
Council funded ground-breaking programme to transform England's
regional museums. Central government funding is enabling regional
museums across the country to raise their standards and deliver
real results in local communities. Renaissance South West is a
partnership of five museum services working with the Museums,
Libraries and Archives Council to deliver, on a regional basis,
the Renaissance programme of investment in England's regional
museums. The five partners are:
— Bristol's Museums and Art Galleries.
— Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum,
Bournemouth.
— Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Gallery,
Exeter.
— Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery.
— Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro.
This submission is in response to the following
issue:
— What impact recent, and future, spending
cuts from central and local Government will have on the arts and
heritage at a national and local level;
SUMMARY
This submission will demonstrate the considerable
scope and impact of the Renaissance programme across the southwest
region. Renaissance is increasing participation in museums, supporting
the development of world-class museums and ensuring the museum
sector is sustainable for the long term. This submission will
demonstrate how Renaissance is providing value for money and supporting
the achievement of government aims such as Big Society and Sustainable
Communities. This submission focuses on the Renaissance South
West circa £1 million investment to Museum Development activity
with the 216 Accredited/Registered museums across the southwest
region.
Further reductions to the Renaissance South
West programme would have a significant and detrimental impact
on the programme. The South West region has already responded
to a reduction in funding of over 1 million pounds as a result
of the equalisation of funding between the nine English regions
in 2009 and further in year cuts of 2.5% in 2010. In 2008-09 Renaissance
South West received central government funding of £4,902,610
and in 2009-10 of £4,322,969 and has a provisional allocation
in 2010-11 of £4,736,759. Further reductions would inhibit
the programme from delivering vital front line services and improvements
in museums for local communities across the region.
1. Renaissance South West reaches 216 Accredited
museums[121]
and many more community heritage groups across the region through
funding for Museum Development Officers.
2. Renaissance South West funding provides vital
leverage for additional investment from both public and private
sectors.
3. The Renaissance South West investment in Museum
Development Officers enables local community and small independent
museums to achieve and sustain professional standards.
4. Renaissance funding ensures that "Big
Society" is a reality in museums across the region for the
benefit of local communities.
5. Renaissance funding ensures that the South
West museum sector continues to be a key incentive for tourism
and, as a result, a vital contributor to economic development
in the region.
6. Targeted Renaissance investment has provided
unique employment and training opportunities for young people
in museums as part of the cultural and creative sectors.
7. The Renaissance investment continues to support
increased participation in museums and heritage and provide education,
enjoyment and enrichment for all.
1. Renaissance reaches 216 Accredited museums
across the region by funding Museum Development Officers.
Renaissance South West is a central government
funded programme investing £36,000,000 in transforming regional
museums in the South West 2002-11. Whilst the programme is focused
on achieving transformation in the five key partners, Bristol
City Museums & Art Gallery, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and
Museum, Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Gallery, Plymouth City
Museum and Art Gallery and Royal Cornwall Museum, it also plays
a vital part in supporting the other 206 Accredited museums across
the South West region. In order to fully understand the impact
of spending cuts it is vital to fully understand the considerable
impact that the Renaissance investment has had and will continue
to deliver if current levels of funding are maintained.
The South West region is the largest English
region and has arguably the highest number of museums. Over half
of the regions museums are located in two counties; Devon and
Cornwall. Museums in the South West region hold c.14.5 million
objects of which 45% are deemed to be nationally significant.
Ten museums in the South West region hold Designated Collections;
recognised as pre-eminent collections of national and international
significance.[122]
There are over 450 museum and community heritage organisations
of which 216 meet the national minimum standard The Museum Accreditation
Scheme.[123]
Combined, these museums represent participation levels of over
five million visits per year, almost 8% of all United Kingdom
museum visits. Despite these incredible numbers, most museums
in the southwest are small, with over half having annual visitor
numbers of 10,000 or less. The southwest has a wealth of small
community heritage museums that play a vital role in providing
communities with a sense of place. Over 70% of the regions museums[124]
are independent trusts One in four of the museum sector workforce
is volunteer. The Renaissance South West investment supports a
delicate ecology of museum development support and professional
sector advice to the independent museum sector. This is delivered
in partnership with many local authorities across the region.
The Museum Development support network has its origins in the
regional museum council established over 50 years ago. The current
structures provide exceptional value for money and almost comprehensive
coverage across this large and challenging region. Stability,
in terms of moving from single year funding agreements to a minimum
of three-year funding agreements, would provide immeasurable benefits
in enabling capacity building and also in supporting long-term
sustainability.
Museum Development Officers provide a unique
and vital role for local community museums and heritage organisations
in the region. Through their local and county networks they provide
vital access to information and funding from a wide range of private
and public sources. Only by working collectively can local voluntary
and community museums demonstrate their vital contribution to
wider agendas such as social cohesion, civic participation, sense
of place and local distinctiveness.
2. Renaissance funding provides vital leverage
for additional investment from both public and private sectors.
The Renaissance investment provides leverage
against local government investment in Museum Development Officers.
On an annual basis eleven Local Authorities[125]
including Town, District, Unitary and County Councils invest approximately
£60,000 in Museum Development Officers as part of a number
of service level agreements with Renaissance South West. In 2010-11
the Renaissance South West programme will provide match funding
of c. £100,000 to support the employment of ten museum development
officers within the South West region. These Museum Development
Officers will provide direct access to professional advice and
support to over 200 museums, community heritage groups and organisations
across the South West region. There are a further six Museum Development
Officers within the South West supported exclusively by local
authorities with an approximate investment of £150,000. These
Museum Development Officers provide professional advice and support
to a further 30 Accredited museums and many more community heritage
groups.
Museum Development Officers provide central
coordination at county and sub-county level to enable economies
of scale, identify and secure additional investment. For example,
in many areas Museum Development Officers coordinate shared marketing
initiatives on behalf of museums to ensure their limited marketing
budgets have maximum impact. As a result of this coordinated approach
they are able to secure non-sector partners and additional investment
eg the Devon Museums Leaflet is distributed across the county
and in 2010 secured sponsorship from Helpful Holidays, a regional
tourist accommodation provider.
3. The Renaissance investment in Museum Development
Officers enables community and independent museums to achieve
and sustain professional standards.
100% of museums in the South West involve volunteers
in the delivery of museum services. Over 70% of the South West's
museum community is either run by, or entirely relies upon volunteers
for delivery (Towse Harrison, 2003). 71% of Accredited Museum
organisations are independent charities. The Renaissance South
West investment provides those museums without museum professional
staff to access professional expertise in order that they can
achieve and maintain appropriate professional sector standards.
216 museums in the region meet or exceed the national minimum
standard Accreditation in all areas such as governance, care of
collections, education and learning services and visitor services.
By meeting the national minimum standard the sector can provide
a consistent and professional service and ensure ongoing improvements
in response to user need. Renaissance provides further targeted
support in priority areas such as Early Years, providing a trusted
and quality service to families and visitors with children under
5s.
The Renaissance funded service provided by Museum
Development Officers is the only source of direct museum professional
expertise available to over half of the Accredited museums within
the region.
4. Renaissance funding ensures "Big
Society" is a reality in museums across the region for the
benefit of local communities
The DEFRA sustainable development indicators
(DEFRA 31/08/10[126])
show a deterioration in community participation at a national
level. However the South West region bucks the trend with a 2%
increase to 49% in overall volunteering. The museum sector is
a significant contributor to community participation as 100% of
museums in the South West involve volunteers in the delivery of
museum services.
Renaissance funded local surveys carried out
in 2009-10 provide clear evidence of the impact of volunteering
and the need for coordination in the museum volunteer sector:
— There are, at least, 1.463 active volunteers
in museums in Somerset giving an average of 13,532 hours a month
with an estimated economic value of £2.36 million pounds
a year.[127]
— There are, at least, 737 active volunteers
in museums in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire giving
an average of 6,544 hours a month with an estimated economic value
of £1.2 million pounds a year.[128]
This survey demonstrated that the increase in volunteering in
museums exceeded the local authority National Indicator NI6 target
twofold.
— There are, at least, 573 active volunteers
in museums in Wiltshire giving an average of 3,456 hours a month
with an estimated economic value of £592,457 pounds a year.
Similar figures demonstrating the economic value
of volunteering will result from surveys currently being carried
out in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset in the autumn.
5. Renaissance funding ensures that the South
West museum sector continues to be a key incentive for tourism
and a contributor to the regions economic development
Cultural heritage and the region's tourist industry
are inter-connected, attracting an estimated 22.5 million domestic
and international visitors in 2009 with a spend of £9.3 billion
and a market specialization in domestic holidays (South West Tourism,
April 2009). Towards 2015, the South West Tourism Strategy states
there are 26 million visitors to the South West each year. Tourism
provides 10% of our regions GDP and is worth over nine billion
to our regions economy.
It is widely recognised that museums and heritage
provide a vital incentive for tourism in the South West. Tourism
South West identifies holidays in which arts, culture and history
play a prominent role as a key growth trend for tourism in the
southwest. The 2009 Tourism South West visitor profile research
identifies over half of visitors are interesting in visiting a
museum or gallery as part of their stay in the region. Renaissance
South West is working with and targeting investment in priority
tourist areas, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, the Cotswolds
and the Forest of Dean to ensure a closer relationship with Destination
Marketing Organisations, Tourism South West. By aligning existing
and quality new digital content museums can contribute to the
regional marketing of the uniqueness and diversity of the South
West cultural and natural history and support an increase in tourism.
6. Targeted Renaissance investment has provided
vital employment and training opportunities for young people in
museums as part of the cultural and creative sectors
With a challenging employment environment for
young people and reduction in university places it is essential
to provide a variety of entry-level routes into the profession.
In response to the findings of the Cultural Heritage Blueprint
(Creative and Cultural Skills, 2008) Renaissance South West is
taking action. In 2010-11 Renaissance South West has invested
in the establishment of a regional Creative Apprenticeship network.
By developing partnerships between key training providers in the
region, museum organisations and agencies such as Connections,
Renaissance SW has increased awareness and the quality of on the
job training. In a sector primarily driven by high academic entry-level
requirements the Creative Apprenticeship has had a wide range
of benefits. These include raising confidence of the sector in
providing work based training with young people as well as opening
up opportunities to young people who considered the door closed
to those without degrees. With a relatively modest investment
of £60,000 Renaissance has grown the investment by securing
additional funding to enable the creation of three Creative Apprenticeship
clusters in Wiltshire, Plymouth and Bristol. Renaissance South
West is actively engaged in developing a sustainable relationship
between museum employers and training providers in conjunction
with key national agencies such as Foundation Degree Forward and
Creative & Cultural Skills.
7. The Renaissance investment continues to
support increased participation in museums and heritage and provide
education, enjoyment and enrichment for all
South West museums attract c.5 million visits
per year and nearly a third of those visits are made by children.[129]
Renaissance South West has delivered and continues to support
a wide range of initiatives to support increased participation.
In preparation for the increase of local, national and international
visitors for the 2012 Olympics, Renaissance South West is investing
£40,000 to support museums based along the Jurassic Coast.
This funding, matched with private and local government investment,
will deliver innovate and fun displays and interpretation for
the family market as well as to increase the professionalism of
display standards and interpretation for all visitors to enjoy.
September 2010
121 Accreditation, the United Kingdom national minimum
standard for the museum sector. Back
122
Designation http://www.mla.gov.uk/what/raising_standards/designation Back
123
Total given in anticipation of the September 2010 Accreditation
panel meeting. Back
124
SWMLAC Regional needs 2004 Back
125
Cornwall County Council, Bude-Stratton Town Council, East Devon
District Council, West Devon District Council, North Devon District
Council, Torridge District Council, Teignbridge District Council,
Somerset Council, South Somerset District Council, Dorset County
Council, Bath & North East Somerset Council. Back
126
http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/progress/regional/factsheets.htm Back
127
Somerset Volunteering Renaissance funded survey with a 79% response
rate and using the HLF standard calculation for volunteer contribution. Back
128
Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire funded survey using
the HLF standard calculation for volunteer contribution. Back
129
SWMLAC Regional needs 2004 Back
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