HC 507

Written evidence submitted by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PSC) [SMG 020]

1. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) is the largest trade union in the civil service with 260,000 members in the civil service and associated public bodies. This includes over 4,000 members working in the culture sector in our museums, galleries and heritage sites.

2. We welcome the committee’s decision to hold a short inquiry into the future of the Science Museum Group. Even in the event of the recent Ministerial announcement that they are not to be closed, we consider it useful in terms of their long-term prospect particularly in light of further budget cuts.

3. Our submission has been compiled with the assistance of our representatives who work in the culture sector. They have given their account of why these institutions hold such significance and options to improve their financial situation.

4. The Department for Culture Media and Sport has cut 15% from its running costs and a further seven per cent cuts have now been announced for 2015-16. This means that our members are losing their jobs and suffering worsening conditions. We are also concerned at the impact such massive spending reductions are having on access to our famous cultural sites.

5. The funding of community sports, arts and museums will be reduced by five per cent as opposed to the seven per cent cut being suffered in the wider Department. As the proposed cut has been decreased it means that the Science Museums will no longer face the threat of closure. We welcome the announcement that they will remain open but are concerned at what cutting their funding says about the government’s commitment to education and the sciences.

6. We represent members who work in the Science Museums group and were involved in supporting the recent campaign to save the institutions from closure. We argued that the museums on Bradford, Manchester and York, hold collections of international significance and should remain open, staffed by professional curators and assistants, with free entry to the public. Closure of the museums would not only have hit jobs and local economies, which benefit greatly from visitors, but would have meant the loss of important UK cultural institutions.

7. That the museums are to remain open is to be welcomed. We remain concerned that further cuts of five per cent could still lead to at least partial closure of one of the museums and is likely to lead to the loss of jobs and services. Keeping the doors open will not be sufficient unless staffing levels are enough to ensure that security, cleanliness, interpretation services and access to collections are all maintained.

8. PCS members in the Science Museum Group who work in security have had their jobs privatised. We were able to successfully protect their terms and conditions under TUPE when they transferred. However, staff morale has suffered as those working on the security contracts no longer feel like part of the museum family as they are no longer directly employed by them. The disenfranchisement of staff is of concern and is likely to have on staff turnover and retention. PCS believes that these jobs should be brought back in-house and that any further privatisation would be detrimental to the museum’s services.

9. Educational activities were one aspect that is seen as a major benefit. Many students who study science, geography, history, art and music would struggle with their studies if the museums where not available to them for their primary research. One of our members at the National Museums Liverpool used the Science Museums when studying for their degree in Museum Studies and said he would not have achieved such a high grade if the resources available at the museums had not been available to him.

10. The Science Museums are extremely important as they provide a unique interactive experience of getting up close to things we usually only see in books, newspapers or on the television. Seeing a steam train for example, is a completely different experience to seeing an image of one in a book or on postcard; the perception you get of something from a second hand source is often entirely different to the one you get when you see something with your own eyes.

11. As for education, going to the museums can bring what is taught in schools to life, by seeing artefacts/objects for example. If people are learning about a point in time of different forms of transport, for example, and they go to an exhibition full of artefacts dating from an early period to the present day, they are more likely to find it interesting and want to learn more about it. Many museums now deliver education sessions for schools were you can have the opportunity to interact with staff and the collections. Research has shown that those who have had firsthand experience of such information are more likely to retain it in later life.

12. A significant loss of the services offered by science museums to society would have a wide-ranging and detrimental impact at many levels. At a time when the UK economy needs people working in science and technology in British industry and in research and education, science group museums provide inspiration, motivation and knowledge, in particular to the younger generation. No price can be put on their educational value to children of school age. These museums are a significant resource for teachers and schools, especially those challenged with low budgets to devote to science teaching. Museums of all kinds can be a window on a new world to many children, especially those who face the challenges of poverty and who lack opportunity in their lives.

13. The Science Museums play a huge role locally. They are very popular with schools (both Primary and Secondary) as an education tool as they allow pupils to see the practical applications of all that science and maths they are learning in the class room. Outdoor learning is increasingly being used to engage pupils in the world of science and technology. It not only inspires those students who are interested in science to take it further academically and professionally, but can generate interest among those who had not been as engaged in classroom based science learning.

14. The Science Museums Group contain a wealth of exhibits and displays covering virtually every aspect of pure and applied science, history of medicine, railway engineering, and film. To consider closing one of them seriously brings into question the government’s commitment to science and engineering.

15. At the Global Health Policy Summit in 2012 David Cameron listed science as one of the UK’s five main strengths. Indeed, the United Kingdom has a strong scientific and innovative history, but in recent times the amount spent on the sciences (such as research and development) has fallen in comparison to our competitors such as the US, Japan, Germany and South Korea. Any short term cuts will lead to a long term decline in the country’s standing and will have an impact culturally and economically. We are concerned about what signal it sends to the local and international scientific community if the government forces the closure of places of cultural significance.

16. The government should invest in museums and not allow them to be in a poor financial position. Museums are a boost to our economy as they bring in visitors from across the world and generate tourism. Closing museums or cutting their funding would be counterproductive in economic terms. Museums may not create direct sources of revenue, but that is not their purpose. They are there to educate and inspire, without their influence we could lose potential inventors and innovators which will affect the countries future productivity and strength.

June 2013