Editorial
Is the Big Society just an excuse for big cuts?
Imagine a world in which communities come together to raise funds for their local museums and galleries and even help the staff working in them. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Apart from the fact that it already happens in most museums up and down the country. And apart from the fact that it would take an awful lot of volunteers to make up for a 25, 30 or even 40 per cent cut in funding.
Prime minister David Cameron unveiled the pilots for his Big Society initiative last month. They include a plan to extend an existing scheme that has increased the number of young volunteers in museums in Liverpool, giving them a chance to gain work experience and new skills (see link below).
There is no doubt that this is a worthwhile scheme but let’s not pretend the Big Society is something that it’s not.
For a start, the idea is not new. Museums such as National Museums Liverpool and the Imperial War Museum North have been running projects that increase the confidence and employability of volunteers for years.
Nor is this “people’s power”. A local community group stepping in to take over running an ailing museum could provide it with a lifeline, but putting unelected and unaccountable groups in charge of museums and dispatching a small army of civil servants to support them does not equal a fundamental redistribution of power.
If the Big Society and encouraging the use of more volunteers can provide additional resources to extend what museums and galleries already offer, and provide meaningful experiences for the volunteers themselves, then of course it’s a good thing.
But you can’t replace all your front-of-house staff with volunteers. And even if you do recruit more volunteers, they still need to be trained and managed properly.
If big cuts are implemented, museums are going to have to get rid of skilled, talented and committed staff – and no amount of volunteers can plug that gap.
The coalition says the Big Society isn’t a cover for cuts but if you replace paid staff with volunteers, that’s exactly what it is.
Sharon Heal, editor
Apart from the fact that it already happens in most museums up and down the country. And apart from the fact that it would take an awful lot of volunteers to make up for a 25, 30 or even 40 per cent cut in funding.
Prime minister David Cameron unveiled the pilots for his Big Society initiative last month. They include a plan to extend an existing scheme that has increased the number of young volunteers in museums in Liverpool, giving them a chance to gain work experience and new skills (see link below).
There is no doubt that this is a worthwhile scheme but let’s not pretend the Big Society is something that it’s not.
For a start, the idea is not new. Museums such as National Museums Liverpool and the Imperial War Museum North have been running projects that increase the confidence and employability of volunteers for years.
Nor is this “people’s power”. A local community group stepping in to take over running an ailing museum could provide it with a lifeline, but putting unelected and unaccountable groups in charge of museums and dispatching a small army of civil servants to support them does not equal a fundamental redistribution of power.
If the Big Society and encouraging the use of more volunteers can provide additional resources to extend what museums and galleries already offer, and provide meaningful experiences for the volunteers themselves, then of course it’s a good thing.
But you can’t replace all your front-of-house staff with volunteers. And even if you do recruit more volunteers, they still need to be trained and managed properly.
If big cuts are implemented, museums are going to have to get rid of skilled, talented and committed staff – and no amount of volunteers can plug that gap.
The coalition says the Big Society isn’t a cover for cuts but if you replace paid staff with volunteers, that’s exactly what it is.
Sharon Heal, editor
- sharon@museumsassociation.org
- www.twitter.com/sharonheal
- Liverpool museums to pilot Big Society initiative, p9