Sunderland quits Tyne and Wear museums - Museums Association

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Sunderland quits Tyne and Wear museums

Decision forces Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums to renegotiate arts council funding
Patrick Steel
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Sunderland City Council has withdrawn from its agreement with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, forcing the service to renegotiate its £4.8m major partner funding with the arts council.

An arts council spokesman said: “We are aware that Sunderland council has decided to remove itself and its three venues from Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.

“Arts Council England has made a commitment to the work of Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums through Renaissance major partner museum funding and through a core grant [worth £5.6m] provided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

“We are talking with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums about how its major partner funding will work in this new arrangement. We will also be having conversations with Sunderland City Council about how its museum service can best be delivered outside of the Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums partnership.”

The spokesman added that it was not clear at this stage whether or how Sunderland’s withdrawal would affect the amount of Renaissance funding available to Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.

Sunderland City Council contributes £1.1m to Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums to manage Washington ‘F’ Pit, Monkwearmouth Station Museum and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. The service also manages museums in Newcastle, Gateshead, and north and south Tyneside.

From April, Sunderland’s museums will be managed by the Sunderland Museums and Heritage Service, combining site operations, customer services and the development of a programme for exhibitions and education work. Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums will continue to manage Sunderland’s archive service.

There are 29 Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums staff based in Sunderland. The change of operation of the museums will constitute a transfer of undertakings and protection of employment (Tupe) process.

Staff covered by the Tupe regulations will transfer their employment to Sunderland City Council. Details of the new heritage service, and its management team, are yet to be confirmed.

Mark Taylor, Museums Association director, said: “Sunderland is a major city with a superb art gallery and it has a right to run it and finance it as it sees fit.

“But we would question whether this will improve the quality of service provided to the people of Sunderland.

“We would feel a lot better about the change of management if there was any evidence that Sunderland City Council is doing it for the right reasons, having carefully worked out the financial and operational issues. We can see no such evidence, and worry that the service may decline in isolation.”


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