16 June 2026
In England, there are around 350 council-run museums and there many more museums which are supported by councils.
As recommended by the Mendoza Review, local councils can support museums by:
- Developing a cultural strategy, drawing on best practice and evidence that demonstrate how museums support local priorities and how councils can best support museums, even when revenue budgets are under pressure.
- Supporting museums in forming partnerships with local education, health and culture providers to improve the public offer and to make potential savings.
- Ensuring that the local enterprise partnership (LEP) between councils and businesses includes museums as part of the local economic growth agenda.
- Brokering other effective partnerships for museums with local businesses.
- Recruiting and developing excellent museum leaders with appropriate skills, including business management, fundraising, a commitment to growing and diversifying audiences, delivering cultural education, placemaking and partnerships – and then giving them the freedom to operate.
- Reducing the barriers to enterprise for museums and actively supporting and encouraging their efforts to generate income.
How to engage with local councillors
Following an election is the perfect opportunity to engage with your local councillors to tell them about the value of museums and how they can help deliver other local priorities.
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Why not invite them to visit your museum so they can see firsthand how museums can increase our sense of wellbeing, help us feel proud of where we come from, and inspire, challenge and stimulate us?
Tips for engaging with local councillors
- Write to them to congratulate them on being elected and invite them to visit the museum
- Share your successes and how the museum can offer solutions to local issues
- Create key messages you want to get across when you speak to them so that you can make the most of the time you have with them. Think about any case studies or data that show the impact of what you do