Since last year’s Culture White Paper announced a much-welcomed review of museums in England, the political landscape has altered significantly. The shock result of the EU referendum lay just around the corner, followed soon after by a new prime minister and a complete change in leadership at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
For a while, there were fears that the review might be dropped, so the launch of a public consultation in September was greeted with relief. Its terms of reference focused on national and non-national museums, stating an intention to map the sector as a whole and look more closely at themes such as digital, working in partnership, participation, tax, workforce, governance and diversifying income, collections, and international activities.
The review also asked for feedback on the role the government should play in the sector, and how public investment could be most effectively deployed. The only subject that wouldn’t be on the table, according to the terms, was the non-negotiable policy of free entry to national museums.
The consultation, which closed in October, attracted 1,600 online submissions from museums, related organisations and members of the public. The review team held face-to-face meetings with representatives from a wide range of museums, while lengthier submissions were sent in by 30 organisations, including the Local Government Association, Arts Council England and the Museums Association (MA).
The review is now moving into its next phase, with a series of roundtables starting this month that will bring together museum sector stakeholders to discuss the various lines of inquiry that have emerged from the consultation.
Growing challenges
It’s not just the political situation that has changed in the past year, however; the challenges facing museums in England – and the remit of the review itself – have also evolved. The old issues remain, but they have been joined by a range of uncertainties around Brexit.
Tellingly, the first of the roundtables will focus on “freedom of movement: people and objects”. Questions will centre on how to ensure England has enough homegrown talent to fill specialist roles; what legislation should be kept to avoid extra administration for the movement of objects; the value and impact of relationships with European institutions; and EU funding streams. In addition, the review has apparently dropped its focus on international work, possibly to make way for discussions on these new areas of concern.
So what would the museum sector like to arise from the review? The MA’s director, Sharon Heal, says it is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a real difference” and to forge a long-term, sustainable strategy for museums in England.
Responses published by several organisations, including the MA and the National Museum Directors’ Council (NMDC), show a consensus that the review must, first and foremost, recognise and address the funding crisis facing the sector, particularly among local authority museums.
The NMDC writes that the “future sustainability of local and regional museums remains the most significant and immediate challenge to the museum sector”, while the MA warns that funding cuts risk leaving the public in some areas with “little access to museums”.
Meanwhile, the British Archaeological Trust says it would be “disingenuous” to try and separate funding issues from any of the other challenges facing the sector. “The reduction in core funding is at the heart of the challenges that face museums,” reads its response.
The alarm bells raised by these submissions are somewhat at odds with the DCMS view, according to Heal, which acknowledges that there are “pockets of crisis” rather than a “full crisis” in structural funding.
Speak up
It was for this reason that David Fleming, the director of National Museums Liverpool and president of the MA, urged museum professionals to speak up about the difficulties they are facing and prevent the review from being a “whitewash”, in his speech at the association’s recent conference in Glasgow.
Fleming believes the harshest consequences of six years of austerity will begin to kick in across the local authority sector next year, as councils come to the last of their reserves of funding for non-statutory services. Museums in West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Walsall have already closed or are at severe risk of closure, and more such announcements are expected in the coming months.
This is a view shared by the Local Government Association (LGA), which warned in its response that “councils have reached the end of transactional savings” and that “museums must be considered among the most vulnerable services to further cuts”. The LGA also warns that numerous councils have cited a dependence on EU funding to plug some of these gaps thus far, and expressed concerns about whether similar funding will be available after Brexit.
But there are differences of opinion in how to deal with the funding crisis.
The government and LGA emphasise the need for the sector to diversify its income through entrepreneurship, endowments and philanthropy – measures that nobody would disagree with. But other organisations are, nevertheless, anxious for the review to recognise the unique funding challenges faced by museums.
Heal points to a recent report on private giving, released by Arts Council England, which highlighted geographical imbalances and a shortfall in philanthropy received by museums compared with other art forms. She says the findings reiterate the fact that public funding remains an essential pillar of support for museums that cannot be replaced by other income streams.
The MA’s submission calls on the DCMS to make the case for sustained public funding, and on ACE to make “intervention” funding available to prevent museums from closing before alternative options can be considered.
It also recommends channelling money from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards improving existing museums, rather than new construction projects.
And while new income streams are to be encouraged, says the MA – particularly by granting local authority museums more freedom to borrow, invest and manage their finances – the association emphasises that free entry should be maintained “wherever possible”.
Museums are different
Others highlight the high fixed costs that are particular to museums, including maintenance of collections and the historic buildings that often house them. Laura Pye, the head of culture at Bristol City Council, who recently met with the review team, says: “We’d like to see an acceptance that museums are different from other cultural organisations, mainly because of our collections, which we hold in trust.”
She adds that the review must also acknowledge that museums across the sector are vastly different and “there isn’t going to be one answer”.
Pye is heading a taskforce convened by the MA to look at issues facing museums across the UK, and it will be interesting to see whether the priorities identified – namely Brexit, collections and disposal, and ensuring relevance – will align with those of the DCMS review.
Many positives
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Pye says that while the review must acknowledge the challenges facing museums, she is also keen for it to recognise the many positives that the sector can build on, citing collections and disposal as an area with new opportunities to explore.
Other responses also point to how museums can maximise their public investment and relevance by building on their social role and contribution to government priorities such as placemaking, economic regeneration and wellbeing.
The LGA urges the DCMS to focus resources on widening participation and supporting greater collaboration between cultural services and other sectors on such issues as sharing assets, commissioning, digitisation and reaching marginalised communities – measures that would show councils the value of investing in culture.
The review team’s final report – due in spring – will be awaited with anticipation and no small degree of concern.
“The fear from our point of view is that it will be a missed opportunity that won’t deal with the issues the sector is facing,” says Heal.
“The MA hopes the review will come up with a strategic approach and develop far-reaching policies to ensure every person has a sustainable museum service in their locality.”
Surely that’s not too much to ask?
That is why we have launched the first review of England’s museum sector in more than a decade. We opened calls for evidence in September to gain a deeper understanding of the sector, the challenges that it faces and just what the government can do to help.
The Museums Review team travelled all over England to meet stakeholders across the sector, and to gain as wide a range of perspectives as possible.
It has been a wonderful journey around the nation from a windswept Hadrian’s Wall to a china clay museum in Cornwall.
We are now analysing the evidence that we have collected, and over the next couple of months we will be developing the lines of inquiry that will inform our recommendations to government.
My thanks go out to all those who have contributed to the review. Their extensive knowledge and experience have been invaluable, and will enable us to make insightful and practical recommendations for the benefit of the whole sector.
Neil Mendoza is a non-executive director at the DCMS
For a while, there were fears that the review might be dropped, so the launch of a public consultation in September was greeted with relief. Its terms of reference focused on national and non-national museums, stating an intention to map the sector as a whole and look more closely at themes such as digital, working in partnership, participation, tax, workforce, governance and diversifying income, collections, and international activities.
The review also asked for feedback on the role the government should play in the sector, and how public investment could be most effectively deployed. The only subject that wouldn’t be on the table, according to the terms, was the non-negotiable policy of free entry to national museums.
The consultation, which closed in October, attracted 1,600 online submissions from museums, related organisations and members of the public. The review team held face-to-face meetings with representatives from a wide range of museums, while lengthier submissions were sent in by 30 organisations, including the Local Government Association, Arts Council England and the Museums Association (MA).
The review is now moving into its next phase, with a series of roundtables starting this month that will bring together museum sector stakeholders to discuss the various lines of inquiry that have emerged from the consultation.
Growing challenges
It’s not just the political situation that has changed in the past year, however; the challenges facing museums in England – and the remit of the review itself – have also evolved. The old issues remain, but they have been joined by a range of uncertainties around Brexit.
Tellingly, the first of the roundtables will focus on “freedom of movement: people and objects”. Questions will centre on how to ensure England has enough homegrown talent to fill specialist roles; what legislation should be kept to avoid extra administration for the movement of objects; the value and impact of relationships with European institutions; and EU funding streams. In addition, the review has apparently dropped its focus on international work, possibly to make way for discussions on these new areas of concern.
So what would the museum sector like to arise from the review? The MA’s director, Sharon Heal, says it is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a real difference” and to forge a long-term, sustainable strategy for museums in England.
Responses published by several organisations, including the MA and the National Museum Directors’ Council (NMDC), show a consensus that the review must, first and foremost, recognise and address the funding crisis facing the sector, particularly among local authority museums.
The NMDC writes that the “future sustainability of local and regional museums remains the most significant and immediate challenge to the museum sector”, while the MA warns that funding cuts risk leaving the public in some areas with “little access to museums”.
Meanwhile, the British Archaeological Trust says it would be “disingenuous” to try and separate funding issues from any of the other challenges facing the sector. “The reduction in core funding is at the heart of the challenges that face museums,” reads its response.
The alarm bells raised by these submissions are somewhat at odds with the DCMS view, according to Heal, which acknowledges that there are “pockets of crisis” rather than a “full crisis” in structural funding.
Speak up
It was for this reason that David Fleming, the director of National Museums Liverpool and president of the MA, urged museum professionals to speak up about the difficulties they are facing and prevent the review from being a “whitewash”, in his speech at the association’s recent conference in Glasgow.
Fleming believes the harshest consequences of six years of austerity will begin to kick in across the local authority sector next year, as councils come to the last of their reserves of funding for non-statutory services. Museums in West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Walsall have already closed or are at severe risk of closure, and more such announcements are expected in the coming months.
This is a view shared by the Local Government Association (LGA), which warned in its response that “councils have reached the end of transactional savings” and that “museums must be considered among the most vulnerable services to further cuts”. The LGA also warns that numerous councils have cited a dependence on EU funding to plug some of these gaps thus far, and expressed concerns about whether similar funding will be available after Brexit.
But there are differences of opinion in how to deal with the funding crisis.
The government and LGA emphasise the need for the sector to diversify its income through entrepreneurship, endowments and philanthropy – measures that nobody would disagree with. But other organisations are, nevertheless, anxious for the review to recognise the unique funding challenges faced by museums.
Heal points to a recent report on private giving, released by Arts Council England, which highlighted geographical imbalances and a shortfall in philanthropy received by museums compared with other art forms. She says the findings reiterate the fact that public funding remains an essential pillar of support for museums that cannot be replaced by other income streams.
The MA’s submission calls on the DCMS to make the case for sustained public funding, and on ACE to make “intervention” funding available to prevent museums from closing before alternative options can be considered.
It also recommends channelling money from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards improving existing museums, rather than new construction projects.
And while new income streams are to be encouraged, says the MA – particularly by granting local authority museums more freedom to borrow, invest and manage their finances – the association emphasises that free entry should be maintained “wherever possible”.
Museums are different
Others highlight the high fixed costs that are particular to museums, including maintenance of collections and the historic buildings that often house them. Laura Pye, the head of culture at Bristol City Council, who recently met with the review team, says: “We’d like to see an acceptance that museums are different from other cultural organisations, mainly because of our collections, which we hold in trust.”
She adds that the review must also acknowledge that museums across the sector are vastly different and “there isn’t going to be one answer”.
Pye is heading a taskforce convened by the MA to look at issues facing museums across the UK, and it will be interesting to see whether the priorities identified – namely Brexit, collections and disposal, and ensuring relevance – will align with those of the DCMS review.
Many positives
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Pye says that while the review must acknowledge the challenges facing museums, she is also keen for it to recognise the many positives that the sector can build on, citing collections and disposal as an area with new opportunities to explore.
Other responses also point to how museums can maximise their public investment and relevance by building on their social role and contribution to government priorities such as placemaking, economic regeneration and wellbeing.
The LGA urges the DCMS to focus resources on widening participation and supporting greater collaboration between cultural services and other sectors on such issues as sharing assets, commissioning, digitisation and reaching marginalised communities – measures that would show councils the value of investing in culture.
The review team’s final report – due in spring – will be awaited with anticipation and no small degree of concern.
“The fear from our point of view is that it will be a missed opportunity that won’t deal with the issues the sector is facing,” says Heal.
“The MA hopes the review will come up with a strategic approach and develop far-reaching policies to ensure every person has a sustainable museum service in their locality.”
Surely that’s not too much to ask?
First review of England's museum sector in more than a decade
It is a priority for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support museums and galleries, and to make the most of the broader economic and social benefits that they can provide for our society.That is why we have launched the first review of England’s museum sector in more than a decade. We opened calls for evidence in September to gain a deeper understanding of the sector, the challenges that it faces and just what the government can do to help.
The Museums Review team travelled all over England to meet stakeholders across the sector, and to gain as wide a range of perspectives as possible.
It has been a wonderful journey around the nation from a windswept Hadrian’s Wall to a china clay museum in Cornwall.
We are now analysing the evidence that we have collected, and over the next couple of months we will be developing the lines of inquiry that will inform our recommendations to government.
My thanks go out to all those who have contributed to the review. Their extensive knowledge and experience have been invaluable, and will enable us to make insightful and practical recommendations for the benefit of the whole sector.
Neil Mendoza is a non-executive director at the DCMS
