The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) needs to become more flexible and take a more strategic approach to funding to help build a more sustainable future for the whole sector, according to senior museum figures.
The government launched a call for evidence on the roles and responsibilities of the HLF and National Heritage Memorial Fund to ensure the organisations are “fit for purpose and provide good value for money”. Every government-sponsored public body is reviewed at least once in each parliament.
The call for evidence asks whether HLF money is distributed fairly and also considers if the functions of the HLF should continue to be delivered by a non- departmental public body.
David Fleming, the director of National Museums Liverpool, says: “Everyone can find a reason to criticise bits and pieces of its work, but the HLF has done a decent job of trying to respond to need. Heritage pops up in peculiar places and that is not always where there is the greatest social needs. It is very difficult to balance those needs.”
He adds that it is important that the HLF is under constant review, as the environment is continually changing. “I think about endowments now and wonder if it has been a missed opportunity, as revenue funding is draining away and everything has been channelled into capital investment,” says Fleming.
Laura Pye is the head of culture at Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives and the chair of the Museums Taskforce convened by the Museums Association. She believes a more joined-up and strategic approach is needed across all funding bodies to improve the resilience of the sector across the country.
Pye says there are some great examples of museums using HLF capital money to invest in projects that increase revenue. “There needs to be more of that, to allow the sector to develop and shift to more sustainable business models,” she says.
For Pye, this means more focus on enterprise and business skills, which are still lacking in many museums. She points to Bristol’s M Shed, which had a £11m HLF grant towards a £27m development, which was finished in 2011 and included spaces that the museum can use to generate revenue. “It has improved things for the city, but it is built on a business model with sustainable revenue streams,” says Pye.
Fleming says it is difficult to get the HLF to fund commercial activities. “More time and money could be spent on generating viable organisations, although it can be very difficult to get the HLF to fund commercial activities at the expense of heritage projects. But conserving heritage in the long term may mean taking a commercial view in the short term.”
Another suggestion is that the HLF should be centralised, to coordinate its distribution better across the UK. But museum consultant Claire Adler, who works as a mentor for the HLF and on applications, believes it is essential that the organisation retains its regional focus, as “each area works differently and has different issues”.
However, there is general agreement that the HLF needs to evolve to deal with the new challenges that museums face.
“The world has changed – we are competing with cinemas, other tourist attractions and the digital world,” says Pye. “The funding cuts and austerity are pushing these changes faster than some parts of the sector can handle. The HLF does need to evolve, and we need to support it to do so.”
There is a need for great flexibility, says Fleming, who is concerned about the accessibility of funding to small museums and other organisations, due to the onerous requirement of administering the funds.
“Heritage is a bottomless pit of spending and the HLF has to make the best job it can – but it can’t fill it,” says Fleming. “There will always be too much to fund. You need policies and procedures in place, but they need to be flexible, otherwise you can constrain yourself too much. Projects will always come up in unusual ways and places.”
The government launched a call for evidence on the roles and responsibilities of the HLF and National Heritage Memorial Fund to ensure the organisations are “fit for purpose and provide good value for money”. Every government-sponsored public body is reviewed at least once in each parliament.
The call for evidence asks whether HLF money is distributed fairly and also considers if the functions of the HLF should continue to be delivered by a non- departmental public body.
David Fleming, the director of National Museums Liverpool, says: “Everyone can find a reason to criticise bits and pieces of its work, but the HLF has done a decent job of trying to respond to need. Heritage pops up in peculiar places and that is not always where there is the greatest social needs. It is very difficult to balance those needs.”
He adds that it is important that the HLF is under constant review, as the environment is continually changing. “I think about endowments now and wonder if it has been a missed opportunity, as revenue funding is draining away and everything has been channelled into capital investment,” says Fleming.
Laura Pye is the head of culture at Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives and the chair of the Museums Taskforce convened by the Museums Association. She believes a more joined-up and strategic approach is needed across all funding bodies to improve the resilience of the sector across the country.
Pye says there are some great examples of museums using HLF capital money to invest in projects that increase revenue. “There needs to be more of that, to allow the sector to develop and shift to more sustainable business models,” she says.
For Pye, this means more focus on enterprise and business skills, which are still lacking in many museums. She points to Bristol’s M Shed, which had a £11m HLF grant towards a £27m development, which was finished in 2011 and included spaces that the museum can use to generate revenue. “It has improved things for the city, but it is built on a business model with sustainable revenue streams,” says Pye.
Fleming says it is difficult to get the HLF to fund commercial activities. “More time and money could be spent on generating viable organisations, although it can be very difficult to get the HLF to fund commercial activities at the expense of heritage projects. But conserving heritage in the long term may mean taking a commercial view in the short term.”
Another suggestion is that the HLF should be centralised, to coordinate its distribution better across the UK. But museum consultant Claire Adler, who works as a mentor for the HLF and on applications, believes it is essential that the organisation retains its regional focus, as “each area works differently and has different issues”.
However, there is general agreement that the HLF needs to evolve to deal with the new challenges that museums face.
“The world has changed – we are competing with cinemas, other tourist attractions and the digital world,” says Pye. “The funding cuts and austerity are pushing these changes faster than some parts of the sector can handle. The HLF does need to evolve, and we need to support it to do so.”
There is a need for great flexibility, says Fleming, who is concerned about the accessibility of funding to small museums and other organisations, due to the onerous requirement of administering the funds.
“Heritage is a bottomless pit of spending and the HLF has to make the best job it can – but it can’t fill it,” says Fleming. “There will always be too much to fund. You need policies and procedures in place, but they need to be flexible, otherwise you can constrain yourself too much. Projects will always come up in unusual ways and places.”