Privatisation of visitor services gathers pace in museums and galleries - Museums Association

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Privatisation of visitor services gathers pace in museums and galleries

Cultural organisations are looking to outsource an ever wider range of services to private companies. Geraldine Kendall assesses the pros and cons
Privatisation is moving ever further into public services and several cases in the museum sector have been keeping the unions particularly busy lately.

In July, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union launched a campaign against the National Gallery’s plans to put almost all of its public-facing services out to private tender, including visitor engagement, ticketing and security.

The proposal came just months after Imperial War Museums (IWM) awarded a three-year contract worth £10m to the private security firm the Shield Group for visitor and security services at all of its sites. Two years ago, maintenance and cleaning staff at the British Museum went on strike in protest at privatisation plans.

Outsourcing to commercial companies is nothing new in the sector. Independent cafes and bookshops have been taking up residence in public museums for years, often with a high degree of success. Contracting out such services can bring in specialist knowhow, while also reducing the level of responsibility and financial risk for the museum.

Paying the price

But like many other sectors in which privatisation has occurred, the main fear of the unions is that cash-strapped museums are using it as a way of introducing detrimental changes to pay and employment conditions through the back door, often for staff who are already at the lower end of the salary scale.

IWM and the National Gallery have emphasised that staff who transfer to the private company are protected by Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment regulations.

But as Clara Paillard, president of the PCS’s culture group, points out, the supplier will not be obliged to offer newly recruited staff the same rights. “Companies have to make a profit, so the only way in which they can save money is by undermining pay and working conditions,” she says.

This claim is borne out by wider research. A pan-European study conducted by the European Commission in 2009 found that any costs saved through privatisation came primarily “at the cost of workers”, who experienced a worsening of employment conditions and an intensification of work. This, in turn, had a negative effect on the quality of service, the report found.

There is also growing disquiet about the gradual creep of privatisation into ever more diverse areas of museum work, particularly public-facing activities.

Front-of-house staff offer a vital service, often acting as the public’s only point of contact with the museum, and the impact of severing their link with the institution remains largely untested.

Along with lower levels of transparency and accountability in the private sector, there are concerns that higher staff turnover and a lack of in-house training could have a detrimental effect on the visitor experience.

Going private could mean the loss of more intangible things as well – staff contracted out may not feel the same loyalty to the institution or have a particular passion for working in museums.

Knowledge drain


According to the PCS, the IWM’s decision is gambling with its reputation ahead of its key role in the world war one centenary events, and has led to a drop in morale and a “knowledge drain” of experienced and dedicated staff since it relinquished its services.

IWM disputes this, saying the museum holds regular briefings to share knowledge with outsourced staff, and the changes have had no impact on its services.

An IWM spokeswoman says: “The contract with The Shield Group ensures that training is continuous, levels of personnel are stable and we will have a full complement of staff at all times.

“The decision to outsource our visitor services and security provision was about effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility, as well as good financial management. Since the services transferred in April 2014, all of these criteria have been met.”

According to the spokeswoman, all bids were compared with the IWM’s in-house service levels against a range of criteria. She says that while cost was an important factor, the main consideration in going private was “improved quality”.

The National Gallery has even more ambitious plans for outsourcing. The gallery is seeking to privatise up to 400 of its 600 posts, a decision that the PCS says came out of the blue after it had been ruled out at a previous board meeting.

It has already appointed a private firm, CIS Security, to provide security and visitor assistance at an upcoming temporary exhibition on Rembrandt.

The gallery says contracting out will allow it more flexibility to extend opening hours, which will help raise extra income to help make up for funding cuts. It also says the move will ensure staff can be paid the London Living Wage, which it does not currently offer.

The union claims hours and overtime pay are being cut, leaving employees with no more in their pocket than previously. PCS also says appointing a security specialist to take care of visitor engagement will lead to a downgrading of skills.

Before the announcement in July, staff at the gallery had raised concerns that their jobs were being changed to prioritise making money over serving the public.

Insiders suggest that there is more discord behind the scenes than the gallery’s public statements suggest. Several senior managers have departed recently, while director Nicholas Penny announced his impending retirement just after the plans were unveiled.

The PCS has asked the culture, media and sport committee to investigate the gallery’s decision-making process.

It can only be hoped that, even in a climate of cost-cutting and increased commercialism, the National Gallery’s decision-makers, and those at other museums, understand that the needs of the public should be prioritised over profit.

What do security guards know about Rembrandt?

"Would you ask a security guard minding an empty office building or a CCTV station to tell you about Rembrandt’s brush strokes?

It seems unlikely. But from October, guards who would normally do those jobs will be the sole assistants in the National Gallery’s exhibition of the old master. We believe this is in preparation for the sell-off of all the visitor services.

We do not believe the primary aim of private companies, profit-making, is compatible with the job of looking after the art treasures the National Gallery collects.

The past few decades are littered with the failings and rip-off nature of privatisation.

Rail privatisation has been a catastrophe for the public, but a big money-spinner for wealthy shareholders and executives.

Far from penalising these companies when they fail, they are given chance after chance to fleece us further.

Already at the Imperial War Museum, we are seeing a knowledge drain as experienced assistants leave to be replaced by staff employed directly by the new company that specialises in security.

When art lovers and visitors from around the world visit the National Gallery, they want to know the masterpieces are in safe hands. But if the gallery gets its way, we will not be able to guarantee this."

Mark Serwotka, general secretary, PCS


Public attitudes to privatisation*

  • 80% of the public think there should always be a public sector bid when a public service is contracted out
  • 79% believe citizens should be consulted and have their views considered before any service is privatised
  • 60% think local and national government should run public services in the public sector as the default
  • 88% believe private companies running public services should be required to be as transparent as the public sector

*Results from poll commissioned by We Own It (August 2013)


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