Bradford council makes Jane Glaister redundant

Former Museums Association president Jane Glaister has been made compulsorily redundant from her post as strategic director for culture, tourism and sport at Bradford council.

It is the first senior management role to be cut as part of a council-wide restructure, which will result in up to 2,000 jobs being axed. The restructure will save Bradford council, which has to absorb funding cuts of £56m, an estimated £1.1m.

The culture, tourism and sport department has also been restructured, with museums moved to sit within the regeneration department.

It is not clear what impact the changes will have on the museum service, or how many of the 68 people employed in museum posts could be at risk. A council spokeswoman confirmed all council staff were issued with redundancy warnings before Christmas.

Mark Suggitt, cultural consultant and former head of museums, galleries and heritage at Bradford, warned that the cuts suggested that the city was looking to reduce its cultural ambitions.

“Large councils such as Bradford need champions with vision and ambition to provide the cultural glue that makes regeneration sustainable,” he said.

But Paul Flowers, Bradford council’s executive member responsible for culture, sport and tourism, said: “Our role as a council and the services we provide will inevitably change as a result [of cuts], but we intend to protect our cultural heritage and highlights as much as possible.”

Glaister was a member of the government’s Renaissance in the Regions taskforce and a Sector Skills trustee.