Hubs to receive £34.5m grant-in-aid
MLA sets out £45.6m Renaissance budget while MA calls for rethink on core museums
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has published its provisional Renaissance budget for 2011-12, which includes £34.5m grant-in-aid to hub museums.
The budget, which was cut by 15% to £45.6m by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport last October, is still provisional as business plans for each hub museum service have still not been finalised.
The MLA has set aside £2.8m to cover hub projects that, while approved in this year’s business plans and already underway, require additional funding. As previously announced, £1.36m will be given to the British Museum to run the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Elsewhere, for the first time the V&A Purchase Grant and PRISM will be funded from the Renaissance budget, receiving £600,000 and £150,000 respectively. A further £400,000 from the Renaissance budget will support designated collections while £300,000 has been earmarked to help museums develop through the accreditation process.
Collections Trust and Culture 24 will receive £300,000, while subject specialist networks have been allocated £120,000. About £3m will be spent on museum development. An undisclosed sum of money will be used to support projects such as Our Sporting Life, Stories of the World, Kids in Museums and Museums at Night.
Roy Clare, chief executive of the MLA, said: “We have set priorities based on the long-term vision for the best possible network of museums across the country.”
Arts Council England (ACE) will announce its long-term plans for Renaissance in the autumn. Applications for Renaissance funding for 2012-15 will open in September and funding decisions will be announced by the end the current year.
Mark Taylor, director of the Museums Association (MA), said: “What is clear is that slowly but surely Renaissance funds are being pared down as MLA – and subsequently ACE – are obliged to raid them to make up for the pitiful lack of funds to fulfil the vital strategic role. Renaissance was conceived to address the plight of English regional museums, not a never-ending resource to be dipped into to cover the government's embarrassment as it fails to think through its cuts.”
CORE MUSEUMS
Meanwhile, the MA has called on Arts Council England (ACE) to rethink the concept of the core museum model in light of the new economic and political landscape.
The Renaissance in the Regions Review, published in 2009, recommended that hub museums be replaced by a smaller number core museums, which would have little or no regional role.
The MA’s Mark Taylor, a member of the Renaissance review team, told Museums Journal: “We are now faced with the prospect of no hubs or MLA regional presence and much of the progress made in the regions over the last few years is in danger of being dissipated. In these circumstances, a reassessment of the number, criteria and role of core museums seems sensible.”
Click here to read the Museums Association's response to ACE's Renaissance "roadmap"
The budget, which was cut by 15% to £45.6m by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport last October, is still provisional as business plans for each hub museum service have still not been finalised.
The MLA has set aside £2.8m to cover hub projects that, while approved in this year’s business plans and already underway, require additional funding. As previously announced, £1.36m will be given to the British Museum to run the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Elsewhere, for the first time the V&A Purchase Grant and PRISM will be funded from the Renaissance budget, receiving £600,000 and £150,000 respectively. A further £400,000 from the Renaissance budget will support designated collections while £300,000 has been earmarked to help museums develop through the accreditation process.
Collections Trust and Culture 24 will receive £300,000, while subject specialist networks have been allocated £120,000. About £3m will be spent on museum development. An undisclosed sum of money will be used to support projects such as Our Sporting Life, Stories of the World, Kids in Museums and Museums at Night.
Roy Clare, chief executive of the MLA, said: “We have set priorities based on the long-term vision for the best possible network of museums across the country.”
Arts Council England (ACE) will announce its long-term plans for Renaissance in the autumn. Applications for Renaissance funding for 2012-15 will open in September and funding decisions will be announced by the end the current year.
Mark Taylor, director of the Museums Association (MA), said: “What is clear is that slowly but surely Renaissance funds are being pared down as MLA – and subsequently ACE – are obliged to raid them to make up for the pitiful lack of funds to fulfil the vital strategic role. Renaissance was conceived to address the plight of English regional museums, not a never-ending resource to be dipped into to cover the government's embarrassment as it fails to think through its cuts.”
CORE MUSEUMS
Meanwhile, the MA has called on Arts Council England (ACE) to rethink the concept of the core museum model in light of the new economic and political landscape.
The Renaissance in the Regions Review, published in 2009, recommended that hub museums be replaced by a smaller number core museums, which would have little or no regional role.
The MA’s Mark Taylor, a member of the Renaissance review team, told Museums Journal: “We are now faced with the prospect of no hubs or MLA regional presence and much of the progress made in the regions over the last few years is in danger of being dissipated. In these circumstances, a reassessment of the number, criteria and role of core museums seems sensible.”
Click here to read the Museums Association's response to ACE's Renaissance "roadmap"