Adrian Babbidge of Egeria Heritage Consultancy, and the co-author of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council report Moving to Museum Trusts, said it was a mistake to set up a trust 'out of short-term desperation'. He added: 'The real benefits are organisational flexibility and a single focus. Any financial benefits are long-term.'
So far, Hull, Glasgow and Luton local authorities have said they want to move to trust status this year. St Albans and Portsmouth are currently looking into the option. Berwick is consulting about going to a trust, Rotherham is thinking about it, and Scarborough will become a fully independent trust in January 2008.
Brian Hayton, the head of cultural services at Hull, said he thought they would make direct savings of £1m a year in rates and taxes and indirect savings of £1.5m in central establishment recharges such as payroll, accountancy and legal costs.
Hull's move to trust status was 'prompted by financial pressures', he said, and, depending on the outcome of a council decision later this month, he would start to implement the trust straight away.
He aims to have it 'up-and-running and making savings' by late autumn. He said he thought the move would cost about £150,000 to implement, but emphasised that this was not an exact figure'.
Babbidge's comments were echoed by Chris Green, the director of St Albans Museums, who expressed concern over the pace at which some museums services were embracing trust status. Moving purely for financial reasons was 'a mistake' he told Museums Journal.
He added: 'In two cases that I know of, museums services have got as far as the implementation stage and then turned back. I know of one local authority that just said "do it", but we have a consultant in, and we are taking our time to find out if it's advantageous or not.'
Nonetheless, one of the reasons that St Albans was consulting into the pros and cons of a move to trust status was because 'we are now going into cuts each year, year on year, and it's very destabilising', Green said.
Karen Perkins, the museums collections manager at Luton Museums Service, said Luton's decision to move to trust status had come from the council and was also prompted by 'economic reasons'.
She said the museums service was keen to have 'more control over marketing and advertising', but added there were worries that the move might be construed as the council withdrawing support for the museum, which might reflect badly on its hub status.
Jane Mee, who was the museum and gallery officer at Scarborough Museums until this month when she became museums and records services manager at Portsmouth City Museums, said: 'It [the move to trust status] gets rid of the difficulties and challenges of the past ten years for a new set of difficulties and challenges, which is a good thing.'
Patrick Steel
So far, Hull, Glasgow and Luton local authorities have said they want to move to trust status this year. St Albans and Portsmouth are currently looking into the option. Berwick is consulting about going to a trust, Rotherham is thinking about it, and Scarborough will become a fully independent trust in January 2008.
Brian Hayton, the head of cultural services at Hull, said he thought they would make direct savings of £1m a year in rates and taxes and indirect savings of £1.5m in central establishment recharges such as payroll, accountancy and legal costs.
Hull's move to trust status was 'prompted by financial pressures', he said, and, depending on the outcome of a council decision later this month, he would start to implement the trust straight away.
He aims to have it 'up-and-running and making savings' by late autumn. He said he thought the move would cost about £150,000 to implement, but emphasised that this was not an exact figure'.
Babbidge's comments were echoed by Chris Green, the director of St Albans Museums, who expressed concern over the pace at which some museums services were embracing trust status. Moving purely for financial reasons was 'a mistake' he told Museums Journal.
He added: 'In two cases that I know of, museums services have got as far as the implementation stage and then turned back. I know of one local authority that just said "do it", but we have a consultant in, and we are taking our time to find out if it's advantageous or not.'
Nonetheless, one of the reasons that St Albans was consulting into the pros and cons of a move to trust status was because 'we are now going into cuts each year, year on year, and it's very destabilising', Green said.
Karen Perkins, the museums collections manager at Luton Museums Service, said Luton's decision to move to trust status had come from the council and was also prompted by 'economic reasons'.
She said the museums service was keen to have 'more control over marketing and advertising', but added there were worries that the move might be construed as the council withdrawing support for the museum, which might reflect badly on its hub status.
Jane Mee, who was the museum and gallery officer at Scarborough Museums until this month when she became museums and records services manager at Portsmouth City Museums, said: 'It [the move to trust status] gets rid of the difficulties and challenges of the past ten years for a new set of difficulties and challenges, which is a good thing.'
Patrick Steel
