Who should govern and fund the Museum of London (MoL) is up for debate as a consultation about the museum's future gets underway.
The consultation paper on the Future Sponsorship Arrangements for the Museum of London was published last month by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), its current sponsor.
At the moment, the museum is sponsored jointly by the DCMS and the Corporation of London (also known as the City). Both have funding responsibilities and each appoints nine of the 18 trustees. The question is whether the Greater London Authority (GLA) should have more strategic control over its local museum and which part of the DCMS powers should transfer to the GLA.
The paper, which has gone out to key stakeholders including the Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) London and the National Museum Directors' Conference, raises three possible options for consideration.
The first is to retain the present position with the DCMS and the Corporation of London. The second is to allow the GLA to either nominate, or to appoint some of the nine board members that the prime minister currently appoints. The final possibility is for the GLA to take over the funding and governance from the DCMS.
Jack Lohman, the director of the MoL, was guarded in his answers to Museums Journal. He said: 'We are being very open-minded about the options.'
Lohman said the options would have little impact on the functions and services of the museum or the Museum of London Group, which includes the Museum in Docklands. He added that staff would remain under the MoL.
Lohman said there were many benefits to being a GLA-operated institution. He pointed to tourism and the 'mayor's PR and marketing machine'. He said: 'The mayor is about promoting London and we are about promoting London.'
Graham Fisher, the chief executive of MLA London, echoed Lohman and said he thought there would be no knock-on effect for the London hub. But he questioned whether, with increasing mayoral representation on different London bodies, the GLA would have the 'capacity to make sure their involvement is effective and active'.
The mayor's interest in the MoL was first mooted back in 1997 when the GLA was established. A year later a consultation paper concluded that funding the museum should remain the role of the DCMS and the City.
In a written statement to Museums Journal, the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said: 'As a key London institution, through which Londoners young and old can learn about the rich history of the city they live in, it is entirely appropriate that London's elected government should play a major role in its operation.'
The consultation paper is available in a pdf file at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/global/consultations/2006+current+consultations/cons_futurespons_mol.htm
Felicity Heywood
The consultation paper on the Future Sponsorship Arrangements for the Museum of London was published last month by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), its current sponsor.
At the moment, the museum is sponsored jointly by the DCMS and the Corporation of London (also known as the City). Both have funding responsibilities and each appoints nine of the 18 trustees. The question is whether the Greater London Authority (GLA) should have more strategic control over its local museum and which part of the DCMS powers should transfer to the GLA.
The paper, which has gone out to key stakeholders including the Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) London and the National Museum Directors' Conference, raises three possible options for consideration.
The first is to retain the present position with the DCMS and the Corporation of London. The second is to allow the GLA to either nominate, or to appoint some of the nine board members that the prime minister currently appoints. The final possibility is for the GLA to take over the funding and governance from the DCMS.
Jack Lohman, the director of the MoL, was guarded in his answers to Museums Journal. He said: 'We are being very open-minded about the options.'
Lohman said the options would have little impact on the functions and services of the museum or the Museum of London Group, which includes the Museum in Docklands. He added that staff would remain under the MoL.
Lohman said there were many benefits to being a GLA-operated institution. He pointed to tourism and the 'mayor's PR and marketing machine'. He said: 'The mayor is about promoting London and we are about promoting London.'
Graham Fisher, the chief executive of MLA London, echoed Lohman and said he thought there would be no knock-on effect for the London hub. But he questioned whether, with increasing mayoral representation on different London bodies, the GLA would have the 'capacity to make sure their involvement is effective and active'.
The mayor's interest in the MoL was first mooted back in 1997 when the GLA was established. A year later a consultation paper concluded that funding the museum should remain the role of the DCMS and the City.
In a written statement to Museums Journal, the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said: 'As a key London institution, through which Londoners young and old can learn about the rich history of the city they live in, it is entirely appropriate that London's elected government should play a major role in its operation.'
The consultation paper is available in a pdf file at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/global/consultations/2006+current+consultations/cons_futurespons_mol.htm
Felicity Heywood
