As reported last month, St Edmundsbury Borough Council is planning to close its Manor House Museum to achieve savings of £212,000.
This month, Chris Green, the director of St Albans Museums, confirmed that St Albans District Council is looking to make major budget cuts to the museum service, and that the Museum of St Albans is under threat of closure because the council considers it a 'non-priority area'.
He said this comes at the same time that the council is talking of redeveloping the museum and collaborating with the University of Hertfordshire on the display of its collections. 'It's difficult to know where it will all end,' said Green. The fate of the museum will be decided at the end of this month when the council sets its budgets.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is looking to make savings of £94,000 on its museum service through redundancies. Over four sites, it is proposing three redundancies and leaving another post unfilled, while opening times at Prittlewell Priory Museum and Southchurch Hall Museum would be reduced. Staff are currently on notice of redundancy until a decision is taken near the end of this month.
Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service (NMAS) may also have to consider making redundancies, depending on the outcome of a consultation on council tax. Even in the best case, the museums service will have to find £87,000 worth of savings. In the worst case, it will have to look for as much as £150,000.
Vanessa Trevelyan, the head of the NMAS, blamed fuel costs, which have doubled, and the cost of living as significant factors in the budget cuts.
Rising energy costs have also left Brian Hayton, the head of cultural services at Hull, with some difficult decisions to take. The council is looking at the idea of setting up an Industrial Provident Society for its Leisure and Cultural Services, which would allow it to run on an exempt charitable basis.
According to Hayton, this would give a six figure saving while maintaining democratic control over the services. No decision has yet been made, he said, but if this option didn't work out, it would be 'painful for a lot of services'.
Derby City Council has managed to avoid redundancies in its museum service, but to meet £50,000 of savings it plans to close all three of its museums on bank holidays, freeze acquisition budgets, restrict the opening of Pickford's House Museum to booked parties only, and close the museum and art gallery on Sundays.
Chris White, the chairman of the Regeneration Board of the Local Government Association (LGA), said the LGA was aware of the difficulties of funding museums 'against the big battalions of education and social services', adding that he was not surprised they were coming under pressure as non-statutory services.
Terry Turner, the chief executive of the East of England Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, a region where museum service budgets are particularly badly hit, said that if services were not maintained then a reduction in Renaissance funding 'couldn't be ruled out'.
He said: 'We are picking up across the region a concern that local authorities are under significant budgetary pressure, which can have a disproportionate effect on non-statutory services such as museum services.
'The decision is made, ultimately, by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, but the expectation is that Renaissance investment is based on maintaining and sustaining services in the hub museums. If there was a conflict between investment and reductions in services, then there may be an issue with further funding.'
Patrick Steel
This month, Chris Green, the director of St Albans Museums, confirmed that St Albans District Council is looking to make major budget cuts to the museum service, and that the Museum of St Albans is under threat of closure because the council considers it a 'non-priority area'.
He said this comes at the same time that the council is talking of redeveloping the museum and collaborating with the University of Hertfordshire on the display of its collections. 'It's difficult to know where it will all end,' said Green. The fate of the museum will be decided at the end of this month when the council sets its budgets.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is looking to make savings of £94,000 on its museum service through redundancies. Over four sites, it is proposing three redundancies and leaving another post unfilled, while opening times at Prittlewell Priory Museum and Southchurch Hall Museum would be reduced. Staff are currently on notice of redundancy until a decision is taken near the end of this month.
Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service (NMAS) may also have to consider making redundancies, depending on the outcome of a consultation on council tax. Even in the best case, the museums service will have to find £87,000 worth of savings. In the worst case, it will have to look for as much as £150,000.
Vanessa Trevelyan, the head of the NMAS, blamed fuel costs, which have doubled, and the cost of living as significant factors in the budget cuts.
Rising energy costs have also left Brian Hayton, the head of cultural services at Hull, with some difficult decisions to take. The council is looking at the idea of setting up an Industrial Provident Society for its Leisure and Cultural Services, which would allow it to run on an exempt charitable basis.
According to Hayton, this would give a six figure saving while maintaining democratic control over the services. No decision has yet been made, he said, but if this option didn't work out, it would be 'painful for a lot of services'.
Derby City Council has managed to avoid redundancies in its museum service, but to meet £50,000 of savings it plans to close all three of its museums on bank holidays, freeze acquisition budgets, restrict the opening of Pickford's House Museum to booked parties only, and close the museum and art gallery on Sundays.
Chris White, the chairman of the Regeneration Board of the Local Government Association (LGA), said the LGA was aware of the difficulties of funding museums 'against the big battalions of education and social services', adding that he was not surprised they were coming under pressure as non-statutory services.
Terry Turner, the chief executive of the East of England Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, a region where museum service budgets are particularly badly hit, said that if services were not maintained then a reduction in Renaissance funding 'couldn't be ruled out'.
He said: 'We are picking up across the region a concern that local authorities are under significant budgetary pressure, which can have a disproportionate effect on non-statutory services such as museum services.
'The decision is made, ultimately, by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, but the expectation is that Renaissance investment is based on maintaining and sustaining services in the hub museums. If there was a conflict between investment and reductions in services, then there may be an issue with further funding.'
Patrick Steel
