Under the new agreement, the regional agencies and the national body will work to one corporate plan from April, although they will remain separate bodies. Chris Batt, the chief executive of the MLA, said: 'All ten organisations will, through voluntary and mutual agreement, work to one corporate plan.'
He said the national organisation will be responsible for policy, advocacy and corporate management, and the regional agencies will act as the 'nervous system' that will 'make things happen on the ground'.
For the new partnership to go ahead the current MLA board and the chairs of the regional agencies will have to step aside. Existing trustees will have to resign and the new national board will consist of nine national trustees who will also be the chairs of the regional agencies and will now be appointed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
There will also be five national trustees and the chair - and possibly observer status on the board for the home nations.
The partnership is the result of an organisational review at the end of 2004. It was thought at the time that it was looking at an arts council-type model where all the regional agencies would effectively be merged with the MLA nationally.
Mark Taylor, the director of the Museums Association, said: 'We understand the need to coordinate with the regional agencies and the difficulties there are in achieving this, but it is disappointing that we've only got half a solution.'
He added that if it was going to be done properly the national organisation should have merged with the regional agencies to create one body rather than leaving it as ten separate entities.
The restructure has also been driven by the Gershon review, which told all government departments to find 'efficiency savings' of 2.5 per cent year-on-year. The DCMS had to pass these cuts on to its sponsored bodies, including the MLA.
As a result, the MLA will move its national office to Birmingham in 2008. Asked about the relocation, Batt said it was difficult to say what the impact of the move would be.
It is understood that there could be redundancies running into double figures as a result of the restructure, but Batt refused to be drawn on the details. He said: 'We have put some proposals to staff and they are currently consulting on them.'
It is hoped that the restructure will place the organisation in a strong position to lobby for the sector in the run-up to the next comprehensive spending review in 2007. Asked how much of a priority Renaissance in the Regions was for the MLA, Batt said that it was 'up there at the top'.
Additional money is needed in the next spending round to bring all the hubs up to full funding - six of the nine hubs still only have 60 per cent funding.
The business plans for the six phase two hubs were submitted to the MLA for approval last month. The East Midlands had already been asked to do further work on its plan, and the London hub was asked to improve its plan.
Alison Hems, a senior policy adviser at the MLA, said all the plans had been assessed by an external panel and it was felt that London would benefit from more time to develop its one. She said the MLA had agreed to guarantee funding for the hub so that work planned for 2006-07 could go ahead while the business plan was being worked on.
Sharon Heal
He said the national organisation will be responsible for policy, advocacy and corporate management, and the regional agencies will act as the 'nervous system' that will 'make things happen on the ground'.
For the new partnership to go ahead the current MLA board and the chairs of the regional agencies will have to step aside. Existing trustees will have to resign and the new national board will consist of nine national trustees who will also be the chairs of the regional agencies and will now be appointed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
There will also be five national trustees and the chair - and possibly observer status on the board for the home nations.
The partnership is the result of an organisational review at the end of 2004. It was thought at the time that it was looking at an arts council-type model where all the regional agencies would effectively be merged with the MLA nationally.
Mark Taylor, the director of the Museums Association, said: 'We understand the need to coordinate with the regional agencies and the difficulties there are in achieving this, but it is disappointing that we've only got half a solution.'
He added that if it was going to be done properly the national organisation should have merged with the regional agencies to create one body rather than leaving it as ten separate entities.
The restructure has also been driven by the Gershon review, which told all government departments to find 'efficiency savings' of 2.5 per cent year-on-year. The DCMS had to pass these cuts on to its sponsored bodies, including the MLA.
As a result, the MLA will move its national office to Birmingham in 2008. Asked about the relocation, Batt said it was difficult to say what the impact of the move would be.
It is understood that there could be redundancies running into double figures as a result of the restructure, but Batt refused to be drawn on the details. He said: 'We have put some proposals to staff and they are currently consulting on them.'
It is hoped that the restructure will place the organisation in a strong position to lobby for the sector in the run-up to the next comprehensive spending review in 2007. Asked how much of a priority Renaissance in the Regions was for the MLA, Batt said that it was 'up there at the top'.
Additional money is needed in the next spending round to bring all the hubs up to full funding - six of the nine hubs still only have 60 per cent funding.
The business plans for the six phase two hubs were submitted to the MLA for approval last month. The East Midlands had already been asked to do further work on its plan, and the London hub was asked to improve its plan.
Alison Hems, a senior policy adviser at the MLA, said all the plans had been assessed by an external panel and it was felt that London would benefit from more time to develop its one. She said the MLA had agreed to guarantee funding for the hub so that work planned for 2006-07 could go ahead while the business plan was being worked on.
Sharon Heal
