The long-awaited national museum strategy for England will be published next month, according to Hedley Swain, the head of museum policy at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).
The policy will concentrate on five key areas: entitlement, infrastructure, sustainability, communities and skills.
Swain said the "big new idea" in the draft, which, according to him, has been widely consulted on and well received, was entitlement. "We need to look at what museums do for the public, and what they should do over the next 10 years," he added.
Museums Association (MA) director Mark Taylor said it was good that the document was being written from an audience perspective, but he was worried about the idea of entitlement. "If it means better museums for more people, that's fine," he said.
"There has to be commitment to the strategy from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) , ministers and national museums, if it is going to work," added Taylor.
Swain said he wanted the nationals at the table, and would be talking to the National Museum Directors' Conference (NMDC) about their role and regional partnerships. "There is a role for the nationals in the policy," he said. "I recognise the good work that they have done, but it needs to be more strategic."
Jon Finch, chief executive of MLA West Midlands and a member of the main advisory group for the strategy, said there was a need for a far-reaching and challenging document. "The sector needs a strategy with an action plan that directs us," he said.
"The action plan needs to be realistic and clearly targeted, so that we know what the MLA, MA and NMDC are supposed to be doing."
The museum strategy at a glance
January 2005: The DCMS publishes consultation paper, Understanding the Future: Museums and 21st-century Life. Most of the 70-plus organisations that respond favour the creation of a national museum strategy.
October 2006: Understanding the Future: Priorities for England's Museums is published.
October 2007: The MLA delivers an early draft of a National Museum Strategy at the Museums Association conference.
Sharon Heal
The policy will concentrate on five key areas: entitlement, infrastructure, sustainability, communities and skills.
Swain said the "big new idea" in the draft, which, according to him, has been widely consulted on and well received, was entitlement. "We need to look at what museums do for the public, and what they should do over the next 10 years," he added.
Museums Association (MA) director Mark Taylor said it was good that the document was being written from an audience perspective, but he was worried about the idea of entitlement. "If it means better museums for more people, that's fine," he said.
"There has to be commitment to the strategy from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) , ministers and national museums, if it is going to work," added Taylor.
Swain said he wanted the nationals at the table, and would be talking to the National Museum Directors' Conference (NMDC) about their role and regional partnerships. "There is a role for the nationals in the policy," he said. "I recognise the good work that they have done, but it needs to be more strategic."
Jon Finch, chief executive of MLA West Midlands and a member of the main advisory group for the strategy, said there was a need for a far-reaching and challenging document. "The sector needs a strategy with an action plan that directs us," he said.
"The action plan needs to be realistic and clearly targeted, so that we know what the MLA, MA and NMDC are supposed to be doing."
The museum strategy at a glance
January 2005: The DCMS publishes consultation paper, Understanding the Future: Museums and 21st-century Life. Most of the 70-plus organisations that respond favour the creation of a national museum strategy.
October 2006: Understanding the Future: Priorities for England's Museums is published.
October 2007: The MLA delivers an early draft of a National Museum Strategy at the Museums Association conference.
Sharon Heal