Regional Museums, Libraries and Archives Councils will cease to exist from June 2009. The board of the national MLA met last month and agreed that the nine regional agencies in England would begin to be wound up from April this year and would be replaced by a single national body.
The move has been driven by a 25 per cent cut in the MLA's core budget but is also tied to culture minister Margaret Hodge's ongoing review of regional structures.
MLA's chief executive Roy Clare described the restructure as a "challenging programme of change" and said his organisation would continue to work closely with the regional agencies.
The regional agencies have been given indicative budgets for 2008-09, which it is understood will only be enough to cover employing three or four people in each region - currently there are an average of 15 posts in each of the nine regional agencies.
A spokesman for the MLA said that transitional funds would be available for the agencies to fulfil their statutory requirements.
Regional agencies held emergency staff meetings last month to discuss how the budget cuts and the move to a single organisation would effect their operations. It is understood that at least one regional agency will cease operating by the end of the year.
The restructure of the national MLA is continuing. Corporate services and posts managing some programmes will be relocated to Birmingham by September, leaving less than 25 staff in London.
According to Mike Sparham, a negotiations officer for the Prospect trade union, only 19 members of staff have been transferred into posts in the new structure. The rest, more than 50 staff, will either have to apply for one of the new posts or apply for voluntary redundancy. "There are two issues: the restructure and the relocation.
Some people have been told: 'You've got a job, but it's in Birmingham'," said Sparham.
He described the mood among staff as "very down" and said that he expected there would be some compulsory redundancies.
A full analysis of the MLA restructure will appear in the April Museums Journal
The move has been driven by a 25 per cent cut in the MLA's core budget but is also tied to culture minister Margaret Hodge's ongoing review of regional structures.
MLA's chief executive Roy Clare described the restructure as a "challenging programme of change" and said his organisation would continue to work closely with the regional agencies.
The regional agencies have been given indicative budgets for 2008-09, which it is understood will only be enough to cover employing three or four people in each region - currently there are an average of 15 posts in each of the nine regional agencies.
A spokesman for the MLA said that transitional funds would be available for the agencies to fulfil their statutory requirements.
Regional agencies held emergency staff meetings last month to discuss how the budget cuts and the move to a single organisation would effect their operations. It is understood that at least one regional agency will cease operating by the end of the year.
The restructure of the national MLA is continuing. Corporate services and posts managing some programmes will be relocated to Birmingham by September, leaving less than 25 staff in London.
According to Mike Sparham, a negotiations officer for the Prospect trade union, only 19 members of staff have been transferred into posts in the new structure. The rest, more than 50 staff, will either have to apply for one of the new posts or apply for voluntary redundancy. "There are two issues: the restructure and the relocation.
Some people have been told: 'You've got a job, but it's in Birmingham'," said Sparham.
He described the mood among staff as "very down" and said that he expected there would be some compulsory redundancies.
A full analysis of the MLA restructure will appear in the April Museums Journal