Museums lost out to sport in the funding settlement announced by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) last month. Sport received an increase of 31 per cent, while culture as a whole got just 3.5 per cent, taking no account of inflation.
The 22 national museums were awarded an uplift in revenue of £26.9m by 2007/8 - an increase of less than 1 per cent. But they were consoled by a big increase in capital funding, with £37m of new money to spend. There were also small sums for regional/national partnerships and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Regional museums struggled to conceal their disappointment over a smaller than expected rise in funding for Renaissance in the Regions. There was no increase from £30m in 2005/6, a mere £2m extra in 2006/7 - but £15m extra in 2006/7. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) had bid for £35m extra each year.
Sue Wilkinson, the MLA's director of access and learning, said: 'We are very, very disappointed that we didn't get all that we asked for.' So far, Renaissance has been awarded £70m, which was enough to fund three phase one hubs in the North East, the West Midlands and the South West, as well as giving some start-up money to the other six hubs. Wilkinson said that the phase one hubs will have received a total of £18.6m by 2006.
Nick Dodd, the chief executive of Sheffield Galleries and Museum Trust, said he was deeply disappointed with the new settlement. Sheffield is the lead partner in the Yorkshire hub, which is a phase two hub.
'Between six regions, once you've taken admin costs out, there won't be much left out of the £2m allocated next year.' He said he was now concerned there would not be enough money to complete the hub process.
Virginia Tandy, the director of Manchester Art Gallery, which is in the North West's phase two hub, echoed this frustration saying that £2m was a paltry amount. 'It's a shame that some regions may still be waiting for full funding in 2007-08,' she said.
A decision about how the Renaissance money will be split will be taken at the MLA board meeting on 19 January. It seems most likely that only another two or three hubs will be promoted to phase one status.
While the settlements for national museums are not particularly generous, most had prepared themselves for worse. Roy Clare, the director of the National Maritime Museum (NMM), said he was pleased with the extra funding and that from the point of view of the NMM, the settlement seemed fair.
But David Barrie, the director of the National Art Collections Fund, said it was not good news: 'Our expectations were low, but it's extremely disappointing nonetheless.' He said he thought that, in reality, it would mean standstill funding for the nationals.
'It's inflation plus a small increase, but wage inflation is running at 4 per cent, and as a large part of their [the nationals] costs are salaries, they could be considerably worse off.'
As Museums Journal went to press, staff at the Science Museum were balloting for industrial action over pay, after receiving a 2.5 per cent
pay offer.
Sharon Heal
The 22 national museums were awarded an uplift in revenue of £26.9m by 2007/8 - an increase of less than 1 per cent. But they were consoled by a big increase in capital funding, with £37m of new money to spend. There were also small sums for regional/national partnerships and the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Regional museums struggled to conceal their disappointment over a smaller than expected rise in funding for Renaissance in the Regions. There was no increase from £30m in 2005/6, a mere £2m extra in 2006/7 - but £15m extra in 2006/7. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) had bid for £35m extra each year.
Sue Wilkinson, the MLA's director of access and learning, said: 'We are very, very disappointed that we didn't get all that we asked for.' So far, Renaissance has been awarded £70m, which was enough to fund three phase one hubs in the North East, the West Midlands and the South West, as well as giving some start-up money to the other six hubs. Wilkinson said that the phase one hubs will have received a total of £18.6m by 2006.
Nick Dodd, the chief executive of Sheffield Galleries and Museum Trust, said he was deeply disappointed with the new settlement. Sheffield is the lead partner in the Yorkshire hub, which is a phase two hub.
'Between six regions, once you've taken admin costs out, there won't be much left out of the £2m allocated next year.' He said he was now concerned there would not be enough money to complete the hub process.
Virginia Tandy, the director of Manchester Art Gallery, which is in the North West's phase two hub, echoed this frustration saying that £2m was a paltry amount. 'It's a shame that some regions may still be waiting for full funding in 2007-08,' she said.
A decision about how the Renaissance money will be split will be taken at the MLA board meeting on 19 January. It seems most likely that only another two or three hubs will be promoted to phase one status.
While the settlements for national museums are not particularly generous, most had prepared themselves for worse. Roy Clare, the director of the National Maritime Museum (NMM), said he was pleased with the extra funding and that from the point of view of the NMM, the settlement seemed fair.
But David Barrie, the director of the National Art Collections Fund, said it was not good news: 'Our expectations were low, but it's extremely disappointing nonetheless.' He said he thought that, in reality, it would mean standstill funding for the nationals.
'It's inflation plus a small increase, but wage inflation is running at 4 per cent, and as a large part of their [the nationals] costs are salaries, they could be considerably worse off.'
As Museums Journal went to press, staff at the Science Museum were balloting for industrial action over pay, after receiving a 2.5 per cent
pay offer.
Sharon Heal