Culture minister Margaret Hodge's plans to "streamline cultural delivery" in the regions will mean the closure of the Regional Cultural Consortia (RCCs) advisory bodies.
The RCCs were established in each of the English regions by the former culture secretary Chris Smith in 1999 to bring together representatives from regional agencies working in museums, heritage, tourism, libraries, sport and archives, and from local government.
The Government Office Network website says: "The RCCs… provide a strong voice for culture and encourage a coherent approach to the delivery of regional cultural services. They are charged with drawing up a strategy that sets out the future for culture within their region."
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) spokeswoman said: "We have decided to switch funding from the administrative costs of Regional Cultural Consortia into grants for frontline delivery at the end of this financial year. This means we expect the consortia to be wound up as a consequence."
But the director of National Museums Liverpool, David Fleming, questioned the move. "This is an indictment of the Regional Cultural Consortia," he said. "We all had high hopes of them when they were set up, but they seem to have lost their way."
Fleming continued: "I wonder how much better than the RCCs the new arrangements will be at influencing regional strategies. Museums need to be especially alert now that the regional Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLAs) are on the way out."
He added that a single strategy was easier said than done with so many stakeholders in a region, but that if the Renaissance in the Regions review was "thorough, brave and bold", he would be optimistic that the museum sector could punch above its weight.
Hodge's proposals mean that the four key government agencies - Arts Council England, Sport England, English Heritage and the MLA - will "have a duty to work together to deliver a core set of shared priorities", a DCMS spokesman said.
The aim of the new initiative is to "eliminate duplication… and achieve significant cost savings… by sharing back office functions and premises" through working jointly on four areas: regional strategies; improving relationships and developing services in partnership with local authorities; building and shaping local identity; 2012 and the Cultural Olympiad.
According to the MLA, each region will be "obliged to have a single cultural strategy".
A DCMS spokeswoman added that the precise nature of the new arrangements in each region will be negotiated at a regional level by the directors of the four public bodies.
An MLA spokesman said there would be no direct effect on Renaissance in the Regions. "Renaissance funding goes directly from us to the regional museum hubs and this will continue. Obviously, better joint working across the sector will help in the future planning and reviewing of Renaissance."
The RCCs were established in each of the English regions by the former culture secretary Chris Smith in 1999 to bring together representatives from regional agencies working in museums, heritage, tourism, libraries, sport and archives, and from local government.
The Government Office Network website says: "The RCCs… provide a strong voice for culture and encourage a coherent approach to the delivery of regional cultural services. They are charged with drawing up a strategy that sets out the future for culture within their region."
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) spokeswoman said: "We have decided to switch funding from the administrative costs of Regional Cultural Consortia into grants for frontline delivery at the end of this financial year. This means we expect the consortia to be wound up as a consequence."
But the director of National Museums Liverpool, David Fleming, questioned the move. "This is an indictment of the Regional Cultural Consortia," he said. "We all had high hopes of them when they were set up, but they seem to have lost their way."
Fleming continued: "I wonder how much better than the RCCs the new arrangements will be at influencing regional strategies. Museums need to be especially alert now that the regional Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLAs) are on the way out."
He added that a single strategy was easier said than done with so many stakeholders in a region, but that if the Renaissance in the Regions review was "thorough, brave and bold", he would be optimistic that the museum sector could punch above its weight.
Hodge's proposals mean that the four key government agencies - Arts Council England, Sport England, English Heritage and the MLA - will "have a duty to work together to deliver a core set of shared priorities", a DCMS spokesman said.
The aim of the new initiative is to "eliminate duplication… and achieve significant cost savings… by sharing back office functions and premises" through working jointly on four areas: regional strategies; improving relationships and developing services in partnership with local authorities; building and shaping local identity; 2012 and the Cultural Olympiad.
According to the MLA, each region will be "obliged to have a single cultural strategy".
A DCMS spokeswoman added that the precise nature of the new arrangements in each region will be negotiated at a regional level by the directors of the four public bodies.
An MLA spokesman said there would be no direct effect on Renaissance in the Regions. "Renaissance funding goes directly from us to the regional museum hubs and this will continue. Obviously, better joint working across the sector will help in the future planning and reviewing of Renaissance."