Birmingham's Museum and Heritage Service will merge with the city’s Thinktank science museum in a new charitable trust next April.
Under plans put forward earlier this week, Birmingham City Council will continue to own the museums’ sites and collections. However, a new trust – also wholly owned by the local authority – will be set up to operate the council’s eight museums along with Thinktank.
Martin Mullaney, cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture at Birmingham City Coucil, said: "It's important to stress this is not a knee-jerk reaction to the current economic climate. This proposal is the culmination of a lot of hard work over a three-year period.”
The cost of creating a new trust is forecast to be about £75,000, but savings of £905,000 are expected in 2012-13 and £314,000 in 2013-14. The council’s Museums and Heritage Service and Thinktank have to save almost £3m as a result of spending cuts.
A report from by Birmingham City Council said the benefits of a trust model included savings through the joint management of the museums as well as increased income potential.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) is currently undergoing a restructure, and 13 jobs are at risk across the local authority's eight sites. It is not yet clear how many further redundancies can be expected as a result of the decision to merge the running of the museums.
But a council report into the merger said that the move was necessary in order to create a more efficient model. "In order to meet the budget requirements, severe reductions to services at all sites would be required and it would be unlikely that Thinktank Trust would continue to be viable in its current form," it added.
A spokesman for the council said it had no current plans to introduce charging at BMAG, but would not rule this out in the future. Admission for Thinktank is £12.25 for adults.
The council may also change the name of Thinktank to Birmingham Science Museum – the name of the museum before the creation of the Thinktank Trust in 1999.
Maurice Davies, head of policy and communication at the Museums Association, said: “Clearly this process will be very painful for staff and I have great empathy with them. But in terms of the bigger picture, this might be a good way to make a sustainable model that will give a better visitor experience.”
More details about how the museums will be funded and run are due to be released in December.
13 July 2011 - update
This story was updated to include a comment from Martin Mullaney and more details about the restructure at BMAG.
Under plans put forward earlier this week, Birmingham City Council will continue to own the museums’ sites and collections. However, a new trust – also wholly owned by the local authority – will be set up to operate the council’s eight museums along with Thinktank.
Martin Mullaney, cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture at Birmingham City Coucil, said: "It's important to stress this is not a knee-jerk reaction to the current economic climate. This proposal is the culmination of a lot of hard work over a three-year period.”
The cost of creating a new trust is forecast to be about £75,000, but savings of £905,000 are expected in 2012-13 and £314,000 in 2013-14. The council’s Museums and Heritage Service and Thinktank have to save almost £3m as a result of spending cuts.
A report from by Birmingham City Council said the benefits of a trust model included savings through the joint management of the museums as well as increased income potential.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) is currently undergoing a restructure, and 13 jobs are at risk across the local authority's eight sites. It is not yet clear how many further redundancies can be expected as a result of the decision to merge the running of the museums.
But a council report into the merger said that the move was necessary in order to create a more efficient model. "In order to meet the budget requirements, severe reductions to services at all sites would be required and it would be unlikely that Thinktank Trust would continue to be viable in its current form," it added.
A spokesman for the council said it had no current plans to introduce charging at BMAG, but would not rule this out in the future. Admission for Thinktank is £12.25 for adults.
The council may also change the name of Thinktank to Birmingham Science Museum – the name of the museum before the creation of the Thinktank Trust in 1999.
Maurice Davies, head of policy and communication at the Museums Association, said: “Clearly this process will be very painful for staff and I have great empathy with them. But in terms of the bigger picture, this might be a good way to make a sustainable model that will give a better visitor experience.”
More details about how the museums will be funded and run are due to be released in December.
13 July 2011 - update
This story was updated to include a comment from Martin Mullaney and more details about the restructure at BMAG.