The incoming shadow culture minister for England, Helen Goodman, said she was “appalled“ by the funding inequity between London and the regions highlighted by the recent Rebalancing our Cultural Capital report.
Speaking at the Museums Association (MA) conference in Liverpool yesterday, Goodman said: “There appears to be a massive disparity of one to 14 in spend, and it cannot be made up by philanthropy, where the bias is even worse…
“As Rebalancing our Cultural Capital points out, for those who live outside London, travel and overnight costs have to be added in. So for a family with two children from my constituency in County Durham, the rail costs alone total a further £380.
“Maria Miller is presiding over a centralisation of which Louis the 14th would have been proud.”
Goodman said the research backed up the fact that there was an "emerging crisis in regional museums" and added: “We do need to look across the piste at all public money and the way in which it is distributed.”
Goodman said “maximum access” was a priority for her party, but acknowledged that she would not be able to promise the sector new money in the first year of a Labour government, instead saying that she would focus on improving the use of existing cultural assets.
Goodman also said she was concerned about the export of cultural objects, highlighting government statistics which showed that only 5% of the value of export-deferred items could be raised in 2010.
She said: “They are being bought up by wealthy oligarchs and disappearing completely into private collections. We are haemorrhaging our heritage.”
Goodman said she would look at extending the export deferral period to 30 months to give cultural institutions more time to raise funds.
The shadow culture minister also praised the MA’s Museums Change Lives campaign for museums to boost their social impact, saying “I’m absolutely convinced that this is a good theme to pursue”.
She added that Labour was “completely opposed” to the narrowing of the curriculum to demote arts aubjects.
She finished her speech by pledging to be a “supporter and promoter” of the cause of museums.
Speaking at the Museums Association (MA) conference in Liverpool yesterday, Goodman said: “There appears to be a massive disparity of one to 14 in spend, and it cannot be made up by philanthropy, where the bias is even worse…
“As Rebalancing our Cultural Capital points out, for those who live outside London, travel and overnight costs have to be added in. So for a family with two children from my constituency in County Durham, the rail costs alone total a further £380.
“Maria Miller is presiding over a centralisation of which Louis the 14th would have been proud.”
Goodman said the research backed up the fact that there was an "emerging crisis in regional museums" and added: “We do need to look across the piste at all public money and the way in which it is distributed.”
Goodman said “maximum access” was a priority for her party, but acknowledged that she would not be able to promise the sector new money in the first year of a Labour government, instead saying that she would focus on improving the use of existing cultural assets.
Goodman also said she was concerned about the export of cultural objects, highlighting government statistics which showed that only 5% of the value of export-deferred items could be raised in 2010.
She said: “They are being bought up by wealthy oligarchs and disappearing completely into private collections. We are haemorrhaging our heritage.”
Goodman said she would look at extending the export deferral period to 30 months to give cultural institutions more time to raise funds.
The shadow culture minister also praised the MA’s Museums Change Lives campaign for museums to boost their social impact, saying “I’m absolutely convinced that this is a good theme to pursue”.
She added that Labour was “completely opposed” to the narrowing of the curriculum to demote arts aubjects.
She finished her speech by pledging to be a “supporter and promoter” of the cause of museums.
