Museum leaders call for ‘transformation, not incremental change’

Museum leaders are seeking "transformation, not incremental change", according to a report published this week by Arts Council England (ACE).

The Museums Overview 2026 found that England’s museums face "severe financial pressures", along with workforce shortages and increasingly unsustainable approaches to collections management.

The report will inform decisions on the arts council's next National Portfolio funding round, from April 2028 to March 2033. It is one of nine analyses that provide an overview of each of the artforms that fall under the arts council's remit.

The museum sector overview draws on sector data and insights from a panel of 17 museum experts. It identifies six areas of focus that will inform ACE's work with the sector in the coming years, including collections stewardship, business transformation, workforce development and strengthening museums’ role in their communities.

The arts council says these areas will inform both National Portfolio funding decisions and other investment programmes, although applicants will not be required to address them directly.

ACE’s six areas of focus for museums

1. Collections stewardship: How can we support strategic and sustainable collections stewardship – including review, rationalisation and development of collections? 
2. Public value of museums: How can we help to articulate the distinctive purpose and public value of museums?
3. Business transformation: How can we use our funds to support innovation, digital transformation (including the responsible adoption of AI) and the strengthening of museum operating models?
4. Ambitious museums: How can we help museums develop their sustainability, relevance and ambition?
5. Museum workforce: What role can we play in supporting a sustainable, skilled and more representative museum workforce?
6. Place making: How might we help to strengthen museums’ role in place, devolution and local government reform? 

 

Source: Museums Overview 2026, Arts Council England

'Critical' challenges

The report draws on findings from a recent Museum Development Annual Museums Survey, which found that more than a third (36%) of museums have yet to restore their pre-pandemic opening hours.

That survey showed that although museum turnover, earned income and donations have increased, expenditure is rising faster than income. It found that staffing costs have risen by 32% since 2019/20, while the workforce has shifted towards fewer employees and greater reliance on short-term contracts. There has also been a small decline in volunteer numbers and the hours they contribute, adding to concerns about capacity.

A panel of museum sector experts who spoke to the arts council for the Museums Overview backed up the survey's findings, warning that "workforce challenges are becoming critical".

The overview report says: "The sector is experiencing significant capacity pressures and risks losing talent, expertise and future leaders. Burnout is increasingly viewed as an organisational and systemic risk rather than an individual resilience problem."

The museum experts also called for the sector to articulate its purpose and public value more clearly, according to the report.

"Many museum leaders believe the sector needs to become clearer and more confident about what museums are for, because funding and sustainability depend on a stronger articulation of purpose and public value," it says.

"Museums feel their distinctiveness is not always understood. Leaders want to reassert the importance of collections, specialist knowledge, cultural memory and object-based learning while at the same time rethinking what stewardship looks like in the 21st century."

There are also concerns about the sustainability of collections management.

"“Current approaches to collections management may not be sustainable; the sector is beginning to rethink collections stewardship," the report says. "This creates a tension between storage, conservation and capacity pressures and museums’ responsibilities for collections as accessible public assets."

However, the sector is also becoming more "outward-looking and participatory", with co-creation and shared decision-making now viewed as "fundamental parts of future museum practice".

Digital transformation is another priority for the sector. AI is expected to reshape many aspects of museum work, says the report, but digital technologies and AI are yet to become fully embedded in museum strategies.

The expert panel, which included representatives from the Migration Museum, National Trust, Fitzwilliam Museum, Horniman Museum and Gardens and several independent museums, called for more ambitious approaches to the sector’s long-term challenges.

According to the report, museum leaders want “transformation, not incremental change, including new funding approaches, stronger partnerships and a reimagining of what museums can be".

Economic contribution

The report highlights the economic contribution of museums, finding that non-national museums in England are estimated to contribute at least £1.17bn annually, including nearly £1bn generated through local and day visits.

And despite the sector's continuing financial difficulties, the report identifies signs of recovery and growing public engagement. Three-quarters of museums have increased their social media following by more than 25% since 2019/20, while museums are engaging with more education providers than before the pandemic.

However, access remains uneven, with disparities in museum provision between major cities and some rural, coastal and deprived communities. Ethnically diverse audiences also remain under-represented relative to population benchmarks. 

The report shows that the north of England is currently the biggest recipient of both NPO funding and National Lottery Project Grants. Museums in the region received more than twice as much National Portfolio funding (around £17m) as either the midlands (£6.8m) or south-east (£6.9m) in 2025-26, and more than seven times London's allocation (£2.2m).

In total, ACE allocated just over £36m in annual National Portfolio funding to museums last year.

The forthcoming National Portfolio investment round opens for applications on 20 October. ACE has warned that demand for investment is expected to significantly exceed the funding available.