Threat of redundancies at RAMM - Museums Association

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Threat of redundancies at RAMM

Council looking to save £4m in three years
Gary Noakes
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Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) faces the loss of a number of staff, as the city council seeks to save £4m over the next three years.

The museum, which underwent a £24m redevelopment in 2011 and subsequently won the Art Fund Prize in 2012, is thought to be poised to make at least one curator post redundant and force some staff to re-apply for their own positions in response to a funding cut from Exeter City Council.

The local authority pays for almost 32 of the 43.5 full-time equivalent roles. The remainder comes from Arts Council England's Major Partner Museums funding.

Camilla Hampshire, the museums manager at RAMM, was unavailable for comment, but a spokeswoman for the museum said that the employee count included six curatorial roles, not all full-time.

An Exeter City Council spokesman said the council had to make savings to meet its reduced funding. “We are not going into specifics at the moment,” he added.

Negotiations have come to a halt while the council redrafts its redundancy procedures after conceding that some terms were unfair.

The council added: “Given this situation, it would be inappropriate to comment on any changes, paused, planned or rumoured.”

The news comes as Norfolk Museums Service consults on the possible loss of 10 posts this year following a similar funding crisis.



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