Despite many examples of innovative investment in London, some boroughs have taken advantage of the weak position of museum services within performance assessment to reduce funding and close museums, even before the current recession. This temptation is encouraged by the presence of the national institutions, mainly in central London.
But local authority museums are a crucial link between London communities, collections and heritage. In outer London they are the predominant museum-service providers, increasingly important in the cultural ecology of London with the mayor of London's focus on improving access to high-quality cultural experiences outside central London.
As the Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) London's Improvement Programme for local authority museums is showing, even high-performing services need to address gaps in their advocacy to demonstrate how they contribute to priorities on learning and community engagement.
Through the programme, museum services use the national Culture and Sport Improvement Tool to run a self-assessment and then a reciprocal peer-led challenge with a neighbour. This assesses the way they manage their services and operations, and includes writing an improvement plan at the end.
Across the participants so far, these plans include audience development strategies, data and monitoring, developing impact measures, communications and developing customer service standards linked to a council's own framework.
In just one example, Brent Museum is using the opportunity provided by the Divine Cat exhibition to address existing audience monitoring needs. The Gayer Anderson Cat is being lent by the British Museum, supported by the London Museums Hub.
Corporate directors and even cabinet members get involved in the self-assessment and, as a result, awareness of the contribution museums make to core cross-cutting agendas increases dramatically.
A key partner is the London Museums Hub, which is building stronger partnerships with local authority museums, and has invested £110,000 in the programme from Renaissance. Thirteen museum services have taken part in 2008-09, with all the remaining ones hopefully following soon.
The Improvement Tool has been developed for national roll out, but the London museums programme is the first time it has been used on a discrete service across a whole region.
As Martyn Allison, from the Improvement and Development Agency for local government, says: "What has been achieved in London is significant… They have shown what the concept of sector-led improvement means and the benefits will be seen for a long time to come."
Andrew Holden is the interim director of MLA London
But local authority museums are a crucial link between London communities, collections and heritage. In outer London they are the predominant museum-service providers, increasingly important in the cultural ecology of London with the mayor of London's focus on improving access to high-quality cultural experiences outside central London.
As the Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) London's Improvement Programme for local authority museums is showing, even high-performing services need to address gaps in their advocacy to demonstrate how they contribute to priorities on learning and community engagement.
Through the programme, museum services use the national Culture and Sport Improvement Tool to run a self-assessment and then a reciprocal peer-led challenge with a neighbour. This assesses the way they manage their services and operations, and includes writing an improvement plan at the end.
Across the participants so far, these plans include audience development strategies, data and monitoring, developing impact measures, communications and developing customer service standards linked to a council's own framework.
In just one example, Brent Museum is using the opportunity provided by the Divine Cat exhibition to address existing audience monitoring needs. The Gayer Anderson Cat is being lent by the British Museum, supported by the London Museums Hub.
Corporate directors and even cabinet members get involved in the self-assessment and, as a result, awareness of the contribution museums make to core cross-cutting agendas increases dramatically.
A key partner is the London Museums Hub, which is building stronger partnerships with local authority museums, and has invested £110,000 in the programme from Renaissance. Thirteen museum services have taken part in 2008-09, with all the remaining ones hopefully following soon.
The Improvement Tool has been developed for national roll out, but the London museums programme is the first time it has been used on a discrete service across a whole region.
As Martyn Allison, from the Improvement and Development Agency for local government, says: "What has been achieved in London is significant… They have shown what the concept of sector-led improvement means and the benefits will be seen for a long time to come."
Andrew Holden is the interim director of MLA London
