There hasn’t exactly been an outpouring of grief since the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) was thrown on to the quango bonfire over the summer.

Compared with the fuss that has been kicked up about that other cultural casualty, the UK Film Council, you might be forgiven for thinking that nobody cared whether the MLA was abolished or not. In fact, relief might be a more accurate description of the response to the news.

Obviously, it’s miserable for MLA staff, many of who have worked hard to make museums better and to promote what they do to government.

But as an organisation, the MLA never quite made the mark (wouldn’t a national strategy be handy now?) and it had become renowned for being mired in a swamp of its own bureaucracy.

So what should happen now? All indications are that responsibility for non-national museums in England – and Renaissance in the Regions, assuming it survives – will go to Arts Council England.

There is, understandably, some nervousness about this. Not having a distinct body that understands museums and what they do, and can champion them direct to government, could be a disadvantage.

Museums and the bodies that represent them, such as the Museums Association, must take advantage of the hiatus to put forward a set of proposals for the future.

These could include: clear responsibility and a chain of command for museums and galleries in whichever body takes charge of them; continued Renaissance funding with accountability but less crippling bureaucracy; the swift implementation of the core museums model; flexibility from funding bodies in light of reduced cash from other sources; a review of all planned and ongoing capital development to ensure sustainability (economic and otherwise); and the creation of a national strategy.

This year’s Museums Association conference will discuss these ideas and more. Just because we’re already ankledeep in blood doesn’t mean we have to be lacking in ideas for the future.

Sharon Heal, editor