While there were some welcome measures in the budget at the end of last year it was disappointing that the urgent needs of local and regional museums were not directly addressed. In fact, some museums will be worse off as a result of changes to National Insurance (NI) contributions and the minimum wage increase.
But as a sector we are nothing if not resilient – in the immortal words of Chumbawamba, we get knocked down and we get up again. And considering the dire situation many museums find themselves in, we need to ensure that we all keep up the effort to make the case for strategic investment in our sector in the run up to the comprehensive spending review in spring this year.
In the short-term we are urging ministers to reconsider emergency stabilisation funding to stave off the worse of the crisis, and for an exemption for museums that are liable for the increased NI contributions.
In the longer term we would like to see a government-led strategy for sustained investment in the sector.
We are urging all our members, and anyone who wants to see a thriving and vibrant museums across the UK, to help us make the case. Arm yourself with examples of the difference that local museums make to their communities– and let politicians know this.
Sharon Heal is the director of the Museums Association
Making the case is critical. When I read recent reports about the threatened defunding/closure of the Institute of Museum & Library Services by DOGE, I was dismayed both by the news itself but also by the relative flimsiness of some of the cases put in its defence. We need to be properly tooled up if we want to defend the sector against cuts and shifting priorities. We need strong, defensible Theories of Change that show how our work leads to meaningful outcomes and we need to understand how to frame those outcomes in the language that the bureaucrats understand – which means stepping outside our own comfort zones and comfortable language. There’s already work being done around this by people like the Cultural Heritage Capital programme (translating heritage outcomes into Treasury-friendly metrics) but all of us need to get familiar with things like the Government’s Green and Magenta books (even if it makes our eyes bleed) – and be prepare to be a bit more robustly self critical when we are describing why what we do matters. We also need to learn how to put a bit more of a swagger into describing why museums are great – and drag ourselves out of the slightly emo world of self-reflection that the sector sometimes allows itself to slip into. When your family is under threat, it’s not the time to start discussing Uncle Frank’s embarrassing rash…