Arts Taskforce, Consultation Document
Response from the Museums Association
1.0 Introduction
1.1 The Museums Association (MA) is an independent membership
organisation representing museums and galleries in the UK and people
who work for them.
The Association has over 5,000 individual members and 600
institutional members. These institutional members encompass around
1500 museums in the UK ranging from the largest government-funded
national museums to small volunteer-run charitable trust museums.
Formed in 1889, it is a charity, receiving no regular government
funding, which seeks to inform, represent and develop museums and
people who work for them in order that they may provide a better
service to society and the public.
1.2 Our response begins with some general comments, followed by
answers to each key area addressing specific consultation questions
where appropriate.
1.3 Throughout this response the term “museums” is used to refer to all
UK museums and galleries.
2.0 General Comments
2.1 The MA welcomes the taskforce’s inquiry into arts policy in the UK.
2.2 The taskforce may wish to consider addressing workforce development
beyond individual artists.
DCMS have played a useful role to date, with changes felt in areas
such as leadership and diversity, however problems still exist in a
workforce largely paid for by the public. DCMS, MLA and CCS have a
continued responsibility to and important role in the modernisation of
the workforce, providing leadership and coordination to those who
work in museums. A better skilled, more mobile workforce with the
opportunity of broader entry routes and earning acceptable levels of
pay is crucial to enable the sector to continue to attract and retain
talented individuals and inspirational leaders. The MA is currently
developing an action plan around entry to the museum workforce in
consultation with the sector, and in 2006 published the first best
practice salary guidelines for museums. We are also beginning to
address the decline in collections related knowledge highlighted in the
MA’s 2005 report ‘Collections for the Future’ through a programme of
retirement fellowships funded by the Monument Trust which aim to
capture unrecorded knowledge. A profession that reflects the diversity
of its many stakeholders must be achieved to respond to the demands
of the 21st Century. The MA regards a more diverse workforce to be a
key target for the sector and continues to make an impact on this
important area through its MA/MLA Diversify scheme.
2.3 We understand the rationale for separating the arts and heritage into
two distinct inquiries and including museums in the former. However,
there is a significant overlap between museums and heritage, for
example the organisation that has the largest number of museums in
the UK is the National Trust. To clarify this distinction the taskforce
might consider using the term “arts” when referring to the arts sector
alone, and “culture” when it means the whole cultural sector, including
the arts, heritage, museums, libraries and archives.
3.0 Summary of Key Points
Government funding should recognise the intrinsic, instrumental
and institutional benefits museums contribute to society. Involving
museums in the process of target setting would make museums
less vulnerable to changing political priorities.
Lottery funding to museums should be restored through HLF.
Acquisitions, disposal and loans are essential components of
sustainable collections management.
Renaissance in the Regions should be fully funded.
Stable and predictable funding structures must be sought and
maintained for national, local authority, independent and university
museums. In particular culture should be fully included in the
guidance notes for local area agreements.
The provision of high quality learning opportunities is central to the
purpose of museums, as is a commitment to widening and
deepening access to collections.
4.0 Why should any Government Fund the Arts?
Museums value the opportunity to contribute to social cohesion as well
as other broad agendas such as health and economic regeneration.
However, using only instrumental benefits to justify funding seriously
damages their integrity because it articulates only a small part of their
purpose. The instrumental value of museums cannot be separated
from their intrinsic and institutional value. To achieve this the difficulty
of measuring intrinsic outcomes needs further central development
work such as has been provided by MLA’s Inspiring Learning for All
framework.
5.0 Funding and Structures for the Arts
5.1 If the taskforce intends to include all museums in the arts inquiry, it
must consider the complete funding picture including MLA and
university museum funding through Higher Education Funding Council
for England (HEFCE).
5.2 DCMS: Do you believe that ‘culture’ requires its own department?
We feel the particular characteristics and needs of the cultural sector
require a dedicated team within the DCMS, however we would
encourage a joint approach at strategic level where appropriate such
as the long-awaited DCMS/Department for Children, Schools and
Families Museum Education Strategy.
5.3 Lottery Funding:
Competing political priorities and most recently the Olympics have
diverted significant funds away from the sector, leaving museums, their
collections and public responsibilities in a vulnerable position.
The Heritage Lottery Fund needs continued income to ensure that
people have richer experiences of our museums and their collections,
investing in infrastructure, learning provision and audience
development. HLF would be better able to achieve this with increased
funding to twenty-five per cent of lottery investment coupled with a
return to the additionality principle.
5.4 Private Funding: What is the best ratio of state/private funding?
Museum collections are held in trust for society both for current users
and future generations. Although we support the encouragement of
private investment it can never become a substitute for government
funding but should be additional to it.
Recent changes to Gift Aid on admission charges have affected the
way museums generate income. Once past the first year learning
curve, the MA recommends a review to determine how well the
changes are working for museums.
The MA supports the Art Fund’s campaign for a relief against income
tax for gifts of cultural assets to museums. Many items with middling
financial value are currently being sold on e-bay or by other private
means. Tax incentives to offset donations during a person’s lifetime
would encourage those from less wealthy sections of society to instead
donate these objects to museum collections where they could be made
available to a wide audience.
5.5 Museums and museum funding:
5.5.1 Free entry
The MA supports free entry to all public museums on the
basis that they should be accessible to everyone, including
those who may not choose or currently be able to use them.
However many independent and publicly funded museums
rely on admission charges for core revenue, therefore a
greater injection of funding would be necessary to achieve
free access to every public museum.
5.5.2 Acquisitions and disposal
Museums need to make better use of their collections both
as part of their duty to the public and as part of sustainable
collections management. Achieving this requires a change in
approaches to collections and collecting at a strategic level
to be more dynamic in terms of acquisitions, disposal and
loans. Adequate funding for acquisition; recognition for
domestic and international partnerships to share collections;
and responsible approaches to disposal are all part of this
culture change. The MA’s ‘Effective Collections’ is a fiveyear programme supported by a grant from the Esmée
Fairbairn Foundation to encourage long loans between
museums and a more pro-active approach to disposals.
5.5.3 Accountability and target setting
Government funding is integral to the core purpose of
museums; to enable people to explore collections for
inspiration, learning and enjoyment. A degree of
accountability is therefore essential to maintain and
demonstrate this relationship with the public. However, the
current relationship between central government and
museums and how targets are set makes museums
vulnerable to changing political priorities. This process would
benefit from greater input by museums to reflect their key
functions and responsibilities.
5.5.4 Renaissance in the Regions
Renaissance in the Regions is a continuing programme
administered by MLA to reinvigorate England’s major
regional museums. The programme has had significant
successes to date, for example exceeding targets to engage
school age children in high quality learning experiences,
building staff capacity and developing the quality of
collections display and interpretation, however there is far
more still to do. DCMS should ensure that MLA is
adequately resourced to fully fund all regions in line with
phase one hubs. The designation challenge fund must also
be maintained as a way of supporting nationally important
collections held in non-national museums.
5.5.5 Systems for appointing trustees
The taskforce may wish to consider recommending a review
of the current system of appointing trustees, including
revisiting their role. Administrative confusion and complexity,
inadequate diversity and alleged tensions between museum
directors and chief executives are the key questions
surrounding this important issue.
5.5.6 National museums
Government must rectify the relative decline in core funding
to national museums that is particularly affecting buildings
and infrastructure.
5.5.7 Local authority museums
Local authority, small and independent museums are key to
our cultural landscape, engaging local communities and
leading regional tourism. Local authority funding for culture is
particularly vulnerable because of government financial
pressures on them. A stable and predictable funding
structure is needed based on the uniform provision of basic
cultural entitlements and the proper inclusion of culture in
local area agreements.
5.5.8 Independent museums
Independent museums do not receive substantial funding
from government and many do not wish to sacrifice the
independence this allows. However these museums make
an important contribution to the sector, particularly in areas
where they provide the only cultural heritage provision for
local people. Some stable and predictable funding is
therefore needed for independent museums, particularly
through local authorities.
5.5.9 University museums
University museums hold significant collections and conduct
world-class research. They are in danger of a sharp decline
when the current funding system through HEFCE ends in
2009. Appropriate allocations of HEFCE funding for
university museums must be maintained to prevent
damaging access to these important public collections and
knowledge about them.
6.0 The Arts and Education
Learning in its widest sense is central to the purpose of all museums. Far
from education being a distraction, museums are continuing to pursue the
integration of learning throughout the museum at a strategic and functional
level and are engaging audiences through targeted programming.
Museum learning has a far wider remit and impact than schools and
formal education. Museums need to be supported to continue providing
high quality formal and informal learning opportunities on-site, in the
community and online for a variety of learners; for example communities,
adults, families, scholars, commercial researchers and schools.
7.0 Access to the Arts
Museums do not merely seek to continually increase visitor numbers, but
also want to widen and deepen their audience base by reaching different
people in a variety of ways and providing a higher quality experience to
existing audiences.
For more information or comment, please contact:
Rebecca Jacobs
Museums Association
24 Calvin Street
London
E1 6NW
rebecca@museumsassociation.org
020 7426 6946