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We welcome the Report of the Regional Museums Task Force
and strongly support its main recommendations. The proposals represent
an opportunity for museums to put collections at the heart of their new
roles. Access, education, outreach all depend on better cared for collections.
Without the collections there can be no renaissance.
If museums are to realise their enormous potential for
enriching public life, then the plan for a radically new structure based
on regional hubs offers a clear-sighted and well founded base from which
this can be achieved. We are encouraged by the Arts Minister's recent
speech, which betokens a commitment to this structure, and we sincerely
hope that the Government will provide the relatively modest sums required.
Within that context, and against the background of the
detailed recommendations of the report and your Consultation Paper, we
draw attention to those considerations that should weigh among the selection
criteria for the hubs.
If the proposed hubs are to achieve their potential,
then they will have to:
- Demonstrate their commitment to
- preservation of collections to the highest standards as a prerequisite
to accessibility
- the exploratory and explanatory role of conservation as a means
of enhancing the quality of access
- communicating conservation to the public
- maximising the usefulness of collections as a resource both now
and into the future
We note that some probable applicants have a better record in these
regards than others.
We also not that despite frequent references throughout the Report
to the centrality of collections and the importance of collection
management, there is no clearly explicit commitment to this within
the Summary Costings.
- Show the extent to which proposed "New Blood" appointments
and core staff will
- help to sustain the collections in the region served
- address the critical shortage in collection care staff within
their regions, particularly since the abandonment of Area Museum
Council conservation services in recent years
- recognise the wide range of skills of conservators, their flexibility
and adaptability at all levels of museum management, as key players
and leaders within management teams for furthering the benefits
of collections.
In selecting hubs, we hope that Resource will be ensure that collections
management is given equivalent importance across the regions, taking
the level of care of the NMGM in Liverpool as the indicative standard.
- Demonstrate the extent to which the hubs will operate across the
domains in their region.
The argument for regional conservation services across all the domains,
rather than just museums, is a strong one. The conservation of paper,
for instance, is an essential service for collections in museums, galleries,
libraries and archives. More generally, shared facilities and staffing
offer cross-domain benefits in terms of economy and effectiveness. They
are particularly relevant in conservation, and should be addressed at
this early stage.
- Demonstrate that the numbers of proposed establishment conservation
staff are adequate to the needs of the audiences, present and future,
to be served by means of the collections.
Core conservation staff are essential to maintain continuity of awareness
of the state of collections, at an informed level, providing on-going
advice, carrying out and overseeing essential conservation interventions,
and controlling the environment within museum buildings. They do this
with intimate understanding of the museum's mission for access, outreach
and education and its exhibition programme. The use of out-sourced private
sector services in this context can bring enriching partnerships for
the better management of collections.
- Articulate their relationship with the Single Regional Agencies.
This will ensure maximum effectiveness of resources; and clarify
how strategic issues and leadership within the regions will be managed
between the hubs and the agencies. The distinction between these roles
is not clear from the Report.
- Articulate their relationship with the proposed National Collections
Centre; in particular their capacity (expertise, resources) to benefit
from the services offered by that centre and to implement its advice.
We endorse the response of the Museums Association.
We too are concerned that the proposed structure should ensure a sufficient
"trickle-down" of resources to museums within each region, that
all worthy collections in a region should benefit from the new arrangements,
and that hubs should not compete with or drain limited resources from
other museums.
The UK Institute for Conservation and the Institute
for Paper Conservation would like to contribute further to the debate
as the implementation of the report proceeds.
We hope that this response will prove helpful in developing
the structure and making the selection of regional hubs. In conclusion,
we reiterate our enthusiastic support for the proposed new structure.
8th February 2002
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