Agenda item

Context:

 

·         To receive the findings of the Amion Cultural Services Review.

 

·         To consider the Transition Chart for Monmouthshire Museums based on the implementation of the key recommendations of the Amion Review.

 

·         To consider whether to accept and approve the associated Five Year Forward Plan required for the on-going Accreditation of Monmouthshire Museums, subject to bringing forward individual business case submissions for approval as appropriate.

 

Key Issues:

 

Key Findings of the Amion Cultural Services Review

 

The Amion report recognises that the status quo is not acceptableand recommends a strategy that reduces duplication in staffing, lowers staff costs, reduces expenditure on buildings and assets and realistically increases income, redefining the service and giving it a sustainable blueprint for the future.  The report assesses the County’s museum provision concluding that:

 

·         The Service is over stretched and far too fragmented to be effective.

 

·         There is little sharing of resources and expertise, with the Service functioning as three independent entities.

 

·         There is a high level of commitment and passion from staff with clear evidence of very good practice in collections management and the Service which is being offered to residents and visitors.

 

·         None of the buildings are ideal with Abergavenny and Monmouth being compromised in terms of access and display spaces.

 

·         The Council will not be able to achieve current budget savings without substantial reductions to staffing levels and opening hours whilst income generation services are insufficiently resourced with a limit to the amount of ‘profit’ which could be generated.

 

·         The Council is simply trying to do far too much with too little resource. The offer is not a good one for Monmouthshire’s residents, visitors or staff. Therefore the Council needs to do less but do it much better and differently.

 

 

 

 

Key Recommendations

 

In making its key recommendations, Amion applied guiding principles for change:

 

• Each museum location should continue to have a means of telling its local story whereby the most distinctive stories and collections for each place should be selected and presented.

 

• Centralised storage and skills would enable better delivery across the offer – a collections centre needing to have public access and research facilities.

 

• The current staff structure is unbalanced and a clear centralised structure is needed.

 

• There needs to be a strong on line presence for Monmouthshire’s heritage.

 

• Cross county trails are needed to link stories together and communicate the heritage offer outside of museums and buildings.

 

The overarching recommendations are therefore as follows:

 

• Create a centralised museum offer with an effective leadership function.

 

• Create a collections centre / centralised store.

 

• Continue to provide access to the county’s heritage.

 

• Create a properly resourced trading company this is being looked at as part of the ADM which is why it doesn’t appear in the museum plan.

 

Member Scrutiny:

 

·         Monmouthshire is a county for tourism and it is important that this is maintained.

 

·         Monmouthshire is known for its heritage.

 

·         In order to be sustainable for the future it is sensible to reorganise the Monmouthshire Museums Teams.

 

·         Digital technology is crucial in the development of the museums service and there is a need for a museums presence within the major towns within Monmouthshire for tourists and residents.

 

·         Further detail on the future of Monmouthshire’s museums would be helpful to be received via a future report to the Select Committee.

 

·         Concern was expressed that the Amion report contained inaccuracies and did not provide a clear indication of where the Museums Service should be going. With regard to the buildings, it was considered that the Amion report was unclear.

 

·         Efforts to increase tourism numbers in Monmouthshire should be undertaken rather than cutting costs to fit in with the existing tourism figures.

 

·         The centralisation of Monmouth Museum could be located within the Market Hall as it is owned by the County Council and has been vacant for three years.

 

·         The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid is a 10 year contract which was entered into in 2008 and will be completed in 2018.

 

·         With regard to the Shire Hall, it was noted that this was a currently muddled offer in terms of the visitor.  However, more information was required with regard to this potential location.

 

·         A HLF bid is likely to be submitted in December 2017 with a view also to potentially access the Rural Development Fund in March 2017.

 

·         With regard to the Monmouth Museum location, a number of potential venues were being investigated in Monmouth with a view to coming up with the best solution for the town.

 

·         It was considered that the Market Hall would be the ideal location for storing museum artefacts as the building already had the correct facilities to accommodate them.

 

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s questions, it was noted that the Authority will undertake an Economic Impact Assessment.  There are opportunities for the Authority to look at providing food offer on our sites but there is a need to ensure that this is undertaken in the correct way.  As part of the forward plan, it will be about identifying what will be achievable, i.e., what the service will be able to deliver with the budgets that are available.  The Service will not be putting any existing businesses out of business.  With regard to opening hours at the Tourist Information Centres (TIC’s), the Authority has previously looked at ways in which these two services could be worked together.  However, the issue that remains in Chepstow is that there is a need to look at ways of utilising the space at Chepstow Museum to identify the most sustainable way of delivering services.

 

 

·         As part of the Alternative Delivery Model, tourism is a part of this and it will be ensured that this consistency will be maintained going forward. It will not be in isolation of the other services that the Authority needs to deliver.

 

·         The Destinations Management Strategy will be critical in how the museums offer links in to this matter.  A Member workshop will be held shortly to look at ways of inputting into the new strategy. A report on TIC’s will be brought back to a future meeting of the Select Committee, as well as a report on the Council’s Events Strategy. Therefore, decisions need to be made in coordination rather than being made in isolation.

 

·         There are considerable open spaces surrounding the Keep in Abergavenny and this could be utilised to increase income streams. A business case has been developed with a view to placing a permanent outdoor structure within the grounds, with a trial event programme occurring in the summer of 2017

 

·         In response to a Select Committee Member’s questions, it was noted that the Rural Community Development Fund is capital funding and this will be drawn in where possible.  With regard to demand there is a need to look at improving opportunities to drive up the visitor numbers. Signage will also need to be addressed. Creating the right marketing strategy will drive demand.

 

 

Committee’s Conclusion:   ·         On behalf of the Select Committee the Chair will send a letter to the Cabinet Member outlining the Select Committee’s comments.   ·         The Select Committee supports the recommendations in principle but further detail is required at a future meeting of the Select Committee.   ·         The Select Committee supports the retention of a strong museums offer and accepts the need to be sustainable and the need to re-organise the service.