Cash blow for museums
Apr 9 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
ARTS groups in the region are to be hit with a double whammy as a culture quango closes down an office set up to help local museums and cuts funding for projects across the North East.
Museums such as Beamish and the Discovery museum will be left with less cash as changes are made to a funding scheme which led to thousands more visitors at more than a dozen of the North’s top cultural attractions.
They will miss out because of a change to the way cash is handed out via the Renaissance in the Regions project, which has given millions of pounds to help fund exhibitions across the North East.
The region will receive around £3m a year in Renaissance funds, but extra cash that could have seen an even greater expansion of the work done by North museums and libraries will instead go to help organisations in the South.
And the group responsible for cutting the cash handout – Museums Libraries and Archives – is to close its regional office and transfer operations to London.
Now members of the Tyne and Wear Museums committee have warned there is a real risk that the region’s groundbreaking work could be halted because of a 3.5% funding cut – despite the Government handing more money overall to arts in the UK.
Newcastle councillor Gerald Bell, who chairs the committee, has admitted the funding cuts could see some museums held back.
Mr Bell said: “I’m concerned that if they take away this much cash it will ruin the good work done in this region. We have made the case for continued investment and they accept that we have done a great job so far, but the money is being redirected across the country instead.”
And Gateshead East and Washington West MP Sharon Hodgson said: “Both Renaissance North East and MLA North East have done a tremendous job improving engagement with our heritage. These changes will affect everyone in the North East who uses our museums and libraries – from children to pensioners.
“We should not be made a victim of our own success. I’m all for encouraging other regions to improve their own services, but we need a solution that sees the North East continue to raise the bar.
“The flexibility that having a regional hub brings has been pivotal in the successes of the last few years and I will be seeking assurances that we won’t lose out any further as a result of restructuring.”
The Renaissance cash is a “once-in-a-generation programme intended to transform England’s regional museums”. In the North East it is handed out to a “hub” which includes the Laing Art Gallery, Monkwearmouth Station Museum and Beamish.
Director of the Tyne and Wear Museum group, Alex Cole, said he hoped the impact of the cuts would be mainly felt behind the scenes.
“Every time they refigure the funding allocations there’s the risk that there will be severe cuts. We were worried that the region could lose out, but hopefully we can adjust to reflect this change,” Mr Cole said.
The Director added that the North East had benefited from more Renaissance funding than other regions when the cash was first handed out in 2003.
A spokesman for the MLA said: “The North East will still have enough money to continue with Renaissance work, what we have to do now is ensure other regions can benefit.” He added that the MLA would be retaining an officer for the North East.
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