Games cost linked to arts quango exit

Jun 5 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

AN arts quango set up to raise cultural standards and improve funding opportunities for the North East’s museums and libraries is to close as management heads south.

The Museums Libraries and Archives board has decided it does not need a permanent staff in the region and is instead making most of the remaining staff redundant as the board moves to Birmingham. The MLA North East is to be phased out and there will then be one officer for the region, although the body will still be responsible for handing out some grants.

Last April The Journal revealed that the quango was planning the move while it made funding cuts to the Renaissance in the Regions project which had helped increase visitor numbers at some of the North’s top tourist attractions, including Beamish and Newcastle’s Discovery Museum.

The MLA employs 16 staff, according to its most recent accounts, who were responsible for awarding £110,000 last year.

Gateshead East and Washington West MP Sharon Hodgson said the region would have to find other ways to work together to promote the arts.

“I have written to the MLA setting out my concerns. It is important that the North East gets its fair share and naturally I am disappointed that local services will be reduced. The MLA has been doing a fantastic job for the region and I am confident that the cultural sector will continue to thrive despite the fall in funding.

“I will continue to work closely with the restructured organisation in order to ensure we maintain our excellent record in providing access to museums and historical resources while giving the taxpayer value for money.”

Newcastle Council executive member for culture and leisure, Pauline Allen, said responsibility for the arts cuts lay with Government spending chiefs.

“All off these problems have been created by Government cutbacks, and that’s why they have had to look at regional arts groups, as an easy target to save cash.

“They have always been vulnerable to cuts and now we see once again that the Government can easily make these changes.

“I think there is some Olympic knock-on effect here. We know for example that the Sports England projects received less money as a result of the Government’s handling of the Games and I would not be surprised if we were seeing similar repercussions here.

“There is a lot of really good work done by MLA North East, they have been a champion for the region.”

MLA North East chairman Alex Cunningham said that “in a day to day sense there will be a reduction in the number of people working for the sector”.

But people visiting libraries and museums in the region would not lose out.

The move is part of a national centralisation in which regional MLA branches, funded by the MLA Council, will be scrapped and replaced with the national board.

Council chair Mark Wood said: “We are determined to ensure museums, libraries and archives increasingly impact on and inspire the public.”