The last decade saw austerity measures cause local government investment in museums to decrease. Bethany Rex and Peter Campbell assess the impact.
The landscape of council funding has changed drastically since 2009/10; councils have less revenue available to fund local services and demand for those services has increased substantially. In this context, councils have had to take difficult decisions about how limited funding should be distributed, with many settling on museums and other forms of cultural provision as an area for cuts. Now more than ever, where a museum is located and the circumstances facing its parent authority go a long way to determining its future.
This report is based on a review of data from governments across the UK and interviews with museum professionals. It provides an up-to-date analysis of local authority spending on museum services and charts the decline in local authority investment in museums across the UK over the past decade. Our research demonstrates that across England, Scotland and Wales, the total amount of local authority funding going to museums has decreased in real terms by 34%, 23% and 31% respectively... Keep reading on Museums Association.
The landscape of council funding has changed drastically since 2009/10; councils have less revenue available to fund local services and demand for those services has increased substantially. In this context, councils have had to take difficult decisions about how limited funding should be distributed, with many settling on museums and other forms of cultural provision as an area for cuts. Now more than ever, where a museum is located and the circumstances facing its parent authority go a long way to determining its future.
This report is based on a review of data from governments across the UK and interviews with museum professionals. It provides an up-to-date analysis of local authority spending on museum services and charts the decline in local authority investment in museums across the UK over the past decade. Our research demonstrates that across England, Scotland and Wales, the total amount of local authority funding going to museums has decreased in real terms by 34%, 23% and 31% respectively... Keep reading on Museums Association.