MA responds to General Election 2024 result
Sharon Heal, the director of the Museums Association, has commented on the outcome of the General Election 2024, which saw the Labour Party elected to government with an overall majority.
Heal said: “We look forward to working with the new government and in particular the new secretary of state for culture and the new minister with responsibility for museums. We will now work with other sector bodies to redouble our advocacy efforts to make the strongest possible case for investment in museums.”
The Museums Association plans to invite the new minister with responsibility for museums to its annual conference in Leeds, Conference 2024: The Joy of Museums, to discuss the incoming government’s priorities for the sector.
Our Museum Manifesto
The Museums Association has published a Museum Manifesto calling for everyone to have the right to access to museums and for new public investment in museums across the UK.
- Access: everyone should have the right to engage with and participate in museums and have access to a high-quality museum service near to where they live.
- Public investment: museums across the UK urgently need strategic public investment to look after collections and buildings and to support learning, community engagement and health and wellbeing programmes.
- Local museums: local museums deliver transformational and engaging experiences working with their communities and they need investment and support from their local authorities to do that. This means a fair, long-term funding settlement for local government to enable local authorities to support and invest in their museums. In order to reduce the likelihood of local authorities selling cultural assets to avert a section 114 notice, commissioners should be directed toprotect cultural assets,including museum collections and buildings.
- Environmental responsibility: museums need dedicated funding to ensure that their buildings and collections are sustainable and so they can continue to support communities to be more sustainable and take action for climate justice.
- Infrastructure: continued support for urgent repairs and maintenance is needed; the MEND fund should be retained and geared towards supporting sustainable buildings, and the UK government should work with devolved administrations to ensure that equivalent funding is available for museums in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Digital: the pandemic saw a shift in how museums operate and dedicated funding is needed so that museums can grow their digital capacity and engagement in order to remain accessible, relevant and innovative.
- Exhibition Tax Relief: the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief has been successful in supporting museums across the UK to create innovative new exhibitions and displays. The relief should be made permanent.
- Free entry to national museums: this has been a major cultural policy success which delivers a huge range of cultural, learning and economic benefits and should be retained.
- Repatriation and understanding the legacy of empire and slavery: museums should be encouraged and supported to build equitable relationships with communities of origin and local communities to explore the history and impact of the British empire; legislation that prevents repatriation from national museums should be repealed or amended.
- Fair pay and recognition: low pay is rife in museums; museums and funders should recognise the hard work and dedication of all who work in and with museums and should implement the Museums Association’s Salary Research and Recommendations.