Public report abc Cabinet Member Report 20 February 2014 Name of Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member (Housing and Heritage) - Councillor Ruane Director Approving Submission of the report: Executive Director, Place Ward(s) affected: All Title: Revisions to the City Council's Collections Development Policy for the City's Museums. Is this a key decision? No Executive Summary: To approve revisions to the City Council's Collections Development Policy for the City's Museums initially approved by Cabinet on 18 October 2007. The Collections Development Policy sets out the principles that provide the Council and the workforce of the City’s Museums with a framework for the responsible and ethical acquisition and disposal of collections. It provides clear procedures and decision-making processes common to accredited museums. Implementation of the policy enables museums to demonstrate the public benefit in their approach to collections development. It provides a basis for open and transparent decision-making and an informed dialogue between governing bodies, donors, funding bodies and other stakeholders. Recommendations: The Cabinet Member (Housing and Heritage) is recommended to: 1. Approve the revised Collections Development Policy for the City's Museums be adopted by the City Council to ensure Culture Coventry maintains Museums Accreditation. 2. Agree that the scope of the current documentation is extended to incorporate all Council Heritage Assets by November 2014. List of Appendices included: Coventry City Council’s Collections Development Policy 2014 – 2019. Other useful papers: Cabinet Member Report (Culture, Leisure and Libraries) - Acquisition and Disposal Policy for Museum, Archives and Local History Collections (18 th October 2007) Cabinet Member Report (Culture, Leisure and Libraries) - Revisions to City Council's Acquisitions and Disposal Policy for the City's Museums (16 th October 2008) Has it been or will it be considered by Scrutiny? No Has it been or will it be considered by any other Council Committee, Advisory Panel or other body? No Will this report go to Council? No 2 Report Title: Revisions to the City Council's Collections Development Policy for the City's Museums. 1. Context (or background) 1.1 The historical nature of an organisation such as Coventry City Council means that, over time, it has actively sought to collect or has accumulated various artefacts. For the financial year ending 31 March 2013, such artefact’s (referred to as ‘heritage assets’ within the Council’s annual accounts) were valued at approximately £30 million. This valuation figure refers to all such assets with an individual value at, or in excess of, £20,000. The various types of assets include: • Vehicles • Textiles • Visual arts • Civic regalia. Whilst some of these artefacts are on display within Council operated buildings, a significant number are on loan (principally to Culture Coventry, in buildings such as the Coventry Transport Museum and the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum). 1.2 It is a requirement of Arts Council England’s scheme for granting Accredited Status to museums that the local authority has an Acquisitions and Disposal Policy for its collections. Accreditation is a nationally recognised standard for Museums 1.3 As part of the review of Accreditation, the acquisition and disposal policy, required by the Accreditation Standard (2004), has been amended to become a collections development policy. 1.4 The Appendix to this report consists of the revised overarching policy for the City's collections, together with three appendices which describe the collections and the policies that relate to them in more detail: (1) the museum collections held by the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, the Priory Visitor Centre and the Lunt Roman Fort; (2) the museum and archive collections held by the Coventry Transport Museum; and (3) the archive and local history collections currently held in the City Archives and the Local Studies Library which, is now held in the Coventry History Centre. 1.5 The Collections Policy sets out the principles that will provide the governing bodies (including the City Council) and the workforce of the City’s museums with a framework for responsible and ethical acquisition and disposal of collections. It provides clear procedures and decision-making processes common to accredited museums. Implementing the policy will enable the City’s museums to demonstrate the public benefit in their approach to collections development. It provides a basis for open and transparent decision-making and an informed dialogue between governing bodies, donors, funding bodies and other stakeholders. In addition to the City Council’s collections held in trust, this policy applies to material which the museums own and have accessioned into the collection or intend to own and accession into the collection. The acquisition, management and disposal of collections will be guided by: 3 o a museum’s constitution and statement of purpose o the legal basis on which the collections are held o the public benefit derived from the effective use and management of the collections o an assessment of the needs of the museum’s collections o the collections held by other museums and organisations collecting in the same or related geographic areas or subject fields 1.6 There are exemptions to the Coventry City Council collections that are not covered by the collections development policy. The paintings and objects specifically acquired for St. Mary’s Guildhall and currently on display in that building, and gifts acquired by the Lord Mayor’s office on behalf of the City of Coventry and displayed or stored in The Council House are not included. It should be noted, however, that loans from The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum to The Council House are covered by the policy. 1.7 The operation of this Policy is monitored by the Service Manager Sports and Arts in the City Council, who will under the terms of the policy receive a monthly report from the Culture Coventry on proposed acquisitions and disposals to/from the City Council's collections and who attends quarterly strategic meetings with Culture Coventry at which a report on acquisitions/disposals is to be tabled. 1.8 The suggested amendments to the Collections Development Policy were signed off by the Culture Coventry Board Members in December 2013. 2 Proposal and Other Options to be Considered 2.1 Arts Council England has requested that the new policy be adopted as quickly as possible, as accreditation for both the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and Coventry Transport Museum was deferred for six months, to allow for the successful transition of the two Trusts to Culture Coventry. 2.2 When compared with the previous Council’s Acquisition and Disposal Policy, while there are presentational changes in the new Collections Development Policy, the approach and strategic focus of this new policy has not changed. Changes made in the new Collections Development Policy mainly relate to sections two and three and Appendix 3 (Visual Arts Section). The amended Collections and Development Policy is Appendix 1 to this report. 2.3 The strategic focus of the policy remains unchanged as the Council continues to adopt recommended practice in this area, based upon a template collections development policy produced by Arts Council England. The Council’s interpretation of the guidance developed by Arts Council England is that their template policy must be adopted by organisations in order to achieve/maintain museum accreditation status. The key extract from the guidance that informs this view is detailed below: 2.4 “All museums participating in the scheme or applying for the first time must provide an approved and in date collections development policy (or acquisition and disposal policy), based on the template policy, including all relevant clauses, or appropriate or legally required equivalents, for example, as directed by an Act of Parliament. Any changes to the template clauses must not reduce the requirement ”. 2.5 As such, the Council has little freedom in determining the focus of its own policy, without facing the possibility of Coventry’s museums losing their accreditation status, as well as the associated operational, financial and reputational risks that this could create. This limited flexibility is primarily demonstrated in the areas of acquisition and disposal procedures 4 covered in Sections 8 and 12 of the policy at Appendix 1, which is intended to provide a framework for responsible and ethical acquisition and disposal of collections. 3. Results of consultation undertaken The Acquisitions and Disposal Policy approved in 2007 was subject to wide consultation. The minor changes to the collections development policy have only been subject to consultation with Arts Council England, the Culture Coventry Board and senior representatives of the museums workforce in the City. 4. Timetable for implementing this decision The Collections Development Policy will be implemented with immediate effect if the recommendations are approved by Cabinet Member. 5. Comments from the Executive Director, Resources 5.1 Financial implications In order to achieve the Arts Council Accreditation standard, the Council’s current policy for acquisition and disposal of museum heritage assets, approved in 2007, requires that any monies received by the City Council from the disposal of items will be applied for the benefit of the collections. This means that the proceeds of any sale, irrespective of value, will be ring-fenced so it can be demonstrated that it has been spent in a manner compatible with the requirements of the Accreditation standard. Total value of all heritage included in the 2012/13 statement of accounts was £30m. The top 20 valued items at each of the museums has an estimated value of £13m. Any decision to dispose of any of these assets would require the disposal proceeds to be re-invested in the collection. It is possible that any change in policy which no longer approves the re-investment of heritage asset disposal proceeds into the collection, could put the Arts Council accreditation at risk.