Economic Regeneration and Leisure

15 February 2022

 

Update on Timeline for Museum Gallery and Governance

 

Final Decision-Maker

Economic Regeneration and Leisure Committee

Lead Head of Service

John Foster, Head of Regeneration and Economic Development

Lead Officer and Report Author

Victoria Barlow, Museums Director

Classification

Public

 

Wards affected

All

 

Executive Summary

This report lays out the estimated timescales for two museum projects- the refurbishment of the Archaeology displays in the Withdrawing Room between 2022 and 2025 and the review of governance for the museum in 2022.

Purpose of Report

 

This report makes clear the processes involved in each project and identifies for members the length of time necessary to complete each project with the resources available.

 

This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:

1.   That Members note the timescales herein.

 

 

 

Timetable

Meeting

Date

ERL

15 February 2022



Update on Timeline for Museum Gallery and Governance

 

1.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Issue

Implications

Sign-off

Impact on Corporate Priorities

The four Strategic Plan objectives are:

 

·         Embracing Growth and Enabling Infrastructure

·         Safe, Clean and Green

·         Homes and Communities

·         A Thriving Place

We do not expect the recommendations will by themselves materially affect achievement of corporate priorities. 

 

Head of Regeneration and Economic Development

Cross Cutting Objectives

The four cross-cutting objectives are:

 

·         Heritage is Respected

·         Health Inequalities are Addressed and Reduced

·         Deprivation and Social Mobility is Improved

·         Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability is respected

 

The report recommendation supports the achievement of the Heritage is Respected cross cutting objectives by laying out plans for improvement in the presentation of Maidstone’s history and in the governance of the museum service.

 

 

Head of Regeneration and Economic Development

Risk Management

·         No decision is needed

Museums Director

Financial

·         No decision is needed

Section 151 Officer & Finance Team

Staffing

·         No decision is required

 

Head of Regeneration and Economic Development

Legal

·         No decision is required

Team Leader, Contracts and Commissioning

Privacy and Data Protection

·         The projects described will increase the volume of data held by the Council.  We will hold that data in line with our retention schedules.

 

Policy and Information Team

Equalities

·         The recommendations do not propose a change in service therefore will not require an equalities impact assessment

Equalities & Communities Officer

Public Health

 

 

·         We recognise that the recommendations will not negatively impact on population health or that of individuals.

 

Healthy Lifestyles Officer

Crime and Disorder

·         The recommendation will not have a negative impact on Crime and Disorder.

 

Museums Director

Procurement

·         The report is for noting only

Head of Regeneration and Economic Development

Biodiversity and Climate Change

·         The implications of this report on biodiversity and climate change have been considered and are;

·         There are no implications on biodiversity and climate change.

 

Museums Director

 

 

2.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

 

2.1.        At the Economic Regeneration and Leisure Committee (ERL) held in November 2021, members requested details of the timescales for two agreed projects - the refurbishment of displays telling the story of Maidstone’s earliest history from the Mesolithic to late Mediaeval periods and the review of the museum’s governance (as required three years after the decision of ERL in 2018 to adopt the status quo).

 

 

 

 

3.   ARCHAEOLOGY GALLERY

 

3.1        The following assumptions have been made in producing this timetable:

·                    Major elements are shown.

·                    Current staffing levels and hours will be retained

·                    Current opening hours will be retained

·                    Work on the gallery is prioritised in staff objectives

 

3.2        The timeline has been produced using the previous experience of the professional museum team and by comparison with other museum refurbishments. For example a new gallery at Brighton Museum was opened in January 2019. The gallery it replaced was closed in May 2017 but prior to that there had been a period of negotiation with the funder during which time, research and other work had begun. In total the project took roughly three years which, a staff member acknowledged, was a challenge. At Corinium Museum in Colchester, the main gallery was refurbished with a two stage lottery bid which lasted 6 years from 2014-2020.

 

Work Area

Task(s)

Duration

Expected End Date

Preparation

 

 

 

 

Agreed PID

3 weeks

31 Mar 22

 

Fundraising agreement in place

3 weeks

31 Mar 22

 

Visits to Brighton and other archaeology galleries

20 weeks

30 Jul 22

 

Identify recruit partners/stakeholders

8 weeks

28 March 22

 

Works to Withdrawing Room floor

TBC

15 Feb 23

 

 

 

 

Research and Design

Identification and testing of main themes

16 weeks

31 May 22

 

Detailed historical research

52 weeks

31 May 23

 

Recruitment of exhibition designers (Design and Build contract preferred)

12 weeks

30 Sept 22

 

Displays design development

64 weeks

31 Dec 24

 

Object and Image research

30 weeks

31 Dec 24

 

Exhibition main text development, writing and production

30 weeks

31 Dec 24

 

Object and image caption writing and production

12 weeks

31 Dec 24

 

Conservation of objects

12 weeks

31 Jan 25

 

 

 

 

Site works

Current gallery decant and documentation

8 weeks

28 Mar 23

 

Gallery fit out

36 weeks

31 January 25

 

Object installation

20 weeks

30 Apr 25

Opening

Official opening event

 

May/June 2025

Learning

Curriculum and learning links in gallery identified

 

 

 

New curriculum sessions devised

28 weeks

28 Feb 25

 

New curriculum sessions tested and available to book

8 weeks

30 Apr 25

 

 

 

 

PR

PR campaign plan agreed

16 weeks

31 May 22

 

 

 

 

Community engagement

Identify roles for participants & recruit

12 weeks

30 Aug 22

 

Archaeology themed public events  

4 per year

Apr 25

 

Resident and interest group meetings

6 per year

Apr 25

 

Archaeology themed events  

4 per year

Apr 25

 

 

 

 

Evaluation

Independent assessment of procedural elements and recommendations for future projects

12 weeks

Dec 25

 

Independent assessment of the gallery against objectives and public feedback/reviews etc

12 weeks

May 26

 

4.   MUSEUM GOVERNANCE REVIEW

 

4.1     In June 2017 members voted to retain the governance of Maidstone Museums. A report to committee at that time considered the options for finding a method of governance for Maidstone Museums. In summary, the report found that, while transfer to a Charitable Trust would bring many, longer-term, strategic advantages to the museums, it would not benefit the council as a whole since financial investment would be required at a time when savings were being sought. Thus, members elected to retain the museums for the present but members also required that officers continue to monitor the museum sector, any changes to Trust Status and anything that might cause the decision to be reconsidered.

 

4.2   Four governance options recommended by Julie Cole, Governance Consultant, were considered by officers initially:

·         Status quo.

·         Create a new charitable trust and transfer full management &operational responsibility. The museum collections and buildings would remain in the ownership of Maidstone Council so they could not be disposed of by the Trust without the permission of MBC. Staff and operations would be the responsibility of the Trust and defined through a Service Level Agreement.

·         Partner with existing charity already managing a museum and transfer full management and operational responsibility- This option was rejected as there is no potential partner able or willing to enter such an agreement.

·         Create a new charitable trust and transfer partial management & operational responsibility. This option was rejected as it would create a two tier staffing structure with current staff remaining as MBC employees. This offered the Council no benefits but considerable liabilities.

 

4.3        While each option offered different benefits and risks, an overall timescale for review can be shown as follows:

 

 

TASKS

TIMESCALE*

Review of previous options

Review by external firm of Solicitors advising MBC of each option in light of any changes to:

·         Legal requirements

·         Charity Commission Changes

·         Success of exemplar Trusts since 2017

 

Solicitors have been instructed.

 

8 weeks

Decision

Report to ERL committee for decision allowing for writing, review and publication dates

8 weeks

Retain Status Quo

No further action required

N/A

OR

Establishing Charitable Trust in agreed form

Initial independent trustee recruitment + training

 

Submission of the Charity Commission application

 

Charity Commission approval (8-20 weeks)

 

Establishing banking and financial arrangements

 

Establishing relevant policies

 

Establishing contractual agreements re Collections and Buildings

 

Agreements with Union and Staff re employment conditions

 

18-24 months

 

·         Timescales will be affected by length of time taken to recruit suitable consultant or take similar advice.

 

 

5     RISK

Risks related to this matter were detailed in the report Museums Future Governance Options presented to committee on 6th March 2018. Since that report the risks identified have not significantly changed

 

6         CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

Previous report made to committee Museums Future Governance Options on 6th March 2018.

 

 

7         NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

Work can commence on both items immediately