Archived decisions

Contact: Janet Smith tel. 01962 846154

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

i. That the South East Audio Visual Mapping Project and Strategy report be welcomed as a step towards the better preservation, management and public accessibility of film and sound archives across the region.

ii. That the recommendations of the strategy be endorsed - in particular the creation of a South East Audiovisual Archives Service (SEAVAS) combining WFSA and SEFVA as a centre of expertise - subject to the development of an acceptable organisational structure and acceptable funding arrangements, including the independence of WFSA being retained and the present core working of WFSA for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton continuing without diminution.

2. Reason

2.1 This decision supports Aim 5 of the Corporate Strategy (Improving Services) by facilitating the future development of the audiovisual archives service in Hampshire.

3. Other Options considered and rejected:

3.1 None

4. Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision maker or other Executive Member consulted

4.1 None

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 Not applicable

6. Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent

6.1 Not applicable

Approved by: (signature) Date: (date of decision)

................................... ..............................

Cllr. J. Waddington

Contact: Janet Smith tel. 01962 846154

1. Summary

1.1 The purpose of this report is to draw attention to a recently published South East Audiovisual Mapping Project and Strategy produced by SEMLAC (the South East Museums Libraries and Archives Council).

1.2 A key recommendation arising from the strategy has implications for the future development of a regional role for Wessex Film and Sound Archive.

1.3 Wessex Film and Sound Archive (WFSA) is administered through the Hampshire Archives Trust, a registered charity, which receives its core funding through an annual grant from Hampshire County Council's Recreation and Heritage Department. If WFSA's regional remit is to be extended, the approval and endorsement of Hampshire County Council is required.

2. Wessex Film and Sound Archive

2.1 Wessex Film and Sound Archive was established in 1987, with the approval of HCC's Policy and Resources Committee, as a film and sound archive for the `Wessex' region. Based in Hampshire Record Office in Winchester, WFSA's collections include film and sound material mainly from historic Hampshire, including Portsmouth and Southampton. A small amount of material was also collected in Dorset and Wiltshire some years ago, but no active collection continues in those areas.

2.2 In addition to its annual grant from Hampshire County Council, WFSA currently receives a small grant from Screen South, the regional screen agency. Partners and organisations with which it works include Portsmouth and Southampton city councils; district councils in Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset; the Southern Oral History Exchange (SOHE); and BBC South and Meridian Broadcasting.

2.3 The collections in WFSA include over 18,000 original items (7,000 films, 2,000 videos, 9,000 sound recordings). The collections reflect everyday life and culture in Hampshire and surrounding areas from the1890s.

3. The importance of audio-visual archives

3.1 Moving images and sounds have made a significant contribution to our national culture for over a hundred years and they vividly complement written archives as prime historical evidence. The existence and availability of this rich heritage from the past has a profound impact on our understanding of who we are, where we live and our place in history.

3.2 The South East was the birthplace of commercial film-making in England, and it continues to play a key role in the country's film and broadcasting industries. Many film and video makers, musicians, digital artists and oral historians, together with a variety of cultural and community groups are engaged in audiovisual activity of different sorts, much of it publicly funded. There is therefore a rich - and growing - heritage of film and sound archives in the region.

3.3 Rescuing and preserving this precious but vulnerable audio-visual material from the past is essential if we are to ensure its survival. When Wessex Film and Sound Archive was established in 1987, no other body in the south east existed to undertake this vital work of preservation and access. In 1992, following WFSA's example, the South East Film and Video Archive (SEFVA) was established at the University of Brighton with responsibility for public sector moving image archives in counties in the east of the region. The region therefore has two centres of expertise in audio-visual archives, but no comparable body exists in the counties in the north of the region: Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

4. SEMLAC's mapping project and resulting regional strategy

4.1 To gain a better understanding of audio-visual archives across the region, and the prospects for development, SEMLAC in April 2003 established a mapping and strategy project to research the sector and develop a regional map of audiovisual archives in the South East. In consultation with regional and national stakeholders the mapping data was used to inform a regional development strategy.

4.2 The work was undertaken by consultants, under the direction of a Steering Group chaired by Rob Perks of the British Library Sound Archive, and consisting of representatives of national and regional bodies involved in film and sound archives. Janet Smith, Hampshire's County Archivist, and David Lee, manager of WFSA, were members of the Steering Group.

4.3 The research concluded that the region's audio-visual heritage deserved better support and that it needed a sustainable development strategy to enable its full potential to be realised.

4.4 The final report may be viewed in full on the SEMLAC website at www.semlac.org.uk/archives7.html. It makes a number of recommendations for the future, one of which has significant implications for the future of Wessex Film and Sound Archive

5. South East Audiovisual Archives Service

5.1 The key recommendation proposes the creation of a South East Audiovisual Archives Service (SEAVAS) , `combining WFSA and SEFVA as a centre of expertise (co-sited) to support a wider network of audiovisual archives and collections in the museum, library and archive domains and at local and community level'.

5.2 SEAVAS would function as a virtual hub, similar to the model adopted by museums in the region, and in which Hampshire Museums and Archives Service already plays a leading role. It would have regional responsibility for audio-visual archive policy, strategy and advocacy (in conjunction with the existing committee, board and funding partners of WFSA and SEFVA), and would be guided by an advisory board composed of representatives from film, sound and broadcasting stakeholders and archive users.

5.3 WFSA would have responsibility for film and video archives in the western side of the region: Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire; it would take responsibility for sound archives across the whole region, providing mainly advice and support. Widening WFSA's regional remit will strengthen the service and enhance its regional and national reputation as a centre of excellence in audio-visual archives. WFSA could benefit from a new audio-visual archive store which is needed in the region, although this may not be located in Hampshire. Regional funding would help to build capacity and allow development e.g. in the areas of access and learning that will benefit the service in Hampshire as well as across the region. Any new regional activities would be undertaken only with new funding.

5.4 To establish the regional service requires the development of an appropriate organisational structure, in which both WFSA and SEFVA can maintain their individual identities and current functions, and a new funding package. Funding will be sought from DCMS, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (formerly Resource), the UK Film Council, SEMLAC, Screen South and SEEDA. No additional funding is requested from Hampshire County Council, which already provides generous support for film and sound archives via its grant to the Hampshire Archives Trust.

6. Next steps

6.1 Through SEMLAC, development funding will be requested to take the project forward and determine its feasibility. A business case and action plan will be drawn up.

6.2 The Hampshire Archives Trust Executive Committee on 17 March endorsed the recommendations of the strategy, subject to the independence of WFSA being retained and the present core work of WFSA for Hampshire, Portsmouth, and Southampton continuing without diminution, independent of any future increase or withdrawal of new regional funding. The support of members of the Policy and Review Committee is now similarly requested.

Recommendation

That the following views be submitted to the Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage for his consideration:

i. That the South East Audio Visual Mapping Project and Strategy report be welcomed as a step towards the better preservation, management and public accessibility of film and sound archives across the region.

ii. That the recommendations of the strategy be endorsed - in particular the creation of a South East Audiovisual Archives Service (SEAVAS) combining WFSA and SEFVA as a centre of expertise - subject to the development of an acceptable organisational structure and acceptable funding arrangements.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

N.B. the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents that disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE LOCATION