Archived decisions

Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Recreation and Heritage Item 1

27 March 2007

Museum Management Agreements

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage

Contact: Peter James, Tel: 01962 826700 e-mail: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The Museums Libraries & Archives Council's `Accreditation' process for museums, in 2006, identified shortcomings in the partnership arrangements for the governance and funding of Milestones Museum, the Willis Museum, and Aldershot Military Museum. New Service Level Agreements with the relevant borough councils (Basingstoke & Deane, and Rushmoor) will address this problem, and at the same time strengthen the partnerships and make for more efficient management by the partner authorities.

1.2 Link with Corporate Priorities:

"Safer and more secure for all" link through provision through the museums of: Lifelong Learning; Access, Inclusion & Participation; Economic Benefit

"Maximising wellbeing" link through provision through the museums of : Lifelong Learning; Economic Benefit; Sense of Place

"Enhancing our quality of place" link through provision through the museums of: Stewardship; Access Inclusion & Participation; Sense of Place

2. Recommendations

a) That Hampshire County Council enters into a Service Level Agreement with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council for the joint funding and management of Milestones Museum for a period of 3 years from 1 April 2007.

b) That with the adoption of a new SLA the Milestones Museum Executive Board be wound up (with the agreement of the Board itself).

c) That Hampshire County Council renews its current Service Level Agreement with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council for the joint funding and management of the Willis Museum, Basingstoke, for a period of 1 year from 1 April 2007.

d) That Hampshire County Council renews its current Service Level Agreement with Rushmoor Borough Council for the joint funding and management of Aldershot Military Museum, for a period of 1 year from 1 April 2007.

3. Proposal for new Service Level Agreement for Milestones Museum

3.1 In response to the MLA's highlighting of the need for a more formal arrangement for the joint management and partnership funding of Milestones Museum it has been agreed with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council that the Milestones Executive Committee that has hitherto served as a "joint management committee" for Milestones should be wound up and a new partnership arrangement between HCC and B&DBC, based on a formal Service Level Agreement, should be created to run with effect from 1 April 2007 for a period of three years. Negotiations and drafting of the Agreement are continuing and will be concluded during March. The current draft is appended for information.

3.2 The management and monitoring of the SLA will be by means of regular reporting (against performance targets published in Milestones' annual Service Plan) and "Service Review Meetings" between officers of the two parties.

4. Proposal to renew Service Level Agreements for the Willis Museum and Aldershot Military Museum

4.1 In response to the MLA's highlighting of the need for more formal arrangements for the joint governance and partnership funding of the Willis Museum (Basingstoke) and Aldershot Military Museum, new SLAs for 2006-07 were agreed with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council and Rushmoor Borough Council, respectively. These 1-year Agreements will expire on 31 March, and need to be renewed for 2007-08. Both B&DBC and RBC have indicated that they are content that the terms and conditions of the new Agreements should be unchanged from the current ones. Copies of the current (2006-07) Service Level Agreements are appended for information.

4.2 The management and monitoring of the SLAs will be by means of regular reporting (against performance targets published in the museums' annual Service Plans) and "Service Review Meetings" between officers of the two parties.

5. Financial Implications

5.1 All partnership funding of the community museums, whether by means of Joint Management Agreements or Service Level Agreements, is subject to annual negotiations with the respective local authority partners. Neither form of Agreement offers a cast-iron guarantee that any partner will contribute, for any year, the full amount requested by the Museums Service. In that sense then, an SLA is no better or no worse than a JMA. However, it is expected that the proposed 3-year Agreement with B&DBC will make their funding contribution towards Milestones Museum more secure over that term. It is hoped that in future HCC will also be able to negotiate longer-term Agreements with B&DBC and RBC in respect of the Willis Museum and Aldershot Museum.

5.2 For the forthcoming financial year the Museums Service has already won commitments from all the local authority partners (including the three which are the subject of this report) to full contributions. These have been calculated on the basis of last year's amounts plus an allowance for inflation.

6. Legal Implications

6.1 Obligations on both sides of the partnerships will be more clearly defined than is the case under the traditional museum JMA. Under the SLA model HCC accepts the sole responsibility for the provision of the service, with the other authority's role limited to making a fixed level of financial contribution towards the cost of the delivery of the service. The contributing authority will be entitled to receive information to satisfy itself that its money is being used for the purposes intended, for the benefit of the local community, and that the desired level of service was being provided. However, it would have no executive role in co-managing or developing the service (other than providing financial support).

7. Impact

7.1 No adverse impact, but several potential benefits, as described in this report.

8. Risks

8.1 Resourcing up to provide a service of a particular level, only to find that funding is later withdrawn or reduced, is a potential risk. However, this a risk that already exists under all the present (mainly JMA) partnership arrangements, as explained in section 5, and can only really be minimised by the preservation of a good relationship with the partner authorities, and continuing strong performance by the Museums Service. The proposed 3-year Agreement with B&DBC for Milestones, and it is hoped similar ones for the Willis and Aldershot Museums in future, will help to reduce that risk

8.2 All other potential risks can be managed or avoided by careful negotiation and drafting of the Agreements so that neither party is afforded an unfair advantage in any foreseeable circumstance.

8.3 The principal risk attached to not adopting the recommendations in this report is that the Museums Service might find it more difficult to gain its Accredited status from the MLA at the next round.

9. Conclusion

9.1 It is necessary to establish the partnership arrangements for the joint management and funding of the three named museums on a more clearly defined, legal basis, for example by means of negotiated Service Level Agreements. The proposed new Agreements will help the Museums Service to gain its MLA Accreditation at the next review (and thus help to maintain our CPA ratings), and will strengthen the partnerships, and make for more efficient management and monitoring of these museums. The recommendations contained in this report, if adopted, will achieve these objectives.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

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

NB: the list excludes:

1. Published works

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

a) Draft Service Level Agreement (2007 - 10) with Basingstoke & Deane B.C. for Milestones Museum (under negotiation).

b) Current Service Level Agreement (2006-07) with Basingstoke & Deane B.C for the Willis Museum, Basingstoke (Unsigned copy. Signed copy on file with Legal Services ).

c) Current Service Level Agreement (2006-07) with Rushmoor B.C for Aldershot Military Museum (Unsigned copy. Signed copy on file with Legal Services ).