Archived decisions

1. Introduction

The Museum Development Service was established in 2002 with Renaissance funding and has grown to be a highly valued regional service; recognised nationally as a model of best practice. It has evolved to meet the needs of the region through consultation (including `Making the Connection': the regional museums strategy), partnership working, and customer/client evaluation.

Currently managed by MLA South East, it employs 10.5 FTE development workers. In the 2007 consultation with the wider museums community, the service received a satisfaction rating of 85% with Museum Development Officers singled out specifically as being of value.

A recent internal review undertook a thorough analysis of the delivery mechanisms in place and recommendations are being implemented to ensure sustainable, efficient and effective working practices in the future through a fit for purpose structure.

MLA South East and the South East Hub wish to ensure that the 2008-9 transitional arrangements retain the high levels of delivery and partnership working seen in previous years.

In guidance from MLA, Hubs and Regional Agencies have been asked to agree plans for transition by September 2008 so that they can be implemented by April 2009. Currently the proposed closure for MLA South East is 31^st December 2008. Arrangements will need to have been agreed by the end of June/July to allow sufficient time, therefore, for the potential TUPE transfer of staff, so that operations could transfer by the end of December 2008 if required.

This document outlines the delivery arrangements for the transition of the Museum Development Service for 2008/9. It provides MLA with information about:

· The delivery plan for 2008/9, including changes to the Business Plan submitted

· Accreditation support

· Transition Principles

· Museum Development Service Structure

· Hosting arrangements and Service Level Agreements

· Full Cost Recovery

2. Museum Development Service Delivery Plan 2008/9

The service delivery plan for the Museum Development Service was submitted as part of the SE Regional Renaissance Plan in February 2008 and was agreed by MLA Council in March 2008.

A number of minor changes to the plan have been agreed by the Transition Working Group as a result of transition planning and changes to the funding stream for Strategic Commissioning. These are outlines below.

2.1. Changes to the submitted plan

2.1.1. Strategic Commissioning Activity

At the time of planning, Regional Renaissance Boards were asked to incorporate Strategic Commissioning activity and funding within agreed plans. This required a number of planned activities to be cancelled.

The Strategic Commissioning funding stream has now been confirmed. This has released funding for those projects postponed or cancelled.

2.1.2. Large Grants

Through the reallocation of Strategic Commissioning funds and in response to the 2007 consultation with the wider Museum community, the grants pot has been increased to enable a Large Grants programme to be set up. This fund will enable a limited number of larger museums or Museum networks to apply for a more significant amount of funding than can be released from the Small Grants programme.

2.1.3. Sharing Skills Management

It has been decided that due to the streamlining of Sharing Skills activity in 2008/9, a Full Time Project Manager is no longer required. Funds will be contributed towards a shared post which will have Sharing Skills Project responsibilities (see 5.1.3).

2.1.4. Full Cost Recovery

A nominal figure for Full Cost Recovery for MLA South East was agreed within the plan. The figure has now been calculated using ACEVO guidelines. Hampshire County Council are currently calculating the additional costs that will be incurred by taking over the responsibility for the service and will be seeking additional funding from MLA to cover this.

2.1.5. Network development support

A sum of money has been allocated to support network development in the South East. All sub-regional Museum Development Services have Steering Groups but these work well to a greater or lesser extent depending on the sub-region. The SE Renaissance Board would like to use these Steering Groups to provide greater representation of the Wider Museum Community on the Board. This fund will be used to work with those Steering Groups to make sure this is feasible.

2.2. Plan for 2008/9

A broad overview of the service delivery plan for the Museum Development Service can be found at Appendix 1. This highlights the areas of activity and outputs/outcomes as submitted in the Regional Renaissance Plan and budget allocations. Changes/new activities have been highlighted. Further information can be found in the original Renaissance Plan.

3. Accreditation Support

The South East region has the largest number of Accredited/Registered Museum and processes approximately 50 Museum applications per year in a rolling programme. A number of new applications to Accreditation are also processed each year. MLA South East receives no additional core funding from MLA for this activity.

The accreditation year roughly runs from November to October.

From November 2007 Phase 4 began. There will still be another Phase to start in November 2008 to complete the process.

3.1. Assumptions about future support to be provided

In discussing the new responsibilities for ongoing support for Accreditation to be provided by the Hub, it has been highlighted that not enough information has been received from MLA Council regarding the new processes for assessment that were to be put in place and what kind of support would be available from Collections Trust.

MLA South East and the South East Hub have therefore made assumptions about what roles will need to be maintained in the future. The main assumption is that Museum Development Officers will continue to support Museums through giving pre and post Accreditation advice. All other areas including managing the process, administration, Museum and MDO briefings and expert support and advice for MDOs will transfer to Collections Trust.

Both the South East Hub and MLA South East are very keen to understand the exact requirements for the future to help with transition planning. A paper has been sent to MLA seeking further clarification.

4. Museum Development Service Transition Principles

At the first meeting of the Renaissance South East Transition Working Group meeting, a set of transition principles were agreed. These principles set out a clear context and a framework for discussion to guide the transition process.

The agreed principles are as follows.

1. The current service is passed over as a sustainable model, with quantified liabilities covered as far as is practical, which will allow it to continue into 2009 and beyond.

2. The 2008-9 MLA-approved Renaissance SE business plan should be delivered as far as possible in line with regional sector consultation and regional strategy priorities.

3. The impact of change on regional service delivery and the sector is minimised.

4. The risk of destabilising the service and delivery is reduced by minimising the impact of change on the service by maintaining MDO hosting arrangements wherever possible.

5. Transition costs are minimised, whilst complying with TUPE and other relevant legislation.

6. ACEVO full cost recovery methods are applied in respect of MLA SE employed staff.

7. Museum Development Service strengths are consolidated in future delivery in line with regional sector consultation and regional strategy priorities.

8. Services that were highlighted as priorities or valuable in the Wider Museum Community Consultation are protected in MDS transfer as far as possible.

9. The transfer of knowledge regarding the delivery of the MDS is maximised.

5. Museum Development Service Structure

The delivery plan for the service outlined above will be delivered by the staffing structure which can be found at Appendix 2. This structure is based on the recommendations of the Museum Development Service Review which were agreed by the MLA South East board in March 2008.

The structure presented is representative of the service post transition. This takes into account one post that has been deleted as a result of discussions with the SE Hub. There are also a number of services that will transfer from the responsibility of MLA South East to other partners. These are outlined below.

5.1. Services to be transferred

5.1.1. Transfer Arrangements for the Museum Development Service Management and Administration

The Museum Development Service is currently managed by staff employed by MLA South East. With the closure of the agency, it has been decided that the management of the service would best sit with Hampshire County Museums Service who act as Lead Hub.

To this end, it has been agreed that the current Museum Development Service Manager and Renaissance Administrator be transferred to the Hampshire County Museums Service to continue managing the Service.

MLA South East and Hampshire County Council are due to meet shortly to discuss the transfer process for staff involved.

5.1.2. Transfer Arrangement for the Kent and Medway Museum Development Service

In previous years, the sub-regional Museum Development Service for Kent and Medway has sat with and been administered by Kent County Council. However, due to a complication when this was set up, Kent were unable to employ the Museum Development Officer.

As MLA South East will no longer be in a position to employ the MDO, it has been agreed that Kent County Council will take on the employment role.

Initial agreement has been reached and the process has commenced. In the first instance, this requires agreement of Senior Management that a post can be added to the establishment. Once this has been achieved, the transfer process will commence.

5.1.3. Transfer arrangements for Sharing Skills

The Sharing Skills programme is a Renaissance South East project that has been run by MLA South East on behalf of the Hub. The post is currently vacant and it has also been identified that a Full Time Project Manager is not required due to a scaling down of activity in 2008/9.

It has therefore been decided by the Transition Working Group to use this as an opportunity to merge this post with a new Partnerships post that had been proposed for 2008/9. This was agreed as there is a good match between the activities of both posts.

The Museum Development Service Manager will contribute Museum Development Service funds towards the salary of this new post; providing 0.4 FTE management support to the Sharing Skills programme.

A job description has been drafted and it is hoped to recruit to this post as soon as possible. At present these posts are represented on the structure chart as working side by side, line managed by Hampshire County Museums Service. However, it has been identified that there could be further discussion as to how these posts could work in relation to each other. This will be further discussed over the coming months.

6. Museum Development Service hosting arrangements

This section outlines the future hosting and funding arrangements for the Museum Development Service.

6.1. Hosting and funding arrangements

6.2. Service Level Agreements

To ensure that sub-regional Museum Development Services are delivered in line with agreed priorities and procedures, Service Level agreements are issued between the organisation managing the Museum Development Service and the host organisation.

The Service Level Agreement for 2006/8 was extended until 31^st July 2008 to take into account of the changes to the Regional Agencies and the proposals for transition which were announced in February 2008.

MLA South East has worked with Hampshire County Council to issue a joint Service Level Agreement for the rest of the year. This will provide a smoother transition for the sub-regional services and, more importantly, the Museum Development Officers who work for the service.

6.3. Matched Funding

The Museum Development Service Review reviewed the matched funding elements that were included within the Service Level Agreements with authorities.

There are 5 areas of matched funding that are covered under the Service Level Agreements with the 5 host organisations:

· Line management support

· Office and meeting room space

· Budget and accounts administration

· Technical support

· Heat, lighting, and basic stationary

Local authority hosts will continue to provide these, however, a payment of £2,000 will be made in 2008/9 towards programme costs. This is in recognition of the costs of hosting the Museum Development Service.

6.4. Redundancy Liabilities

Funding has been set aside from the Museum Development Service budget to create a regional liabilities fund. The total allocated to this fund will be monitored on an annual basis and will amended according to forecasted requirements. Hosts are entitled to claim against this Fund as a contribution towards and to help offset costs incurred between April 2008 and March 2009 through the employer's liabilities in relation to the Museum Development Service staff, with respect to redundancy, extended leave through maternity or sickness, and legal dispute. Any monies remaining in the contingency fund towards the end of the term will be rolled over to the next year's contingency fund. Any surplus funding will be released and disbursed on a proportionate basis

7. Full cost recovery for MLA South East in 2008/9

It has been agreed that Full Cost Recovery would be factored into the Museum Development Service budget for 2008/9 in relation to the Management of the Museum Development Service.

This will ensure that:

· MLA South East is able to sufficiently support the service whilst it continues to host the service

· The service is passed over to a suitable host as a sustainable concern with all hosting costs covered. (This is seen to be of particular importance.)

Full cost recovery has been calculated using ACEVO guidelines and software. This includes funding to support a full range of hosting support including:

· Line management

· Financial administration eg annual external audit of small grants

· Accommodation

· ICT and relevant support

· Legal, accounting, payroll and banking fees

· Telephones and postage

Full cost recovery for the Museum Development Service Manager and the Renaissance Administrator based on a full year at MLA South East is calculated as £57,976. This equates to £4831.33 each month.

It is agreed that MLA South East will draw down this amount for each month that they host the service. The balance will be used by Hampshire County Council towards hosting costs. Should they find that hosting costs are in excess of the amount identified, Hampshire will raise the issue with MLA.

8. Transfer Plan

A draft timetable for transfer can be found in Appendix 3. This outlines the timescale for transfer and key milestones. This will be further revised as processes are confirmed with transfer partners.

9. Further information

For further information, please contact Simon Edwards at MLA South East.

Simon Edwards

Development Director

MLA South East

On behalf of MLA South East and the South East Hub

12^th June 2008

Appendix 1 - Museum Development Service: Service Delivery Plan 2008/9

Appendix 2 - Museum Development Service Structure

Appendix 3 - Transfer Plan