Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. Approval is sought to transfer of the County Council's Sole Trustee status, and management of the Flora Twort Gallery and associated assets to Petersfield Museum Ltd.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The cost to HCC of continuing to run and maintain the gallery and meet the conditions specified in Flora Twort's will.

2.2. The lack of suitable candidates coming forward to take on a new management agreement.

2.3. The legal process required to transfer HCC's trusteeship.

3) Recommendations:

3.1 It is recommended that HCC transfers its Sole Trustee status and future management of the Flora Twort Gallery and associated assets, to Petersfield Museum Ltd.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. The report explains the background and the reasons why approval is sought to progress the transfer of the Flora Twort Gallery, art collection, intellectual property rights and endowment fund to the Petersfield Museum Ltd.

2) Background:

2.1 Miss Flora Twort was a member of the Royal Academy and a well-known artist whose home and studio was in Church Path, Petersfield, an 18^th century cottage combined with a brewhouse. She died in 1985, and bequeathed her house and her collection of paintings to Hampshire County Council.

2.2 The terms of her will state that her studio should be used as a place of exhibition of her pictures and, provided that this was carried out, as a museum. The building could also be used for other purposes such as committee meetings and social activities. The will allows her paintings to be exhibited elsewhere, but only on a temporary basis. She also left an endowment fund, which has now reached c. £45,000, which must be spent on the upkeep of the building and related expenses, and the same applies to any earned income from the building.

2.3 The County Council accepted this bequest and it fell to the County Museum Service to implement Miss Twort's wishes, at which point the will states that Miss Twort's Trustees ceased to have any further responsibility in regard to the studio, the fund or the pictures.

2.4 In order to manage the Flora Twort Gallery, HCC has previously let a concession, under a management agreement, to run a restaurant on the ground floor of the property on condition that the restaurant proprietor also supervised the exhibition gallery upstairs, where a sequence of temporary exhibitions of Flora Twort's pictures were displayed. Under the agreement HCC continued to maintain the building, and the restaurant proprietor paid for the services and contributed a percentage of his profits from the enterprise to HCC. Curatorial supervision from Museums & Archives Service was provided by the curator of the Curtis Museum in Alton. This arrangement enabled the full-time opening of the gallery at minimum cost to HCC.

3) Current Position

3.1 The latest of these concessions was due to terminate on 23 August 2008, but the proprietor requested and was granted an early termination, on 16 June 2008. The proprietor has removed his effects, the Flora Twort paintings previously on display have been put into storage, and the Gallery is closed pending a decision on its future.

3.2 As reported to the Executive Member on 6 July 2006 an exploratory meeting was held with the Board of Petersfield Museum Ltd, a charitable company limited by guarantee, to explore the possibility of them taking over the guardianship of Flora Twort. The Board runs the Petersfield Museum, and employs a professional curator. Their response was very positive, and they indicated that they would be interested in using the studio building as a museum gallery. On 6 July 2006 the Executive Member gave her approval to talks continuing with Petersfield Museum while other options for managing the gallery continued to be explored. Further meetings have taken place since the restaurant proprietor's agreement ended in June and as a result Petersfield Museum Ltd wrote to HCC on the 2 July 2008 stating that its Board had unanimously decided that "is prepared to accept the transfer of the Flora Twort Trust".

4) Key Issues:

4.1. The Gallery has cost HCC approximately £5,000 p.a. to run and maintain under the previous `concession' arrangement with a restaurateur.

4.2. It was not possible to find a suitable replacement restaurateur.

4.3. To employ its own staff to run the gallery Museums & Archives Service would need to find resources from within its core funding

4.4. There would be a legal process involved in transferring HCC's trusteeship, but consultation by Legal Practice with the Charity Commissioners has ascertained that a transfer is possible.

5) Costs and Timing:

5.1. The costs involved in making the transfer are minimal. Petersfield Museum Ltd have agreed to pay their own legal costs

5.2. Timing is subject only to the necessary legal proceedings .

6) Outline of Options:

6.1. Option 1:

To enter into another management agreement with a private restaurant proprietor.

6.2. Option 2:

For the Museums & Archives Service to staff the gallery during opening times.

6.3. Option 3:

Transfer of the County Council's Sole Trustee status and management of the Flora Twort Gallery and assets to Petersfield Museum Ltd.

7) Option Analysis / Comparison:

7.1. Option 1:

The last proprietor introduced two potential candidates to HCC, as he was permitted to do under the terms of his management agreement. Each candidate submitted a business plan, but after careful consideration it was considered that neither plan offered a real chance of providing HCC with an income that would cover its own annual costs on the property.

7.2. Option 2:

Museums & Archives Service does not consider it cost effective to employ its own staff to run the gallery, and doing so would also incur services costs previously borne by the restaurateur.

7.3. Option 3:

This option offers a low-cost, relatively simple way forward that will place the trust in the hands of a reputable, well-run local museum and thus secure a sustainable future of the Flora Twort Gallery and art collection for the people of Petersfield.

8) Conclusions:

8.1. Option 3 is the most advantageous option.

9) Summary Recommendations:

9.1. It is recommended that HCC transfers its Sole Trustee status and thereby future management of the Flora Twort Gallery and associated assets, to Petersfield Museum Ltd.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

COMPREHENSIVE RISK & IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Race and Equality Impact assessment

Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

Crime prevention issues

The County Council has a legal obligation under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of all the decisions it makes on the prevention of crime. The proposals in this report have no impact on the prevention of crime.