BACKGROUND

  1.  The Scottish Museums Council is the membership organisation for all non-National[3]3 museums in Scotland and the main channel for central government funding to those museums. The mission of the Scottish Museums Council (SMC) is to improve the quality of museum provision in Scotland for the public benefit. SMC does this by:

—  providing advice to government and other bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund on museum matters;

—  representing the interests of Scotland's museums; and

—  providing a range of professional advisory and support services to museums.

—  awarding project grant aid to member museums.

  2.  SMC has 201 member organisations who manage a total of 313 museums. All 32 local authorities are SMC members, and between them they operate 126 museums and also provide advice and assistance to independent museums in their area. The importance of local authority museum provision is an outstanding feature of the Scotttish museum sector.

  3.  In addition, SMC member museums operate seven regimental museums, 29 university collections and 151 museums operated by independent trusts. Independent members include the National Trust of Scotland and Historic Scotland who are seeking museum registration for a number of sites and the large mainly industrial museums such as the Scottish Maritime Museum, Scottish Fisheries Museum, Scottish Mining Museum and Dundee Industrial Heritage Trust. However, the vast majority of independent museums are small community museums, in urban and rural locations, run exclusively by volunteers.

  4.  As the main channel for central government funding for non-National museums in Scotland, SMC receives its core funding from the Scottish Office Education & Industry department. Projected grant in aid for 1998-99 is £840,000 (70 per cent of estimated turnover). This is supplemented by membership subscriptions, re-charged services and donations. SMC employs 25 staff, located at its office in central Edinburgh and at the Conservation Laboratories of the National Museums of Scotland.

 RELATIONSHIP OF SMC TO THE HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND

  5.  SMC acts as one of the principal advisors to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in Scotland. SMC works with HLF in three main areas, advising HLF on the Scottish implications of policy development: advising member organisations on preparation of applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund and carrying out assessments on behalf of HLF.

  6.  In order to avoid any potential conflict of interest between the latter two areas, SMC has devised and published clear guidelines which have been issued to HLF and members. These guidelines are printed as Annex One[4]4.

  7.  In providing advice on the Scottish implications of policy development, SMC has developed over time some constructive working relationships with senior HLF officials. It is fair to say that SMC has already seen a very positive improvement in new regional teams and would be reassured to see that degree of understanding reflected in future HLF policy development. Future developments are considered further in paras 17-20.

  8.  The pattern of SMC individual assessments for HLF has been:

1995-96:	27 assessments	(20 independent; 7 Local authority)
1996-97:	43 assessments	(29 independent; 14 Local authority)
1997-98:	44 assessments	(38 independent; 6 Local authority)
1998-99	2 assessments	(2 independent)

  Overall, the ratio of applications from independent museums compared to local authories does not reflect either the number or the importance of the local authority museums in Scotland, and SMC speculates that this is a direct result of both timing difficulties and severe cuts in local authority budgets (see paragraphs 13 and 14).

  9.  SMC has not yet been an applicant to HLF, although the SMC Director is now a member of the National Historic Ships Committee whose remit and relationship with HLF is well known to the Committee for Culture, Media and Sport. SMC has successfully applied to the Millennium Commission in partnership with the National Museums of Scotland and Royal Commission to the Millennium Commission which has resulted in the highly successful SCRAN project (www.scran.ac.uk). SMC is now collaborating with the National Museums of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland to develop a proposal for a National Loans Scheme which is effectively the physical counterpart of SCRAN, providing more extensive access on a national and reciprocal basis to museum collections throughout Scotland. The proposal adopts a partnership approach to funding and resources which envisages that the Scottish Office meet the set up and running costs, while the Heritage Lottery Fund should fund the awards to participating museums. The outline of the scheme is currently accessible on the SMC web site (www.scottishmuseums.org.uk) and the Lottery application will be to the newly created HLF Access Fund.

Distribution of Funds by HLF, its Criteria and Procedures

  10.  Details of HLF awards to May 1998 are attached as Annex 2[5]5. The figures show that out of a UK total of £1,106,972,796 HLF has awarded grants in Scotland of £129,252,226, representing 11.6 per cent of the UK total. For UK awards overall, a total of 6.59 per cent has been awarded to the category "Land", and 41.71 per cent to museums and collections. For Scotland the corresponding figures are 12.72 per cent for land and 30.31 per cent for museums. Historic buildings have done "better" in Scottish terms (51.41 per cent) compared to the UK percentage (38.12 per cent) but Industrial Maritime and Transport have done "worse" (5.42 per cent) compared to a UK figure of 8.83 per cent. Perhaps not surprisingly given the importance of natural heritage in Scotland, average awards for land within Scotland have been considerably higher (£1,027,496 compared to £254,191 as a UK average). However the average grant for museums and collections in Scotland (£642,332) is markedly lower than the UK average (£1,058,930).

  11.  All these figures include awards to the National Museums and National Galleries and, as other studies have made clear[6]6 this severely distorts the figures. In Scotland for instance, £25,970,000 out of £39,182,243 has been awarded to the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) and National Galleries of Scotland (NGS). While those awards have been well argued and well deserved by NMS and NGS, including these in the total creates a misleading impression. Certainly this has considerable significance in the context of HLF's declared policy of moving "from buildings to people". In SMC's view there is still a large unmet capital need, particularly from the non-national museums. From discussions with potential applications and our own knowledge, SMC is aware of some 20 major applications which will be made to HLF over the next three years, requiring funding from HLF of some £40,000,000. HLF is the only realistic source of funding for most of these applicants and SMC would be very concerned if anyone were under the (mistaken) assumption that museums' needs had been met and that it was therefore appropriate to channel all Lottery funding into revenue projects.

  12.  In terms of procedures, SMC recognises that there have been significant improvements over the last 12 months. HLF have perhaps underestimated the practical and financial difficulties faced by applicants who have had to devote time and expense to constructing very detailed and complex applications, only to find these applications rejected. To some extent this is a matter of historic record rather than current practice, since improved HLF guidance and procedures mean that applicants appear to be getting a more realistic view of their chances of success at an early stage through discussions with HLF officials. In addition SMC welcomes the introduction of a two stage process for large applications.

  13.  However, the greatest single problem which remains is probably the speed with which HLF changes both policy and procedures, most recently demonstrated in the reintroduction of batched assessments of larger projects. Although SMC understands the need for a mechanism for comparing and assessing large capital projects, it is surprising to see this major development only a few weeks after HLF had published revised funding guidelines which make no reference to such mechanism. Overall, HLF probably underestimates the lead in time which is required by applicants, in particular by local authorities. Where both capital programmes and revenue budgets are so tightly constrained, it is not easy for local authority museum services to respond at short notice to new priorities and new procedures. It is particularly dispiriting for museum curators who have been fighting to have a project included in a capital programme only to have the prospects of Lottery funding recede as HLF priorities have changed, and there will be continuing problems if HLF priorities and procedures are changed too often and too quickly to accommodate local authority budget cycles.

 IMPACT

  14.  In Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, public funding for museums and galleries has declined significantly over the last three years. While there is a distinct lack of authoritative financial information, SMC's best estimates drawn from available information suggest that overall revenue expenditure on museums in Scotland has fallen in cash terms from £64,370,000 in 1995-96 to £55,305,000 in 1998-99. The single largest factor has been the devastating impact of cuts in local authority museum budgets. There is no doubt that the Lottery has provided an enormously welcome and timely injection of funding for the museum and heritage sector.

  15.  However against this background, the uneven distribution pattern and potential difficulties of obtaining matching funding are significant. The new legislation and new policy directions are welcome in that HLF is required to take a more strategic approach, but this only reinforces the need for HLF to demonstrate that both the regional committee and Trustees will take note of national and regional strategies and priorities, including still unmet capital needs and a recognition of the revenue problems facing the museum sector.

  16.  SMC was amongst the first to advocate to HLF the importance of sustainable development and to warn of the adverse impact which creation of too many new facilities would have.[7] 7 It is too early as yet to fully assess the impact of HLF funding as so few projects have yet been completed, and detailed and systematic research will be required to establish, for instance, whether visitor profiles match visitor projections and what has been the relative impact of Lottery funded projects. Meanwhile SMC and HLF are already collaborating on a joint research project which focuses on the application and assessment process and the distribution of Lottery awards in Scotland to date.[8] 8

 FUTURE

  17.  Comments from Scotland necessarily take place in the context of impending devolution. SMC is assuming for the present that HLF will remain a UK distributor post devolution. Although there is some pressure for a separate Scottish distributor, the reduced funds available to HLF on a UK basis mean it will be difficult even now for HLF to fund major projects. If funds remain at this level, the creation of a separate Scottish distributor would severely limit options and would certainly place further pressure on central government to increase its relatively limited funding for museums and galleries in Scotland.

  18.  In addition to the problems of museum funding, the Industrial Maritime and Transport category will continue to present a challenge for HLF and any government concerned to preserve the national heritage. Scotland has some of the most extensive and important industrial sites in the UK as well as a significant number of historic ships including Unicorn, Discovery, Carrick and Glenlee. At least three (Unicorn, Discovery and Carrick) are operated by SMC members while one (Carrick) is listed by Historic Scotland. Unlike England, no historic ships in Scotland are cared for by nationally funded organisations, and owners will therefore need to look to HLF in the absence of any central government support.

  19.  In developing its own policies HLF will require to be particularly sensitive to national priorities in Scotland. SMC anticipates that the new Scottish parliament, through a new committee system, may develop a different approach to national and cultural provision which will require different ways of working within every sector, not just within the cultural sector. Many responses to the cross parliamentary working group have commended a more inclusive approach to policy development and this would have a significant impact on HLF practices and procedures.

  20.  As indicated earlier, SMC and HLF are already collaborating on a joint research project. This will not of itself provide a policy framework for HLF, but it will clearly inform the development of policies. In addition, SMC with the National Museums of Scotland and National Galleries of Scotland are jointly developing a National Strategy for museums in Scotland which seeks to set out a strategic framework for Scotland and examine some of the options which might be considered by the new Scottish parliament. SMC would hope to enter into a constructive dialogue with HLF Trustees and the regional committee as well as the new parliament on the basis of the National Strategy, and would hope to work in much closer partnership with HLF to make best use of all available resources for the public benefit in Scotland.

June 1998

4   4. Not printed Back

5   5 Museums, Galleries and the Lottery: Cultural Trends Issue 28, 1995, pp 6, 13. Back

6   6 Museums, Galleries and the Lottery: Cultural Trends Issue 28, 1995, pp 6, 13. Back

7   7 pp 23, 26. Back

8   8 The source of details given in paras 10 and 11 Annex 2. Back