Further to my letter of 8 June 1998 I have pleasure in submitting the following evidence to the Committee's inquiry into the policies and programmes of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Fund's impact on the heritage.

  1.  The North West Museums Service (NWMS) exists to improve the quality of museum provision throughout the North West by helping museums to safeguard their collections and enhance the service they give to the public. It is one of 10 Area Museum Councils (AMCs) in the UK and serves over 150 museums in Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and the Isle of Man. The region is particularly well endowed with a rich mixture of national, local authority, university, regimental and independent museums housing a wide range of internationally, nationally, regionally and locally important collections covering all the major subject disciplines. Six of the region's museums have been awarded Designated status. A copy of NWMS 1996-97 Annual Report is enclosed for information[10]10.

  2.  NWMS has worked closely with the HLF since its establishment and has contributed to policy development, the assessment of applications and the monitoring of successful projects. NWMS has also advised museums in the region on HLF's application process and grant criteria and has provided, through its own grant programme, a limited amount of partnership funding for selected projects. NWMS has developed a draft regional strategy (copy enclosed[11]11) to inform the production of HLF's own Strategic Plan and to guide investment in the region's museums by HLF and other national and regional bodies.

  3.  HLF has made grants or awards in principle to museums in the North West totalling over £60 million enabling major refurbishment and extension projects to proceed at Manchester City Art Gallery, the Manchester Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the Armitt Library in Ambleside and the Ruskin Museum in Coniston inter alia. A new museum project, the Football Museum in Preston, has also attracted support, while the World of Glass in St Helens will replace two existing museums in need of improvement. Modest grants to the Grosvenor Museum in Chester, the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere and the National Museum of Labour History in Manchester, have improved the display of the Roman Stones Gallery, assisted with the planning of a new Collections Centre, and funded the comprehensive survey underpinning the National Banner Initiative, respectively. NWMS estimates that additional capital projects totalling £100 million are in the pipeline plus an unknown level of demand for the recently introduced revenue grants.

  4.  Following changes to HLF's eligibility criteria NWMS is considering applying for support towards its own Education Initiative and is exploring the scope for assembling and managing other "umbrella" projects relating to conservation, documentation and access. NWMS would welcome an indication from HLF of the probable level of support for each region of the UK (and the criteria used to calculate this) together with the delegation of a proportion of the funds available to support smaller projects. NWMS understands that the Arts Lottery Fund (ALF) is developing such proposals in consultation with the Regional Arts Boards (RABs). The well established three-stage ALF application process and the eligibility of initial feasibility studies for ALF support has proved more helpful, particularly for smaller organizations, than HLF's somewhat daunting procedures which require a high level of initial investment by applicants. The introduction by HLF in 1998 of a mandatory two-stage application process for capital projects with a total cost above £500,000 goes some way to addressing this problem but smaller heritage groups seeking support for relatively modest schemes will still face considerable difficulties meeting HLF's requirements. The regional delegation of funds would also facilitate the assessment and monitoring of revenue grant applications if, as is presumably hoped, many more small applications will be forthcoming.

  5.  NWMS was surprised by HLF's decision in June 1998 to reintroduce a batching process for major applications given the previous problems experienced in the region as a result of the incompatibility of HLF's timetables with those of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The need for these two vital sources of funding for the region to be co-ordinated is demonstrated by the fact that in 1997 the Imperial War Museum North secured ERDF, but not HLF, support. Meanwhile, three Manchester museums secured £30 million from the HLF but cannot proceed until a final decision is made on ERDF.

  6.  NWMS cannot stress too highly the value of the help the HLF has been able to provide to museums and galleries in this region. For the first time a significant level of funds has been made available to address the often long-standing capital problems of some of the most important museums in the UK. HLF's criteria have stressed the need for museums to deliver a wide range of public benefits, to consider the needs of visitors with disabilities and to demonstrate evidence of community support for their plans as well as meeting strict technical standards and high quality design. HLF's new powers will enable museums to initiate or extend education and audience development projects, address backlogs of conservation and documentation, and provide an incentive for museums to work together on joint projects. Many capital projects have yet to come forward, however, and further investment is needed to enable museums in the North West to fully safeguard their collections, maximise their contribution to lifelong learning, improve accessibility, widen audiences and play a fuller role in the process of regional regeneration.

  7.  In widening its range of support for museum projects HLF should fully explore the scope for working with, and delegation to, existing regionally based organizations such as AMCs to avoid duplication of effort, minimise administrative costs and encourage a sense of regional ownership of Lottery awards.

  I hope these observations are helpful to the Committee.

June 1998

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