Museum Practice. Группа авторов

attached to the unintended consequences of legislation. Museums are subject to the law in the same way as any other institution or individual. Many Acts of Parliament are passed which impact upon museums although they were not in the mind of the legislators. There are numerous examples. The Town and Country Planning Act 1990, for example, covers many aspects of strategic development planning which may affect the building of new museums and conservation-led regeneration. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (amended 2005) makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons, as well as making provision about the employment of disabled persons. This has had a major impact on museums in historic buildings where accessibility and authenticity can conflict. It adds to a situation created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, where health and safety issues have dominated the management of many museum buildings, at considerable cost and occasionally in a way that seriously compromises interpretation.

      In some cases the legislation has no particular impact on museums other than bringing significant additional costs which museums may ill afford. The Employment Rights Act 1996, for example, sets out detailed processes and conditions which employers must respect, regardless of cost or bureaucratic inconvenience. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 enables a person to make a request for information to a public authority and entitles them to be informed in writing whether that information is available. The costs of Freedom of Information inquiries are considered almost prohibitive.

      Other legislation aimed at a much wider sector will challenge museums to be clear about their purpose. The Charities Act 2006 expands the existing four categories of “charitable purpose” (the relief of poverty, the advancement of education, the advancement of religion, and other purposes beneficial to the community) developed by courts over the years. There are now 13 categories in total, including “the advancement of arts, culture, heritage or science.” All charities must demonstrate that their purposes are for public benefit. This affects private museums, which may seek tax concessions, but whose purpose may not be for public benefit.

Conservatives, 1979–1997

      Over the past 20 years, a major factor in the development and realization of English museums’ policies, frameworks, and legislation is the degree to which the sector is regarded, or regards itself, as delivering on government objectives. During the four Conservative administrations, 1979–1997, the way in which government perceived its relationship with the organizations that it funded changed considerably. As Prime Minister between 1979 and1990, Margaret Thatcher had little interest in the arts or museums. She regarded the promotion of culture as indicative of a nation’s international standing, and thought that support for it should broadly involve “the private sector raising more money and bringing business acumen and efficiency to bear on the administration of cultural institutions” (Thatcher 1993, 634). This is pretty much the same line that the current Coalition is taking too.

Not surprisingly, the museums sector had little obvious connection to the center of government and appeared to contribute little to its objectives, and within government responsibility for the arts vacillated between several departments. Its aims were simultaneously myopic and broad-based, aspiring to encourage public access to, and the appreciation and enjoyment of, the arts and the nation’s cultural heritage. Several of its initiatives were intended to contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of the national museums’ collections and the preservation of objects of historic importance. The Office of Arts and Libraries (OAL) regarded private sector support, sponsorship in particular, as the most likely way of expanding the resources available to its sectors, developing initiatives such as the Business Sponsorship Incentive Scheme, launched in 1984, which matched funding from private sponsors.

      Restrictions in public expenditure across the board meant that the whole emphasis of the government’s cultural policy was on plural funding, via sponsorship, marketing, charges, and trading. Thatcher’s introduction of entrepreneurialism to the public sector prompted major reform. Through the Financial Management Initiative, launched in 1982, her government called for greater accountability efficiency, effectiveness, and “value for money” at central and local government levels. It brought about change in the culture of the civil service and government- funded agencies, with budget-holding and -planning regularly impinging on the lives of those who had never previously been required to consider issues of costs and benefits. The implementation of the Financial Management Initiative was largely scrutinized through the Audit Commission and the National Audit Office, both of which were set up in 1983. The former had responsibility for examining the management of local authority auditing in England and Wales and the latter, for reporting on public spending programs in England, Scotland, and Wales. While neither body was, or is, specifically responsible for cultural services, yet museums, galleries, and the arts nonetheless fall within their remits and have been subject to the philosophy that they represent.

      These changes impacted on national museums as well as local authority museums in England. They were hit by a series of initiatives designed to introduce a basic understanding of the principles of business managerialism as far down their structures as possible. The introduction of competitive tendering in the early 1980s brought indirect pressure to bear as costs were everywhere scrutinized and tested. The Audit Commission’s report, The Road to Wigan Pier (1991) reminded local authorities “first to be clear about why they are supporting museums, to set objectives for them and then to devise a business or development plan for the service,” and that that their “[s]ervices should be targeted at chosen customers” (Audit Commission 1991, 3). Other indirect reforms included the Citizens’ Charter. This initiative, launched by Thatcher’s successor John Major in 1991, promised better-quality public service provision through the publication of service standards, the right of redress, performance monitoring, penalties, tighter regulation of privatized utilities, and the increased pressures resulting from competition and privatization. “Charter marks” were awarded to the most successful service providers, including several museums.

      Following Major’s 1992 election victory, and in response to what he perceived as having been a fragmentary approach to support for culture, he replaced the OAL with the Department for National Heritage (DNH). Unlike its predecessor departments, the DNH was headed by a Secretary of State with Cabinet status, which brought a greater political influence to bear on its sectors. The new department’s agenda was visibly shaped by the interests of government. In 1996, DNH published Treasures in Trust (DNH 1996a), described as the first major statement of government policy toward museums since the 1930s. It was intended to provide a new framework for museums, which increased emphasis on collection care, public participation, and quality of service. It proposed to help to raise standards in museums and galleries, using the existing Museum Registration Scheme as a basis; underline the importance of museum education, especially as part of lifelong learning; address the opportunities provided by new technologies, especially to make collections more widely accessible; and give museums and galleries access to funding from the National Lottery for a wide range of projects. It also commissioned David Anderson’s report A Common Wealth (1997) which made the case for museums offering much better services to learners of all kinds (and was subsequently republished by Labour).

      In the longer term, the most important innovation under Major was undoubtedly the creation of the National Lottery through the National Lottery Act 1993. Heritage was one of the five good causes identified to receive lottery income and museums have benefited enormously over the years since (see case studies below). By 1997, DNH was increasingly guiding its sectors’ strategic direction, which it articulated as being to encourage high quality and diversity; safeguard existing creative achievements and promote understanding of the past; extend opportunities to enjoy and appreciate rewarding leisure opportunities; promote the contribution all our sectors make to the national prosperity and prestige; and carry out these activities with proper stewardship of the resources available (DNH 1996b, 3). It had seemingly embraced the importance of access (Bottomley in DNH 1996b, 8) and had possibly learned from what Labour local authorities had achieved during the years of opposition. The way was perhaps smoothed for the arrival of New Labour and an unprecedented proactive approach to cultural policy.

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