Shake-up could leave museums with no curators

Review is looking at the structure of the services on offer CITY COUNCIL SEEKS TO RESTRUCTURE SERVICE AND SAVE £320K

LATEST plans for cash cuts could leave Leicester’s galleries and museums without any curators.

The city council has launched a review of its arts and museums service, aimed at cutting £320,000 from its budget.

One proposal would see the four curator posts scrapped.

A museum visitor, who did not want to be named, said: “This move means that the extensive collections that form the backbone of the heritage and legacy of the county will cease to curated and will certainly be at risk as a result.

“Everything from archaeology, natural sciences, art and more, in fact the very items why museums exist, will be under threat.”

The council has confirmed that its head of arts and museums, Joanna Jones, is carrying out an internal review.

A spokesman said: “The proposal under consultation is to create some new posts and to change others.

“The review also aims to find about £320,000 of savings to contribute to the overall savings the council must make because of Government funding cuts. Almost half of these savings have already been found by deleting five vacant posts within the service.

“The aims of the review are to find ways the service can increase its income to make it more self-sufficient in the future, and to make sure the resources available are used in the most effective way to provide excellent services for a large number of people.”

The council says it hopes to find new ways of creating exhibitions, which will be more relevant to the people of Leicester and appeal to people who don’tusually visit museums.

Using funding from Arts Council England, seven new posts will be created in the museums service, including an exhibitions and displays manager, digital project manager, a children and young people’s officer, a community engagement officer and collections access offer. In addition, there would be a new deputy festivals and events manager and a new senior festivals and events officer. The name of the service will change to arts, museums, festivals and events team to reflect the full division. Ms Jones said: “The council continues to invest heavily in the arts and museums service.

“This review is looking at the structure of the division, which does not reflect the changing needs of the service and the demands made on it.

“Our festivals team, for instance, delivers a massive programme of events that has expanded over the years, while the team has not.

“This review gives us the opportunity to look at new ways of doing things, develop our audiences and find new ways of bringing money into the service, to make sure it is fit for the future.”

The review is due to end in March.

Using funding from Arts Council England, seven new posts will be created in the city’s museums service