Agenda item

The Committee received the Carmarthenshire Museums Strategic Plan for the period 2017-2022, superseding the previous Carmarthenshire Museums Service Forward Plan 2013-18 approved by the Executive Board member on the 15^th March 2013 .

The Head of Leisure, in introducing the report, advised the Committee that whilst the Council’s normal reporting procedures would have required its consideration by the Committee prior to submission to the Executive Board, the external museums accreditation timetable which required its submission by the end of October 2017 had necessitated its approval by the Executive Board on the 31^st July 2017. That approval, had enabled the Department to progress the accreditation process to comply with the required timescale. As a consequence, the report was being presented to the scrutiny committee for information and comment.

The Committee thereupon received a presentation on the Plan, which identified the following 5 key objectives to deliver the vision of providing an excellent service by 2022:

·        Strategic Aim 1 – Manage and develop our resources, facilities and workforce to become more resilient and build a stronger economy;

·        Strategic Aim 2 – Become recognised for our innovative approach to developing and using museum collections;

·        Strategic Aim 3 – Create a great visitor experience through excellent services and programs

·        Strategic Aim 4 – Deliver inspiring and creative learning opportunities for all people;

·        Strategic Aim 5 – Support opportunities to promote health and well-being

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:

·        Reference was made to the work of the Museums Service and to whether it supported/linked in with other private/community museums in the county.

The Museums Development Manager advised that the service had previously established Hanes Sir Gar that brought together various historic societies and private museums which regularly met at the County Museum in Abergwili. Additionally, the service operated an open door policy providing assistance and guidance to the private/community sector wherever possible.

·        Reference was made to the Plan’s ambition of providing a central collections storage facility to replace the current storage arrangements spread across a number of facilities countywide. As additional funding would be required for that facility, clarification was sought on whether that was in place.

The Head of Leisure confirmed that external funding had been identified to enable scoping work to be undertaken to examine the council’s collections and collecting policies to assess the extent of future storage facilities. Following completion of the scoping work, the next step would be for the Authority to undertake an assessment of its property portfolio to identify any facilities that may be capable of conversion e.g. old/vacant warehouses. With regard to funding, bids had been made via the Council’s capital programme with the exact level required being dependent upon the suitability of any properties for conversion to the required standard.

·        Reference was made to the work of the museums service and clarification sought on whether it collaborated with the education department on the type of exhibitions/displays provided. The Museums Development Manager confirmed that was a key element of the learner programme and, historically, the service had worked closely with the education department in that regard. However, there was scope for enhancing the service’s role in the programming of exhibitions to closely link with the curriculum.

·        In response to a question on the service’s ability to be financially self-sustaining, the Head of Leisure reminded the Committee that the service was not able to levy an admission charge for visitors. However, it was able to examine other sustainable avenues to attract revenue. Those could include making better use of its facilities for example holding weddings at Parc Howard and Abergwili and closely linking the museums with other local attractions such as linking Abergwili with the Towy Valley Cycle Trail and by providing enhanced refreshment facilities.

The Head of Leisure also commented upon the cost of operating the service, particularly the considerable maintenance costs associated with the Abergwili and Parc Howard Museums which were subsidised by other activities within the Leisure services portfolio. He confirmed that whilst every endeavour would be made to maximise all revenue raising opportunities, it was possible the service may never achieve financial self-sustainability.

·        Reference was made to the perceived lack of marketing of the museums service and to whether there were any proposals to enhance its promotion within the community and at other tourism venues. The Head of leisure advised that although the service had always operated on the premise of waiting for visitors to come to its facilities work was on-going to address that situation by adopting a similar approach to the Library service which had seen its visitor numbers increase significantly. That included liaising with the council’s communications and tourism divisions to improve the status of the museums branding, initially on-line.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be received.