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An Action Framework for Museums
Executive Summary
This report presents the Scottish Executive response to the consultation on an Action Framework for Museums, which took place between September and December 2002. Ninety-two detailed submissions were received, analysed, and considered by the Executive, as were the outcomes of task groups at the major museum sector conference held in Edinburgh in November 2002.
The main action points of the response are made in the context of the
Partnership for a Better Scotland (PABS) agreement of 15 May 2003 which lays out commitments for the next four years of government in Scotland. That agreement promises consideration of the future governance of the arts, culture, and creative industries in Scotland and decisions about the arrangements for consultation are expected in the autumn of this year. That consultation may have a significant impact on long-term structures and funding arrangements for the museums and galleries sector. The action points summarised here do not impinge on the issues now to be addressed by that wider review. They focus on important potential improvements raised by the consultation which are achievable in the short term and within existing resources, but which will have significant long-term impact for the sector as a whole.
These key aspects will be addressed by immediate and focused work in the following broad areas:
The creation of a regional development framework to develop the capacity and sustainability of the cultural heritage sector through active partnerships.
The Nationals to adopt a greater role in support of the non-national sector, providing advice, expertise, and other assistance.
With the help of key partners, the Executive will identify existing and planned research to articulate the enriching role heritage plays in the lives of Scottish people, the value they place on it, and to find reliable measures for the most significant cultural, economic and social impacts of museums.
The Executive will set out a view of the future of the three industrial museums currently funded directly from the Strategic Change Fund.
The Executive will reposition the resource currently provided to the Strategic Change Fund to support the developments put forward here, to give it a more precise strategic purpose, and confirm it as a continuing resource to the sector as a whole.
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