Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND)

This is an open-access capital fund targeted at non-national Accredited museums and local authorities based in England to apply for funding to undertake vital infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlogs which are beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets.  

The criteria for the Museum Estate and Development Fund have been set by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England, Historic England (HE) and The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF). The grants are administered, awarded and monitored by Arts Council England. Funding has been provided by DCMS. 

The impacts we expect this fund to achieve are that: 

• Museums across England improve their core infrastructure by tackling their maintenance backlogs
• Museums across England reduce the immediate risks to buildings, visitors, staff and collections due to improved core infrastructure  

The outcomes we expect to see from recipients of this investment are:  

• Museums are more financially resilient and environmentally responsible by developing and implementing maintenance plans 
• Environmental performance of buildings and equipment is increased, supporting the reduction in carbon emissions in the museum sector
• Improvement in museums ability to offer independent access for disabled people and accommodation of diverse user needs 
• Museums have strengthened their contribution to local community and regeneration by preserving landmark buildings and ensuring locally treasured collections are accessible by the public 

Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) round one is now closed.

Read the guidance in full below for reference.

Last updated: 17 August 2021

When must the activity take place?

Activity can start as early as 7 March 2022, but must start no later than 25 April 2022.

The deadline to complete activities and claim final payment is 31 March 2025.

We have been invited to submit a full application, however our circumstances have changed since we submitted our Expression of Interest and we now need funding for different works. Can we apply for a different project or different amount?

You can only apply for activity outlined in your Expression of Interest, to the maximum amount you requested in the EOI. You should not apply for more funding or for activities that were not detailed in your EOI.

We recommend focussing your application on the most urgent aspects of the activities you outlined in your EOI.

Demand at Expression of Interest stage was very high and we had to make some difficult decisions. Before you begin your application we would like to provide you with this additional information:-

• Historic England will be in touch directly to arrange a site visit. These visits will take place in August and September. 
• Once Historic England have contacted applicants to arrange a site visit, applicants should send them their costed condition survey and costed risk register as soon as possible.
• Your costed condition survey should demonstrate the need for the work you are applying to us to complete. In place of a condition survey we can also accept relevant specialist reports as evidence.
• Historic England will send a report based on their findings to applicants by 24 September 2021 and will share it with us. Applicants are expected to use this report to inform their application. Once applications are received, Historic England will read them and comment on whether their advice has been followed.
• If your building is leased, and if there is a break clause in your lease, then if your application is successful, we will need to establish a deed of variation before you are able to draw down your first payment. You may wish to begin a conversation with your landlord regarding this now as the deadline would be April 2022.
• Due to the high demand for MEND, it is very likely that the panel will only support applications that focus on work that is highly urgent. Arts Council England reserves the right to make reduced offers at award stage (i.e. offering less funding than has been applied for) where, in its judgement, applicants have included work that is not highly urgent.
• If your application is for over £1,000,000 you are asked to include proposals for how your project might be phased. This would include providing a costed timeline, showing the most urgent works taking place first.

Will Historic England contact me regarding a site visit?

Yes. Historic England will contact applicants directly to arrange a site visit in August / September 2021. They will produce a report of their findings and share this with applicants no later than 24 September 2021. Applicants are expected to use this report to inform their application. ACE will also receive a copy. 

Once applications are submitted, Historic England will read them and comment on whether their advice has been followed in the application. These comments will be used in Arts Council’s assessment of applications.

Once Historic England have been in touch, please send them your costed condition survey and costed risk register as soon as possible.

How ‘recent’ does a recent condition survey need to be?

We do not anticipate that applicants will need to commission a new condition survey in order to be eligible to apply to MEND. It is best practice to undertake planned inspections and surveys at regular intervals every four or five years, so a report of this age or more recent would be acceptable.

My museum is currently Working Towards Accreditation. Are we eligible to apply to the MEND fund?

A museum needs to be Accredited (either Full Accreditation or Provisional Accreditation) to be eligible to apply for the MEND fund.  

Additional information:  

Museums, regardless of accreditation status will soon (Autumn/Winter) be able to apply for project funding (not Capital) through National Lottery Project Grants.  National Lottery Heritage Fund’s investment is also open to museums Working Towards Accreditation.  

Arts Council Capital funding:  In relation to the last few rounds of our small capital programme, all cultural organisations including museums and libraries were able to apply, but only those who could clearly demonstrate that their primary aims are around arts and culture, with activities benefitting the cultural sector within England. This included but was not limited to National Portfolio Organisations, National Portfolio consortium partners, arts organisations, museums, libraries, Music Education Hubs, universities and local authority service departments.  

Information on future rounds of capital funding will be announced in the autumn. 

Can we make more than one application?

If your organisation has more than one museum or museum site, you can submit an Expression of Interest for each. However, if there are multiple buildings on one museum site, a single EOI should be made for all proposed works on that site.

The site I manage houses a museum and library in the same building can we apply for both MEND and LIF at the same time to support a single building project? 

Yes, you can apply for both MEND and LIF at the same time but you will need to divide the work and apply to MEND for the museum element of the project and LIF for the library element of the project.  

Our lease has a break clause, can we still apply?

As set out in Section Four of the Guidance for Applicants, we require all leases to be in place for at least as long as our security requirements, which are dependent on the size of grant you are requesting. This means that we cannot accept leases with break clauses. If your lease has a break clause you may be able to negotiate a Deed of Variation on the lease, to make sure it complies with these requirements.

You may wish to begin this conversation with the building owner and / or your legal advisor at an early stage, as this will need to be in place prior to any grant funds being released. If you have been invited to submit a full application, we will ask you to provide a copy of your lease so we can check that it meets our requirements and provide instruction on any further action required.

We are not using RIBA Plan of Work stages for our project; can we still apply?

RIBA design plans are not required for non-building projects such as the purchase and installation of equipment or software. You may also not need to follow RIBA Work Stages if your project involves mainly smaller works, repairs, and service replacements. 

However, if your project involves architectural changes or larger construction works, then it is likely you will. Please seek appropriately qualified advice to establish what is most appropriate for your project.

It is a requirement of the MEND fund that projects are ready to start by 25 April 2022 and that they are already at an advanced stage of development at the time of applying, hence the need to have completed at least RIBA Work Stage 3, or equivalent.

What can be used as partnership funding in terms of costs already incurred in the development to RIBA Work Stage 3?

If you have already incurred costs for external professional fees, in the development of your project to RIBA Work Stage 3, you can count this expenditure as part of your partnership funding. Please note however that no other expenditure prior to award and starting the project can be considered as either an eligible partnership funding contribution or a direct cost covered by the award.

How will Historic England be providing advice to applicants?

In August and September 2021, Historic England will be conducting site visits with all projects invited to submit a full application and providing these applicants with written technical advice to support their submission.

Historic England will get in touch with applicants directly around the beginning of August 2021 to arrange these visits and the written advice will be provided to you four weeks in advance of the full application deadline, to allow you time to incorporate this into your submission.

Can we use the grant for salary or other revenue costs?

No, only capital costs are eligible. We define capital expenditure as an amount spent to maintain, repair, or improve fixed assets that will be capitalised on your balance sheet.

Will there be future rounds of MEND?

We currently have funding confirmed for MEND for the 202½022 financial year, the budget is £18 million.

We are unable to confirm future rounds of any CIF programmes, including MEND at this time.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport have made the following statement regarding future rounds of CIF: “The Government remains committed to supporting heritage and culture in communities.  Any future rounds of these funds will be subject to future fiscal events.”

We will provide updated information once we have it.

The guidance states ‘general running costs or overheads such as, but not limited to, additional staffing and insurance’ will not be eligible for funding under MEND. Does this extend to staffing costs for managing the build project? For example, the appointment of a Project Manager 

The exclusion of ‘general running costs or overheads such as, but not limited to, additional staffing and insurance’ refers to the general day-to-day running costs or overheads of the Museum and any additional staff recruited to take part in the day-to-day running of the Museum while the project is undertaken. 

If a Project Manager is recruited externally to manage the works proposed, their contribution would be categorised under ‘fees and charges’ as outlined in the Expenditure section of the guidance, which covers expenditures such as ‘legal or consultant fees’. Further, staffing and / or Project Management costs can be included provided they are time limited and are required to deliver the project.  However, this will need to be capitalised on the balance sheet if being paid for by this fund.

How recent must an access audit be to be supplied as a supporting document for MEND?

It is expected that Accredited museums will have undertaken an access assessment within the last five years. Accredited museums are required to have an up-to-date access assessment and policy, as well as demonstrable evidence of access planning (for example through a separate plan or within the forward/business plan).

A museum intends to partner with their Local Authority to apply for MEND. The Trust leases the museum from the Local Authority and has a service level agreement. Which organisation should be the lead applicant and which organisation would the Arts Council have the funding agreement with if the application was successful?

The Funding Agreement with us would be with whichever organisation submits the application on Grantium. The guidance states ‘We will accept partnership applications between a local authority and Accredited museum(s). One organisation must act as the lead organisation and submit the application depending on who is most appropriate to meet the aims and objectives of the proposed activity’ (p.3 of the MEND applicant guidance).

Deciding which organisation would be the lead would be dictated by the terms of the lease and who is legally responsible for building work. Usually, the lead applicant would be the organisation undertaking the capital works and capitalising the grant on their balance sheet.  

Are there any other documents the Arts Council would accept alongside or in place of a Condition Survey for MEND? 

The MEND applicant guidance states that the costed condition survey ‘is a recent condition survey or relevant specialist report undertaken by an appropriately qualified professional’. It should support the proposed priorities and scope of works set out in your application.  

Other evidence to support the need for the proposed activity will be accepted in lieu of a costed condition survey if a costed condition survey is not appropriate to your project. In this case, any plan or document used to outline or demonstrate the need for the proposed project will be accepted.  

Page 53 of the guidance also provides further useful description around what we expect to see in a condition survey: Carried out on a regular basis, it considers the structure and condition of the property based on a detailed inspection of the building in order to establish its maintenance and repair condition at that time. It gives an indication of when future repairs, maintenance, decoration, and renewal of each part of the building should be anticipated.

Government Indemnity Scheme and MEND

If the accredited museum making the application will take loans from National museums and galleries, we suggest you read the Government Indemnity Scheme guidance at project design stage to ensure that the GIS guidelines are met.

Please contact the Government Indemnity Scheme if the enquiry is not dealt with as part of this guidance.

Where can we get more support or advice?

If you need to contact us, contact our Customer Services team on the link below.

We strongly advise you to discuss your projects with your Arts Council area office before making an application.