Museum Development programme 2024-26: Making your application

Why are you making changes to the programme? 

We are committed to the Museum Development programme and what it achieves. The last time Museum Development was open for a competitive funding round was prior to our new strategy, Let’s Create. The four Investment Principles within the strategy provide a strong framework for development. We believe that forward-facing museums will benefit from embedding these in their practice and their organisations, so we need these to shape and inform the Museum Development programme.  

The valued characteristics of Museum Development will continue. These include small grants, workforce training, signposting, data insights, networks and brokering, development programmes and celebration of museums’ achievements.  

The regional programmes have been working in an increasingly collaborative way over the last few years, as highlighted in the evaluation report. We are now making some structural adjustments in support of this growing sense of a national development programme, but still with regional flex. 

How do these changes to the programme relate to Arts Council England’s role as a national development agency? 

As Arts Council England becomes more of a development agency with a real focus on the potential of place, we want to work more closely in partnership with our colleagues in Museum Development on the ground. We want to see more Arts Council investment reaching more museums across the country and need Museum Development support with that. The four Investment Principles work well as development principles and will help all cultural organisations meet the needs of their communities. 

What are the Arts Council Areas?  

The five areas are: London, Midlands, North, South-East and South-West.  

We have dedicated teams in each area working to improve opportunities for people living or visiting different parts of the country to experience high quality cultural experiences and to have opportunities locally for their creativity to flourish. It will help with our joined-up support for museums, to have the same geographic structure for Museum Development. 

Why is Hampshire Solent and the Isle of Wight now in the South West?  

Museums in Hampshire Solent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, will, from April 2024, be supported via the Museum Development South West programme, which will be working in partnership with the other programmes – including MD South East. The museums in the Arts Council England National Portfolio are already support by our South West team. We will ensure that there is a good understanding of the relationships, context and museums in Hampshire within the programme and represented on the oversight board. Although it is a change in Museum Development provider for museums in Hampshire, due to the increasing collaboration and shared characteristics across the programmes, we do not expect that it will feel like a significant change once the new model has bedded down. 

Why have you shifted from nine regional Museum Development programmes to five Area Museum Development programmes? 

As Arts Council England also responds to the Let’s Create strategy, by stepping up as a place-focussed national development agency, we see great opportunities for better join-up between our Area teams and our partners in Museum Development. Arts Council shifted to an area model of working some years ago and we are seeing the benefits of that in sharing practice and brokering relationships in a wider geographic context. We still want to see good coverage with relationships on the ground and a strong understanding of the operating context for museums. Each programme will have an oversight board to guide it, drawn from across the wider Area.  

Will each Area programme be delivered by just one organisation, or might there be several delivery partners for each programme? 

Each Area: London, the North, the Midlands, the South East and the South West, will have a Museum Development programme which may be delivered via one organisation or a consortium of partners with a good understanding of the geography, context and relationships on the ground. We are running an application process to decide who will deliver the Area programmes. 

Will Museum Development support be more remote and competitive with less understanding of the specific context of museums in their localities? 

No. The intention is that it will still be very clear how to access guidance, support, grants and training from the Museum Development programme and there will continue to be a good understanding of the particular context of museums in their localities. We are looking to balance the benefits and efficiencies of more national consistency and shared learning with local accessibility. 

What are these new central Museum Development roles within Arts Council England? 

The new roles within Arts Council are focussed on where the programmes have found particular value in national working. We will have a programme manager to facilitate co-ordination, national communications and programme development, an e-learning role – to support the development and availability of national e-learning format modules. The central budget has been used to support an annual contract around data insights for several years and we believe there will be additional value in having a dedicated post in-house, to help extract as much value as possible from the various surveys and data sources which the programmes use to understand the museum sector and its development needs.   

What level of support and expertise can be expected from the new central roles?  

The programme manager role will be a full time, central coordination and national communications role. It will be the first point of contact for Museum Development providers, IPSOs and other agencies and will set up regular national meetings.  

The e-learning role and data insights roles are part time specialist roles. The data insights role will cover the current regular annual contract for a data analyst as well as by helping to identify insightful approaches to data collection and use, to inform programme delivery and development. The national e-learning role will focus on the development of e-modules which can act as an introduction to more focussed follow-on aspects of the Museum Development offer. 

How much money is being allocated to the new Arts Council Museum Development roles in support of MD programme delivery? 

From the overall standstill budget for Museum Development of £3,352,869 we are allocating £350,000 for central posts and supporting budget. This is an increase of £200,000 as there was £150,000 allocated centrally to date. This means that a total of £3,002,869 will be invested via the five grants per year, 2024-25 and 2025-26. 

Can you provide more information on the funding formula? Why have the allocations changed?   

Since 2009, the Museum Development funding formula has been based on 4 criteria, equally weighted: number of Accredited museums, number of the smallest museums (Accreditation type 1) population and geography. As Museum Development support is primarily focussed on museums which are not funded regularly by Arts Council England as National Portfolio Organisations or by central government as National or sponsored museums, we are now using five factors – which include the four above (minus the number of National museums and museums in the Arts Council’s National Portfolio) plus a new 50% weighting for the number of non-Accredited public museums to reflect the Arts Council opening up National Lottery Project Grants to museums which are not yet Accredited. 

With regard to the funding formula please can Arts Council provide the information source that informed the 50% weighting for the number of public museums that are not accredited?  

The information source is the Mapping Museums database which is updated annually. Last updated in September 2022. 

Why is the North area getting a reduced grant allocation? 

The reason for this is that the museums which are a priority for support from the Museum Development programme are unevenly distributed across the country –The Museum Development funding needs to be viewed in the wider context of our investment, for example, 48% of our National Portfolio investment in museums is going to museums in the North, and the South West and South East have considerably higher numbers of small independent museums. Many of these museums are volunteer-led and in rural settings. We have adjusted the funding formula accordingly.  

Is this a cost-cutting exercise? 

No. Overall the investment per year in the Museum Development programme is £3,352,869. This has been made up of £3,202,869 in grants to Museum Development providers, alongside a budget of £150,000 spent within Arts Council England on a Senior Manager strategic role with a budget alongside to help facilitate aspects of national working. From April 2024 there will be £350,000 spent on central Museum Development posts and a supporting budget and £3,002,869 total available via five area level grants for Museum Development partners.   

What are the purpose and principles of the Oversight Board? 

We believe that the Area Museum Development programmes will really benefit  

from an oversight/advisory or steering board. Below is an outline of the principles that we are looking for: 

• These boards are advisory in purpose, focussed on the programme and its activity plan, with an overview but not ultimate responsibility for the finances.  

• They should be appropriate to the Museum Development programme and its governing structure.  

• These boards will be independent in nature and are unlikely to be formally constituted.  

• They should embody diverse views from across the Area to inform, check and challenge the Museum Development programme. 

• The Museum Development board is responsible for overseeing the funding agreement for the Museum Development programme, but does not hold the financial accountability which sits with the grant recipient. 

• Membership of the board should be drawn from the museum and related sectors from across the Area, with the majority of the membership being independent from the Museum Development providers/consortia. It can though include senior staff from the Executive, but not the programme leads. 

• The Museum Development boards meeting regularly (at least four times a year) with the Museum Development programme leads feeding in, to review progress on the funding agreement/activity plan. 

• They receive and review regular reports on progress against the funding agreement so that they are fully briefed on progress and risks associated with the programme. 

• They ensure those reports are forwarded to the Arts Council on a timely basis – via the lead organisation – the Museum Development grant recipient. 

• They may occasionally meet and communicate directly with the Arts Council, independent of the executive if required.  

• They have policies and procedures in place that comply with requirements and best practice, they ensure they are implemented and reviewed regularly. 

The 20% target for overall investment in Museum Development Area programmes being spent on Small Grants – is there any flexibility with this? 

In relation to the 20% target from the overall investment in Museum Development Area programmes being spent on Small Grants by 2026, the overall investment total may include additional funds attracted in, in support of the programme’s aims as set out by Arts Council England. These additional funds may be from local authorities, trusts and foundations etc to amplify the programme and the 20% target may apply to the increased total. 

What are the Arts Council defining as an unaccredited museum?  

By unaccredited museums which can access some aspects of Museum Development support, we mean public museums which are not yet participating in the Accreditation scheme.  

What are the Arts Council’s ambitions for unaccredited museums and what support would you expect them to receive from Museum Development?  

There are some interesting new museums which are developing practice and increasing representation which we would like to support which are now eligible to apply for National Lottery Project Grants. We want them to be able to access some aspects of Museum Development’s offer, like online training, Accreditation advice and bid writing support. However, these museums would not receive the whole Museum Development package like small grants, as they are not Accredited museums. We would like Museum Development providers to advocate for the value of Accreditation and encourage eligible museums to come into the scheme as its focus on accountability and public trust helps to develop museums as long-term organisations.  

Museums that aren’t Accredited will not be able to access the full package of Museum Development support, for example small grants. Accreditation is a valuable health check and discipline, both as a standard and as a framework that supports planning for a successful and sustainable future. For some of our investment, like becoming a NPO museum, it is still the case that applicants and relevant consortium partners must be Accredited museums throughout the lifetime of the NPO award.  

What’s the expectation on support for freelancers?   

The expectation of Museum Development support for freelancers is that they will be able to access training that is relevant to them and can sign up to Museum Development newsletters and they are recognised as being a vital part of the museum community.  In addition, museum freelancers can of course apply to our Developing Your Creative Practice programme. 

What is the constraint on Museum Development hosting/administration costs?  

There isn’t a specific constraint but within our balancing criteria it is an aspect of value for money that we will consider if we have more than one applicant per Area.  

What level of reporting will be expected from Museum Development providers in terms of data?  

We will include this within the updated Guidance which will be published in May 2023. We will be interested to understand the extent to which Arts Council England investment is reaching more museums and the extent to which the Investment Principles are being embedded in museum sector practice.   

What level of resource should proposals model for national collaboration?   

We aren’t going to specify this, but we want to work with partners who see the value in national collaboration in terms of benefit to museums in their respective Areas.   

Do you have any advice on TUPE?  

TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. Broadly speaking, TUPE protects employee rights when they transfer to a new employer. A TUPE transfer can happen when an organisation, or part of it, is transferred from one employer to another (this is often referred to as an ‘asset transfer’) or a service is transferred from one provider to a new provider (this is referred to as a ‘service provision change’). 

We have taken specialist legal advice on TUPE. Our advice indicates that TUPE is unlikely to apply, but if any potential applicant has specific queries on this, please do contact us. 

Why is there a gap between the guidance being published and date that the application portal opens?  

We’ve allowed a period of development between publishing the guidance and the application portal opening – we are aware that organisations in each area may want to consider whether to apply – either on their own, or in partnership. This development period allows for these conversations and potential strengthening of partnerships to take place before submitting an application.  

The guidance includes a reference that it may be updated – is this not the final version? 

As we published the guidance in January, several months ahead of opening the application portal, we will produce and publish an updated version in May 2023 which responds to some of the queries that we have received since publishing the first version. 

What’s the purpose of the Mandatory Conversation?  

The Mandatory Conversation is to make sure that applicants are based within the Area that they are interested in and that their governing documents and purpose support the delivery of a Museum Development programme so that only eligible organisations go to the effort of making an application. 

When would the balancing criteria be used and what does that mean?  

Balancing criteria have been included and will be used if we receive more than one application for each Arts Council area. If this is the case, we will hold a separate balancing meeting to discuss which application should be awarded. The criteria for this include the assessment scoring (highest scoring), geographical spread of the application (ensuring it covers the entire area) and value for money (admin/hosting charges and amount made available for the programme of activity.  

There seem to be two activity plan templates – which do I use?

Add the completed activity plan template as an attachment and within the one that is embedded in Grantium – add a line that the activity information is all in the attachment.

The application on Grantium includes a request for monitoring information about the staff team – is this the whole organisation team or just those focussed on delivering the Museum Development programme?

The monitoring information required is related to the Senior Staff and Board/Council for the organisation making the application. This may be the a sole applicant or the lead application for a partnership / consortia.