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Contents
BEST VALUE REVIEW
FINAL REPORT - JULY 2001
MUSEUMS, HERITAGE AND VISUAL ARTS
PART ONE
GLASGOW MUSEUMS
CHAPTER
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE
2
CHAPTER
1
2
3
THE SETTING AND PROCEDURES OF THE REVIEW
CHAPTER
GLASGOW MUSEUMS 2001
CHAPTER
ACCESS: SOCIAL INCLUSION AND LIFELONG LEARNING
15 - 22
4
CONSERVATION AND COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT:
CARE, AUDIT AND ACCESS
23 - 32
CHAPTER
EXHIBITION POLICIES
33 - 40
CHAPTER
VISITOR SERVICES
41 - 50
CHAPTER
VENUE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
51 - 62
CHAPTER
STAFFING
63 - 72
CHAPTER
RESOURCES AND FUTURE FUNDING
73 - 78
CHAPTER
NATIONAL FUNDING PARTNERSHIP
79 - 82
CHAPTER
COSTED ACTION PLAN
CHAPTER
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
3-6
7 - 14
83 - 106
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Preface
PREFACE
The second point is that the Core Group have not
presumed to dictate to the City Council one course
of action that should be taken.The report shows
what could be achieved by a range of actions, from
internal changes to achieve greater efficiency, to
securing additional national funding.The basic
recommendation in all cases is that the Council
should examine all the options, consult fully following
standard procedures, and then take decisive action to
achieve a sustainable balance between
tasks and resources.
This report is the work of the Core Group which
has directed the Best Value Review of Museums,
Visual Arts and Heritage. Responsibility for the views
expressed lies with the Core Group, not the City
Council or its Cultural and Leisure Services
Committee or department.
This Best Value Review is in two parts. This report is
Part One and deals only with Museums and Galleries.
A separate report, Part Two, will cover Visual Arts. A
later report to the Cultural and Leisure Services
Committee will propose a full-scale Best Value
Review on Heritage.
The report is published for debate and consideration
by the citizens and City Council of Glasgow. It will
then be for the City Council to decide what action
should be taken on the Core Group’s
recommendations.
Bailie John Lynch, Co-Convenor
Bailie Dr Christopher Mason, Co-Convenor
We hope that the work will speak for itself.There
are, nevertheless, two aspects of the report to which
we wish to draw special attention.
The first is that it is the unanimous view of the Core
Group that more, not less, needs to be spent on
Glasgow Museums if Best Value is to be achieved.This
may come as a surprise to those who assume that
Best Value must always be about cutting costs.
The report details how costs have been cut in recent
years and the effects these cuts have had on the
service provided by Glasgow Museums.
It also shows what additional resources will be
needed if Glasgow Museums are to retain their place
among the United Kingdom’s premier museums and
galleries, and play their proper part in the
achievement of educational, social inclusion and urban
renewal goals which have been set by the City
Council and people of Glasgow as well as by the
Scottish Parliament and Executive. It makes a
powerful case for national funding.
In setting out these facts it is the Core Group’s
intention to indicate the scale of the challenge facing
the people of Glasgow and indeed of Scotland. If
Scotland wants to retain one of the best museums
services in the United Kingdom, Scotland must
recognise the level of resources needed.
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The Setting and Procedures of the Review
1 1
1
CHAPTER
THE SETTING
As part of its commitment to Best Value,
Glasgow CityCouncil in 1998 established Cultural and
Leisure Services which brought together the former
services for Performing Arts and Venues, Museums
and Art Galleries, Libraries and Archives, and Sport,
Recreation and Play. Glasgow City Council also gave a
commitment to review all Council activities on a
regular basis and it was agreed to review the
Museums, Heritage and Visual Arts Services as part of
its 1999/2000 Service Review Programme.
All those engaged in the Review were aware
from the outset that Glasgow City Council owns one
of the great civic collections in Western Europe, with
art, science and historical collections of international
and national as well as local importance.These are
housed in architecturally important buildings, and play
a major part in the life of the city. Glasgow has a
dedicated museum-visiting population, with people
from the city making over 1.17 million visits to the
museums in 1998/99, along with 1.26 million from the
rest of Scotland, and 540,000 visitors from elsewhere
in the UK and overseas. A vibrant visual arts culture,
centred around Glasgow School of Art, the Council’s
galleries, independent and private-sector galleries and
studios, and involving as many as 1,000 individual
artists, has enhanced the quality of life in the city and
its reputation as an international cultural centre.The
cultural, social and economic importance of these
resources makes the city’s Museums and Visual Arts
of major importance, not just for Glasgow but for
Scotland as a whole.
The Review was set within the context of the
City Council’s Key Objectives 1999-2002, and its
strategic objectives for Cultural and Leisure Services
which include:• “To promote and maximise the contribution of
culture and leisure in Glasgow in achieving the key
priorities of education and lifelong learning;
improved health; urban regeneration; social inclusion
and economic development.
• To ensure that all the people of Glasgow have
access to cultural and leisure facilities and services
including information services whatever their age,
gender, disability, race or sexual orientation;
wherever they live within the City and taking into
account their ability to pay.
The Review will, however, focus attention on
shortcomings in the service:• Resources are not sufficient to realise the museums’
potential contribution to education and
lifelong learning
• To strengthen the support, links and partnership
with the voluntary and community sector, and in
particular local arts, sports and play organisations,
artists, writers, volunteers and coaches in
developing and promoting the intrinsic value of
cultural and leisure activities in Glasgow.
• The museums service is not successful enough in
reaching or attracting Social Inclusion
target audiences
• The Council needs to develop a strategic policy for
the conservation and care of, and access to,
the city’s collections
• To enrich the quality of life of the citizens of
Glasgow and visitors to the City through the
provision of accessible, attractive and exciting
cultural and leisure facilities and services.
• The museums service needs to make improvements
in staff management, organisation and development;
buildings maintenance; and developing and improving
the quality of visitor services, in particular catering
• To enhance and promote the City’s national and
international image as a creative, cosmopolitan city,
a centre for arts, sporting and cultural excellence.
• The Council needs to develop the case for
longer-term national funding
• To conserve and preserve important historical and
cultural materials, collections and knowledge for the
benefit of all Glasgow’s citizens and visitors
to the city.”
• There is no visual arts strategy for the city
• The city does not have a coherent heritage strategy.
The aim of the Review is to develop policies
for Museums, Heritage and Visual Arts and in doing so
to maximise their contribution to social inclusion,
lifelong education, economic development,
and tourism.
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The Setting and Procedures of the Review
1 2
1 2 2 CONSULTATION
THE REVIEW PROCESS
The review had at its heart an innovative and
extensive process of consultation and involvement
encompassing the public, staff, elected councillors,
trade unions, national and local organisations, and
individual artists.Two of the consultation procedures
were specific to the Museums Service, which is a
large employer and is regarded by the public as a
direct service provider.
A common process has been established by
the City Council for carrying out all Best Value
Reviews, which contains a number of key themes.
These include:• the requirement for the Council to be clear about
what it wants each service to achieve
• the need to assess thoroughly the effectiveness of
the service
1 2 3 AN OPEN SPACE EVENT
• the search for improvements and where necessary
better methods of delivery
This was a one-day event (held on 17 June 1999)
involving national, independent, commercial and
community organisations in Museums, Heritage and
the Visual Arts in Glasgow.
• the integration of the principles of Best Value into
the Council’s management processes.
The purpose of the Open Space event was to:-
The Review of Museums, Heritage and Visual
Arts Services went through a process which included
research, public consultation and meetings with
experts, and which was co-ordinated by a
Core Group.
• Present the information and principal conclusions
from the Research Report
• Identify and discuss the key strategic issues and
priorities for Museums, Heritage and Visual Arts.
This was the first Open Space event to be held in
Glasgow and it gave everyone the opportunity to
participate and bring forward their individual
concerns and aspirations and to have their ideas
voted on at the end of the day.The key priorities
arising from the vote were then discussed further at
a programme of key issue workshops (see 1.2.5).
1 2 1 RESEARCH
Research was carried out by Cultural and
Leisure Services during the period April - June 1999;
It covered:• An audit of current resources, organisations,
policies, strategies, visitor information, usage trends
and economic information across the range of
museums, heritage and visual arts resources,
services and collections
1 2 4 CORE GROUP
The Council established a Core Group, whose
members were:
• An analysis of visitor surveys carried out at all City
Council Museums during 1998
Bailie John Lynch, Co-Convenor of Core Group
• “Benchmarking” comparisons of the museums
service with other local authority and national
museums. Detailed comparisons were made with
how funds are allocated by the National Museums
of Scotland, National Gallery of Scotland,Tyne and
Wear Museums, Dundee City Museums and
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Comparators
were also drawn from data provided by the Group
for Large Local Authority Museums (GLLAM) and
DCMS reports on excellence in national museums.
Bailie Dr Christopher Mason,
Co-Convenor of Core Group
Bailie Liz Cameron, Convenor of Cultural and Leisure
Services Committee
Councillor Alex Glass, Glasgow City Council
Bailie Ruth Simpson, Glasgow City Council
Jane Ryder, Director of Scottish Museums Council
John R Hume, Formerly of Historic Scotland
• Preparation of a report which brought together the
information, issues and conclusions from the
research (Appendix 1).
Ruth Wishart, Centre for Contemporary Arts
Amanda Catto, Acting Visual Arts Director,
Scottish Arts Council
Deborah Haase, Unison Convenor, Cultural and
Leisure Services (Museums)
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The Setting and Procedures of the Review
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1 2 6 MUSEUMS SERVICE STAFF PANEL
William McGonigle,Transport and General
(Museums), Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Cultural and Leisure Services set up a Staff Panel.This
involved staff from across the museums service and
provided a forum for staff to discuss the key issues
and priorities and feed their views directly into the
Core Group through staff representation
on that group.
Phil Parry,Transport and General (Museums),
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Duncan Ferguson, Chair of Staff Panel, Cultural and
Leisure Services (Museums)
Gayle McPherson, Glasgow Caledonian University
Bridget McConnell, Director of Cultural and
Leisure Services
1 2 7 PEOPLE’S PANEL ON THE
MUSEUMS SERVICE
Christine Hamilton, Depute Director of Cultural and
Leisure Services
A People’s Panel was set up in the form of a second
Open Space event (held on 6 November 1999) to
examine the public’s perception of the Museums
Service and how it could be improved.
Ian Hooper, Head of Forward Planning, Projects and
Buildings, Cultural and Leisure Services
Mark O’Neill, Head of Museums and Galleries,
Cultural and Leisure Services
MoRI Scotland identified 75 people from the City
Council’s Citizens’ Panel who were broadly
representative of Glasgow’s population in terms of
age, sex, and socio-economic profile and reflected the
proportion of Glasgow’s citizens who visit the city’s
museums. Panel members were encouraged to visit at
least one museum before the Open Space event.The
52 citizens who participated discussed matters of
concern to the public and to museums staff, and
voted on their priorities for action.
Jill Miller, Head of Arts, Cultural and Leisure Services
Julie Tait, Head of Marketing and Commercial
Development, Cultural and Leisure Services
Ian Tully, Acting Depute Director, Financial Services
Joe Larkin, Strategic Planning Manager, Cultural and
Leisure Services (Secretariat)
Eona Craig, Forward Planning, Cultural and Leisure
Services (Secretariat)
1 2 8 CONSULTATION ON THE DRAFT
BEST VALUE REVIEW REPORT
The remit of the Core Group was to:• Lead, develop and co-ordinate the strategic
direction of the Review
The draft Best Value Review Report of Glasgow
Museums was approved by the Cultural and Leisure
Services Committee on 20 June 2000 for
wider consultation.
• Agree the process and timescale of the Review
• Agree the key issues identified at the Open Space
event and other key issues to be addressed
by the Review
A major consultation exercise involving the public,
staff, and a range of national, independent, commercial
and community organisations was undertaken from
July through to September 2000. By the end of this
period 170 responses had been received.
• Consider the policies and actions proposed to
address the key issues
• Report to the Cultural and Leisure
Services Committee.
A report summarising the responses received and
recommending the actions required in addressing
these responses was approved by the Review Core
Group at its meeting of 5 November 2000.
1 2 5 PROGRAMME OF WORKSHOPS
As part of the Best Value Review, consultants were
commissioned to undertake reviews of Glasgow
Museums catering and retail operations and
security provision.
A programme of eight workshops was arranged to
debate the key issues and priorities which had
attracted most votes at the Open Space event.This
brought in 176 representatives of organisations
involved in Museums, Heritage and Visual Arts, as well
as individual artists.
This Best Value Review Report incorporates the
outcome of these reviews and the feedback from the
consultation exercise.
The workshops provided the opportunity to explore
problems in more depth and develop recommendations which could then inform policy for Museums,
Heritage and Visual Arts in the city.
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STRUCTURE OF THE
REVIEW REPORT
• A costed action plan, incorporating performance
measures and targets.
The Core Group decided on 31 March 2000
that it would issue its Best Value Review Report in
two parts, dealing first with Museums and Art
Galleries, and then with Visual Arts. A separate
corporate Best Value Review will be carried out on
Heritage by Development and Regeneration Services,
starting in 2001.
In October 2000 the City Council agreed to
undertake a corporate review on Heritage which will
be lead by Development and Regeneration Services.
Cultural and Leisure Services will contribute to this
Best Value Review which is scheduled to start in
2001.
1 3 1 PART ONE - MUSEUMS AND
ART GALLERIES
Appendices on all the reports are available on
application to the Director of Cultural and Leisure
Services, 20 Trongate, Glasgow, G1 5ES.
This comprises:• The context of current service provision in terms
of national and local policy, staffing and resources,
visitor trends, “benchmarking”, market research
findings and feedback from the consultation
exercise.
• Detailed examination of:- Access to museums and art galleries and their
contribution to social inclusion and lifelong learning
- Conservation, care and access with respect to the
collections, including those now in storage
- The development of an exhibition policy
- Visitor services such as access, catering, retail,
customer care, marketing and promotion
- Venue development strategies for each of the
Museums and Galleries, to address building
maintenance and priorities for capital investment
- Staff management, organisation and development
- The case for national funding partnerships and
other management and partnership options
• A costed 5-year action plan based on first the
current level of resources and then an increase in
resources, and incorporating performance measures
and targets.
1 3 2 PART TWO - VISUAL ARTS
The draft of this was published in February 2001
and comprises:• The context of current service provision, national
and local policy, visual arts trends and feedback
from the Best Value consultation exercise.
• Proposals for:- Support and development of individual artists and
arts organisations
- Developing a market for art
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Glasgow Museums 2001
2 1
THE POLICY GOAL
2
CHAPTER
Parliamentary Commission on Museums
expressed it in 1994:-
Glasgow Museums is the generic name of the
service which manages the City Council’s collection
of museums and art galleries, which the new unitary
council inherited in 1996 from the former District
and Regional Councils and the old Corporation of
Glasgow.The collection is the biggest managed by any
local authority in the United Kingdom and one of a
handful of municipal collections which are recognised
to have national importance.These facts bear witness
to the commitment which the city’s leaders have
shown over many generations to culture and
education as essential to the vitality of its people.The
Victorians who founded the city’s collections saw
public museums and art galleries as instruments of
social improvement-elements as essential as schools
and libraries to their great project of raising the
quality of life through education, science, industry, art
and religion. Above all they valued learning, and this
aspect of the museum’s role is still emphasised today.
“There are those who claim that museums are
mostly for fun, or that preservation of artefacts from
the past is an end in itself.We argue that museums
are in the service of society and consequently must
offer both learning and entertainment but the single
most important objective of museums is to help us
learn, as individuals and in society.”
It is recognised that Glasgow Museums have a very
important job to do in respect of the preservation
and study of objects, and have a part to play in the
leisure and tourism businesses, but the Core Group
asserts that their most important value to modern
society is the contribution they can make to lifelong
learning; and the City Council is entitled to expect
that Glasgow Museums will be judged on their
educational performance and resourced according to
the priority which the Scottish Parliament and people
have accorded to education in its broadest sense. In
order to deliver the Museums’ contribution to
lifelong learning and education, it is essential that
objects be preserved and studied, and indeed
collected.
“The Corporation at least were satisfied that art was
in itself a refining and improving and enobling thing,
otherwise they would not have felt justified in doing
what they have done in order to provide for the
reception of so many of the citizens to view the
treasures that would henceforward be housed in the
building. And there was the question of the
educational value of the museum and the opportunities afforded the young people and the lads and
girls who had possibly outgrown the ordinary day
school and others for still further pursuing their
studies, and so broadening and enlarging their
general culture.”
(Lord Provost Chisholm at the opening of
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum 25
October 1902)
2 2
NATIONAL CULTURAL STRATEGY
Following extensive consultation the Scottish
Executive, in August 2000, published Scotland’s first
National Cultural Strategy “Creating our Future:
Minding our Past”.The Strategy looks at how cultural
activities can contribute to the priorities of education
and lifelong learning; social inclusion and health and
wellbeing; and economic development and tourism.
The Strategy outlines the following four
strategic objectives:-
For example, the 1999 publication from the UK
Department of Culture, Media and Sports, “A
Commonwealth, Museums in the Learning Age”,
provides the following statement regarding the value
and role of museums:-
• Promoting creativity, the Arts, and other
cultural activity
• Celebrating Scotland’s cultural heritage in its
full diversity
• Realising culture’s potential contribution to
education, promoting inclusion and enhancing
people’s quality of life
“Museums at their finest are universal educational
institutions of immense expressive power and
authority.They communicate with us across
boundaries of language, culture and time, and suggest
comparisons which illuminate our experience of the
present [...].Through museums, we have direct
contact with people of all ages and cultures,
experience the unimaginable variety of the natural
world and expand our understanding of what it
means to be human.”
• Assuring an effective national support framework
for culture.
The Strategy outlines a proposal to conduct a
national audit of Scotland’s Museums and Galleries
collections, identifying that which is of National,
Regional and Local significance. Following the audit it
is anticipated that a coherent and relevant framework
to support and develop the nation’s Museums and
Galleries will be devised. In particular, it states that it
will “In the shorter term, work with the City of
This value attached to museums and art galleries as
engines of education is widely held throughout the
world. Here, for example, is how the Swedish
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• People’s Palace
Glasgow Council to examine the circumstances of
the museums and galleries in the City.”
• Provands Lordship
The Scottish Executive has now agreed that the
national audit of Glasgow’s Collection will be
completed before the end of 2001 and form the basis
for early discussions regarding possible national
funding support.
• St Mungo’s Museum
• Fossil Grove
• Scotland Street School Museum
• McLellan Gallery (currently leased out to CCA)
The City Council has already set education as
its first objective for museums policy (see paragraph
1.1).This commitment is supported at the national
level.The key policy statements relating to
museums are:-
• Pollok House (currently managed by the National
Trust for Scotland)
• Martyrs’ School (conservation workshop)
• collections store at Maryhill.
• The National Strategy for Scotland’s Museums
(1999) which recognises that museums are amongst
Scotland’s greatest cultural, educational, social and
economic assets and identifies the need to develop
a coherent policy framework for museums and
adopt a more strategic approach to funding
2 3 2 There are also 11 independent museums,
galleries and similar establishments in Glasgow:
• Clyde Maritime Centre at Kelvinhaugh (Clyde
Maritime Trust)
• The Scottish Museums Council’s Education Policy
(1999-2000) which seeks to promote and develop
high quality museum education services in order to
encourage wide access to non-national museums.
• Collins Gallery (University of Strathclyde)
• Glasgow School of Art
• Heatherbank Museum (based in Caledonian
University - Social Work Collection)
The other relevant national strategies are the
National Tourism Strategy (1999) which assigns a
major role to museums and galleries in respect of
cultural development and tourism and the emerging
National Cultural Strategy.The significant contribution of Museums and Art Galleries to economic
development and tourism is recognised locally in two
policy statements:-
• House for an Art Lover (operated by the School of
Art)
• Hunterian Art Gallery and Museum (University of
Glasgow)
• Kelvin Museum (University of Glasgow)
• Lighthouse
• the Glasgow Alliance Strategy “Creating Tomorrow’s Glasgow”
• Maritime Museum at Braehead (operated by
Scottish Maritime Museum)
• “Glasgow’s Renewed Prosperity - A Joint Economic
Strategy” involving the City Council and Glasgow
Development Agency.
• Museum of Anatomy (University of Glasgow)
• Museum of Zoology (University of Glasgow)
• Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum
2 3
• Springburn Museum (local trust)
THE POSITION NOW
• Tenement House (National Trust)
The present state of Glasgow Museums is
described in the Research Report issued in June
1999.The main facts are summarised in the rest of
this chapter.
2 3 3 Glasgow City Council’s total budget for the
operations of its Museums Service in 2000/2001 is
£16,920,700 (£16.92 million), an increase of £2.83
million on the 1999/2000 budget due to the fact that
depreciation of buildings has been included for the
first time.The net total budget (after income) for
2000/2001 is £15,871,500 (£15.87 million). It should
be noted that the income target for 2000/2001 has
been reduced by £210,000 on the previous year
because a more realistic estimate of income
generation has been taken by the Service.
2 3 1 Glasgow Museums currently has 13 facilities,
each of which is described briefly in chapter 7:
• Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
• Burrell Collection
• Gallery of Modern Art
• Museum of Transport
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A summary of Glasgow Museums budget for 2000/2001 follows.
GLASGOW MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES: REVENUE BUDGET (APPROVED BY COUNCIL)
Expenditure
Employee Costs1
Property Costs include:Rates
Building Maintenance5
Other Property Costs (includes Energy, Cleaning and Security costs)
Supplies and Services
Transport and Admin. Costs8
Payments to Third Parties
Exhibitions
Marketing
Support Services
Central Admin.
Capital Charges17
TOTAL
1998/99
£
6,027,700
2,827,900
(1,239,300)
(485,700)
(1,102,900)
480,300
384,100
105,000
356,60010
118,500
10,300,100
520,40013
393,900
2,861,700
3,776,000
14,076,100
1999/00
£
6,175,4002
2,934,6003
(1,235,500)
(485,700)
(1,213,400)
314,8006
318,200
286,0009
356,00011
118,500
10,503,500
348,40014
402,00015
2,836,400
3,586,800
14,090,300
2000/01
£
6,598,4002
2,914,5004
(1,266,400)
(485,700)
(1,162,400)
372,3007
293,200
136,000
356,00011
131,50012
10,801,900
358,900
675,30016
5,084,60018
6,118,800
16,920,700
1998/99
£
60,000
613,700
298,100
189,600
29,800
1,191,200
1999/00
£
60,000
624,600
307,10020
207,80020
30,70020
1,230,200
2000/01
£
60,000
539,20019
245,00021
180,00021
25,00021
1,049,200
12,884,900
12,860,100
15,871,500
Income
Donations
Retailing
Catering
Venue Hire
Other Income
Net Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Includes shop staff.
The increases in employment costs between 1998/99 and 2000/01 are made up of inflation, an increase in superannuation and pension contributions
and a base Budget Adjustment to take account of lower then predicted staff turnover.
The increase over the previous year is due to the costs of reopening the McLellan Galleries and Provands Lordship, as well as an allowance for inflation.
The change from the previous year is due to increases due to inflation and fire insurance, and a virement of £82,000 to Supplies and Services
The unchanged level of the maintenance budget means a reduction in real terms due to inflation.
Reduction from 1998/99 is chiefly due to transfer of funds to the CCA to open McLellan (£181,000).
Increase due to virement of £82,000 from Property Costs, and inflation.
Reductions due to budget cuts to achieve council saving targets.
Virement of £181,000 from Supplies and Services to open McLellan Galleries (see note 6).
Include £200,000 from Contemporary Art Fund, which did not operate at all that year.
Includes £100,000 from Contemporary Art Fund, which operated at 50% of its original level that year.The static cash value of the exhibition budget
implies a real terms reduction due to inflation each year.
Increase is due to a Base Budget Adjustment in income targets (£13,000).
Support Services is based on the budgeted posts removed from mainstream Museums and Galleries at reorganisation.
Support Services is 1998/99 less the 35% cut required for savings.
Central Admin and Capital Charges are apportioned on the basis of 1998/99 budgets.
Increase in payments to other Council departments
Central Admin Charges recalculated as result of Council reorganisation. Costs are an estimate.
Increase due to building depreciation being included for the first time.
This represents net income after purchase of merchandise i.e. does not include staff costs.
Increase income target at level of inflation.
Reduced income target agreed as Base Budget adjustment.
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2 3 4 In financial years 1996/97, 1997/98 and
1998/99 the Museums and Galleries Service has taken
budget cuts totalling £2,652,700, and the loss of over
100 staff.The major areas of job losses
were as follows:
Museum Assistants
• Glasgow Museums make a significant contribution
to the City’s economy and tourist income: five of
Glasgow’s museums are in the top 20 most visited
Scottish museums and galleries.
71
Other Corporate Services
6
Curatorial
9
Conservation and Collections Management
14
Design Department
15
Total
the UK and 6% from outwith the UK.
2 3 6
Economic Impact of Glasgow Museums
The 1999 Glasgow Development Agency Report
“Upbeat Glasgow” quantifies the economic benefits
Glasgow Museums bring to the city, and by
implication to the rest of Scotland. In particular it
reported that:
115
Separately, the Education Department, which funds
the Museum Education Service, reduced the number
of professional and technical staff from 14 to 1 post.
This brings the total staff loss to 128.
• The total visitor spend associated with tourists and
day visitors attending arts and cultural events and
venues amounts to £158.4 million.
• Of this amount, 83% (£131 million) is associated
with visits to museums and galleries.
The service is currently managed under the following
six sections: Curatorial, Open Museum, Conservation
and Collections Management, Creative Services,
House Management and Education. It has a total
staffing complement of 328 full-time equivalents.
• Overseas holiday tourists accounted for 53% (£84
million) of visitor spend.
• The total additional benefits generated by tourists
is £110 million, 90% of which is associated with
visitors attending Museums and Galleries.
2 3 5 The research undertaken at the start of the
Review found formidable strengths in
Glasgow Museums:
• It is estimated that 5,557 jobs are supported by
visitors to the city who use Arts and
Cultural facilities.
• The range, quality and depth of collections: Glasgow
Museums have the highest quality and most wideranging collection of art, history, technology and
natural history of any non-national museum in the
UK. Glasgow’s collections comprise a major cultural
resource for the city and for Scotland.The
collection as a whole is of national significance and
substantial areas of it are of national and
international importance.
This clearly places museums in Glasgow, and particularly those run by the City Council, at the heart of
the West of Scotland’s economic as well as its
cultural infrastructure.
2 3 7 The research also found some very serious
weaknesses, which must be remedied if Glasgow
Museums are to achieve their policy goal and keep
their leading place:
• There is free access to the Council’s museums and
galleries (as well as to some of the independents).
• From 1996 to 1999 the new Council found itself
compelled to make successive budget cuts which
have resulted in the loss of 30% of the budget and
100 posts (32% of staff) from the Museums and
Galleries Service.The cut in staffing levels has had a
very damaging impact on curatorial and conservation work, as well as on design, front-of-house
and administrative staffing.
• The Council’s network of 13 Museums and
Galleries is housed in a mixture of grand, traditional
buildings of historical and architectural importance.
The Gallery of Modern Art, Kelvingrove Art Gallery
and Museum, Provands Lordship and Scotland Street
School Museum are all Category A listed buildings
and the People’s Palace is Category B listed.
• The service’s staffing levels are now very low:
benchmarking shows a staffing complement of 10.29
full-time equivalents per 100,000 visits, which is well
below the average staffing complement of the
benchmarking partners of 24.67 per 100,000 visits.
• The Open Museum has established a reputation as
one of the innovators of museum access through
outreach in the UK.
• Glasgow Museums attract large, diverse and loyal
audiences with approximately 3 million visits each
year. Research carried out in 1998/99 indicated that
39% of visitors are from within Glasgow City, 42%
are from the rest of Scotland, 12% from the rest of
• Glasgow consequently has the highest number of
visitors per staff member of any large municipal or
national museum service in the UK.
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• Another consequence is that the service is not fully
realising its potential contribution to education and
lifelong learning.The benchmarking exercise
indicated that Education is the most underfunded
and understaffed aspect of the museums service,
with employee numbers and expenditure being
approximately a tenth of the average expenditure of
its benchmarking partners, and the number of staff
in the Museums Education Service having been
reduced from 14 posts to 1 since 1996. (See
paragraph 8.3.2 for proposal for additional
education staff.)
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THE CONSULTATIONS
The Research Report which set out this
appraisal of strengths and weaknesses was given to
those who took part in the Open Space events and
the workshops, so it is perhaps not surprising that
themes in the Report were taken up vigorously in
these consultations.The Core Group is however
clear that the concerns expressed by participants
were genuine, serious and need to be addressed.
Although the emphasis was naturally on problems
and solutions, there was also recognition of the
strengths, actual and potential, of Glasgow Museums
and of the desire of all those engaged in the service
to make the changes which will result in those
strengths being fully realised.
• The service is either not reaching or is not
attracting socio-economic groups C2, D and E.
Market research carried out by Lowland Research
at seven City Council museums during 1998/99
found that only 33% of visitors to Glasgow’s
museums and galleries are from households in the
C2, D and E socio-economic groups, compared with
67% from groups A, B and C1. (These are averages
and the percentages vary from venue to venue.
Analysis of Glasgow residents also shows a slightly
different picture, with 58% of visitors in the A, B and
C1 categories and 42% in the C2, D and E
categories. Further information will be found in
paragraph 3.7.)
In the following paragraphs, the views of the
participants are given in the terms in which they
were expressed at the time.
2 4 1 With regard to Glasgow’s Museums and
Galleries, the following were voted as the top
priorities to be addressed by the Review at the Open
Space event held in June 1999:i) A new vision for Glasgow’s museums focusing on
quality and which builds on getting the basics right
and on partnerships to achieve internationally
competitive museums and galleries.
• There is comparatively low investment in the
marketing and promotion of Glasgow Museums.The
benchmarking undertaken as part of the Review
found that total marketing and commercial
development promotion costs for the Service
amounts to £49 per 1,000 visits, the lowest
amongst all the benchmarking partners and well
below the average of £151 per 1,000 visits.
ii) A new vision for Glasgow’s museums focusing on
access and education and achieving widest possible
access to give equality of outcomes for all, but
especially for currently excluded groups.
iii) Longer-term commitment, sustainability and core
funding to be given for lifelong learning and
education in Glasgow’s museums.
• Catering and retail services do not appear to satisfy
visitors’ needs: visitors to Glasgow Museums spend
on average £0.69 per head, the second lowest
spend per visitor amongst the benchmarking
partners.
iv) Care of Heritage Collections and the creation of
a new visitor facility which will provide increased
care and access to the City’s combined
heritage collections.
• A range of building, display and property
management issues in the museums and galleries
have not been dealt with. Assuming that the
refurbishment and redisplay at Kelvingrove
proceeds, major expenditure will still be needed for
roof repairs and upgrading to the Building
Management System at the Burrell, and for the
heating system at the Museum of Transport which is
resulting in damage to the Collection.
v) The social purpose of Glasgow’s museums and the
quality of experience.
vi) Concern over lack of training in Museums and
Galleries and the need for the Council to give a
commitment to formal training.
vii) Enhanced funding and how to achieve this and the
metropolitan and national status of Glasgow’s
museums and galleries.
• There is no significant temporary exhibition
programme or policy.
viii) How can museums support employment in
the City?
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2 4 2 Five of the Open Space workshops which
were established as a consequence of the June Open
Space event brought forward proposals for the
Museums and Galleries to the Core Group (the
other three dealt with Visual Arts and Heritage).
iii) Develop a Policy on Collections.
This workshop identified the following
strategic priorities:a) An audit of collections.
b) Establishment of a strategic forum for exchange
of information, to inform management decisions,
to build partnerships, to be an advocate for the
collections, and to agree joint standards.
i) Access: Social Inclusion, Education and
Lifelong Learning.
This proposed the following strategic priorities for
the service:-
c) To review and develop collecting/disposal policies
which are informed by the public and
other institutions.
a) To be a force for learning in Glasgow.
d) To audit and invest in the skills and facilities
required to acquire, research, document and make
the collections accessible.
b) To target resources and effort at areas of
greatest need.
c) To define and seek to raise standards based on
public need and expectation.
e) To develop and market the collections for now
and the future and for formal and informal
education and enjoyment, social inclusion and the
promotion of the city world-wide.
d) To involve people through consultation and
market research.
e) To implement a strategic approach to planning.
f) Clarification of management priorities of staff and
other resources in order to produce more
focused targets.
f) To develop a service which connects with people’s
lives and interests through programmes, displays
and outreach.
The workshop’s desired outcome for the
collections is to provide expertise and facilities to
maintain, develop, promote and provide access.
ii) Develop an Exhibition Policy/Framework
for Glasgow.
This workshop proposed the following
strategic priorities:-
iv) Develop a city-wide strategy for the
Conservation and Care of Collections and
Access to them.
a) To develop a formal communication infrastructure
between stakeholders, allowing strategic and
centralised planning.
This workshop identified the following
strategic priorities:-
b) To audit resources:- stakeholders, venues,
collections, skills, finance, research, education,
interpretation and marketing.
a) To identify what objects Glasgow has in its
collections and what condition they are in.
b) To identify partnerships, particularly with other
“major players”.
c) To work with stakeholders, ensuring advocacy on
behalf of artists and to identify what is
needed in Glasgow.
c) To improve the physical environment for the
collections, principally via the development of a
purpose-designed central store/heritage store and
the development of conservation standards.
d) To challenge existing processes for exhibitions in
respect of content, length, size, venues and
promotion of work.
d) To improve staff and public access to information
about collections throughout Glasgow through
documentation and improved electronic access.
e) To develop partnerships with external agencies.
f) To develop a consistent approach to
evaluation/feedback with other external agencies.
e) To improve public access to collections.
This workshop’s desired outcomes in respect of
exhibition policy were the development of a
flexible framework in the city which would define
role, allow communication, ensure standards and
increase accessibility.
f) To identify appropriate resources and in particular
adequate expertise to manage, curate and
conserve the collections.
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v) Marketing and Audience Development.
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vi) Improve exhibitions and resources.
This workshop identified the following
strategic priorities:-
This relates to the use of archive material, the
rotation of displays, and also the use of some
small buildings which are cramped. (18 Votes)
a) Need for a city-wide audience development
agency to co-ordinate research and the sharing
and dissemination of information.
vii) Better co-ordinated and cheaper transport
This is connected to the second point, in that
transport from outer Glasgow areas into the
centre, and across the city, can be complicated
and expensive for all people, but especially
families with children. (15 Votes)
b) Development of an education strategy as a means
of broadening attendances.
c) Investment in products with the right quality to
meet visitor interests and expectations.
d) Need for a city-wide marketing strategy.
2 4 4 Despite staff dedication and very high
standards being achieved in specific projects, the longterm impact of staff and budget reductions has meant
that the overall quality of the service is deteriorating
and every aspect of the service has been affected; this
includes in particular the care of the collection which
as a whole is of national significance and which has
substantial areas of national and international
importance. Also affected have been display,
maintenance, visitor services and Glasgow Museums’
ability to contribute properly to the social inclusion
and education and lifelong learning agendas. Unless
the City Council is enabled to secure the necessary
level of funding for Glasgow Museums as a
consequence of this Best Value Review, then the
quality of the service will inevitably continue to
deteriorate.
2 4 3 The People’s Panel event, November 1999
The top seven priorities supported by the 52
members of the public in the voting at the end of
this event were as follows in rank order:i) Advertise in a child-friendly way, and send videos to
schools.
It is essential to engage the next generation as
early as possible to take an interest in, and use,
museums etc., and this should be done using the
best and most effective of modern media. (28 Votes)
ii) Have a dedicated bus service between museums.
One of the main barriers to people accessing
museums and art galleries is a dedicated, efficient,
easy-to-use, cost-effective public transport system.
(26 Votes)
iii) More advertising and information on “what’s on”
in Museums and Galleries.
It is not always clear where the information is on
events and exhibitions, and local newspapers and
radio could be used more. Individual sites do not
necessarily know what is on at others, or even
where the other buildings are! (25 Votes)
iv) Employ staff members who can relate to and
engage children.
Children need to be attracted and engaged, and
can be by specially designed events and
approaches. Staff might have to be new, or to be
retrained. (24 Votes)
v) Use new technology and interactive displays to
their best advantage.
Appeal to all types of learning styles by the
imaginative use of as many “hands-on” displays,
and as much interactive technology as possible,
to avoid the “dusty exhibits in display cases”
situation. (20 Votes)
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INTRODUCTION
Government (Scottish Office) and the Network
agreed a Social Inclusion Strategy, “Social Inclusion opening the door to a better Scotland”, which has
four main strands: to promote opportunities (in
work, learning and society); to tackle barriers to
inclusion; to promote inclusion among children and
young people; and to build stronger communities. It
sets out a programme of work which includes
promoting and encouraging opportunities to
participate in society through the arts and culture.
This was further built upon by the publication in
November 1999 of the “Social Justice Framework: A
Scotland Where Everyone Matters” which was agreed
by the Scottish Executive and the Social Inclusion
Network.The same idea has been expressed by the
UK Department of Culture, Media and Sports
(DCMS) Social Exclusion Policy Action Team for Arts
and Sport which has declared the following aim:-
This chapter considers access to museums and
galleries, with special reference to two objectives
which the City Council wants to achieve:i) making the Museums and Galleries accessible and
relevant to everyone and in particular to those
people who, for a variety of reasons, are
socially excluded
ii) developing the Museums and Galleries as an agent
for social change by enhancing their role in
lifelong learning.
3 2
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SOCIAL INCLUSION:THE POLICY
FRAMEWORK
The Core Group has looked at access in the context
of policies adopted by the City Council and the
Scottish Executive, and in the light of views expressed
by those consulted in the course of this review. In
Glasgow social inclusion is being promoted through
the City Council’s Key Objectives 1999/2002. Of
particular relevance to social inclusion is the
following statement which reflects the interlocking
nature of all aspects of life in the city, and the need to
tackle exclusion on a broad front:
“To promote the involvement in culture and leisure
activities of those at risk of social disadvantage or
marginalisation, particularly by virtue of the area
they live in, their disability, poverty, age, racial or
ethnic origin.To improve the quality of people’s lives
by those means.” (1999)
This was further reinforced by the DCMS’s Social
Exclusion Policy for Museums, Galleries and Archives.
“Sustain the physical, social, economic, cultural and
environmental development and regeneration of
Glasgow through:- education and learning
- private and public investments, and
- housing, educational, leisure and fiscal measures”
There is clearly agreement which runs through
government at every level that museums and galleries
are key elements in the achievement of major policy
goals because they can have a direct impact on
educational achievement and help to generate
community identity and pride, celebrate cultural and
ethnic diversity, and develop individual social skills,
knowledge, motivation and self-esteem.The Core
Group accordingly proposes that the following
statement should express the Council’s first policy
objective for Glasgow Museums:
This Council key objective reflects the Scottish
Executive’s aim of tackling social inclusion by
achieving improved outcomes through better
educational achievement, increased employment
prospects, improved health and wellbeing, and
reduced crime.The commitment to social inclusion
through education and culture is also expected to be
a major element in the Scottish Executive’s national
cultural strategy due to be published this year.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 1
To establish a socially inclusive and stimulating
Museums and Galleries service which
addresses the barriers to access, connects with
the lives of everyone, and reflects the cultural
and social diversity of the city.
The City Council’s commitment to promoting social
inclusion is supported by the views of the various
stakeholders who were consulted as part of the
Review. One of the top priorities voted by participants at the Open Space Event was to develop the
role of museums and galleries in promoting social
inclusion and supporting social regeneration; and one
of the issues raised by the People’s Panel was the
responsibility of the Museums and Galleries to
support socially disadvantaged groups within the city.
This policy aligns with the policies and priorities of
the City Council, the Scottish Executive, the UK
Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and other
public agencies. It also fits with the strategic priorities
identified at the Open Space event, the follow-up
programme of workshops and the People’s Panel.
At a national level the role of museums in promoting
social inclusion is recognised by the Scottish Social
Inclusion Network. In March 1999, the UK
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difficult for disabled people.
ACCESS
All physical access to, and circulation within buildings
should allow for people with mobility impairments to
enter more easily, with dignity and a minimum of fuss,
and at the same points as more mobile visitors.
Similar principles should be applied to means of
escape and evacuation procedures.
The key to developing a comprehensive policy for
social inclusion and lifelong learning is to improve
access.The ultimate goal is that the city’s Museums
and Galleries should be democratic public spaces
where all the people of the city and their visitors can,
in a safe, comfortable and friendly environment, be
empowered to learn about themselves and the world
through experiencing the city’s collections. Making the
city’s collections and Museum and Galleries Service
welcoming and relevant to those facing social
exclusion is a fundamental aim of this Review.
Standards for Access for disabled people are
established by the Disability Discrimination Act
(1995). Standards for intellectual and cultural access
are not covered by legislation, and vary considerably
depending on the kind of service being provided and
to whom. Even the standards set in the Disability
Discrimination Act are open to a wide degree of
interpretation and perceptions of the optimum level
of provision are developing rapidly in tandem with
societal awareness of the obstacles, opportunities and
possible solutions.The best way forward therefore is
to integrate formal processes of consultation with
representative groups into the planning of all aspects
of the museum service.This is standard practice now
for capital projects and periodic access audits are
already taking place to keep up to date on physical
and sensory access. An equivalent process needs to
be devised to ensure continuous improvement in
intellectual and cultural access for temporary
exhibitions, events, marketing and education
programmes. Ongoing community and user consultation helps support closer contacts with local
communities and priority groups, and develop
sustainable community use and a sense of ownership.
This consultation must lead to real influence by users
on the content of museums and their accessibility.
Access policy should cover every point of contact
between museums and their public.This should
embrace advertising and other publicity, community
outreach, the immediate local environment and the
museums themselves and their programme, content
and visitor services. As a priority, the service should
develop policies and strategies for minimising barriers
to access which can be:• Physical and Sensory
• Social
• Intellectual and Cultural
3 4
PHYSICAL AND SENSORY ACCESS:
STANDARDS AND
FUTURE PROVISION
Glasgow City Council is committed to full implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995).
The Act defines disability as “a physical or mental
impairment which has a substantial and long-term
adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out
normal day-to-day activities”. Sensory impairments
are included under the category of “physical” in this
definition. A number of important aspects of the Act
relating to access to facilities and services have now
come into force and will have major consequences
for Glasgow Museums.
3 5
CURRENT PROVISION: PHYSICAL
AND SENSORY ACCESS AND
ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH
LEARNING DIFFICULTIES
The service’s commitment to the Disability
Discrimination Act has led to the installation of lifts in
both the Museum of Transport (1999) and
Kelvingrove (1998) (a particularly successful
intervention in a Category A listed façade). At present
an internal lift is being installed in Scotland Street
School Museum, giving access for disabled people
above ground floor for the first time. Similarly
museums which have been refurbished recently have
included physical access consistent with the bestpractice level at the time, i.e. St Mungo’s Museum
(1993), People’s Palace (1995), and the Gallery of
Modern Art (1996).The changes to access were
carried out in consultation with representative
organisations. The entrance to the Burrell Collection
requires modification, while Provands Lordship, given
Since October 1999, service providers are obliged to
take reasonable steps to change any policies, practices
or procedures which discriminate against disabled
people. In addition, where physical barriers make it
difficult for disabled people to use a service,
reasonable steps have to be taken to provide the
service by an alternative means.
In particular, reasonable steps must be taken to
provide auxiliary aids and services which enable
disabled people to use the museums and galleries.
By 2005, the Act requires service providers to take
reasonable steps to remove, alter or circumvent
those physical barriers into and within museum
buildings which make access unreasonably
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the nature of the building, poses difficult, but not
insurmountable, challenges.
Museum with the support of Cardonald College will
train a local panel to programme, theme and manage
permanent and rotating displays of museum objects
from the City’s collection in a community venue in
the Pollok area. Benefits should include community
empowerment, development of management,
curatorial and ICT skills, wider access to the City’s
collection, and development of closer links between
the Burrell Collection and the Greater
Pollok community.
While significant projects have been undertaken for
people with sensory impairments, e.g. In Touch with
the Past (which enabled visitors to touch archaeological objects), Out of Sight out of Mind (Gulbenkian
Award winning exhibition on mental health care in
Scotland) and Dialogue in the Dark (on the
experience of blindness), there is no systematic
approach to these issues and the provision of
auxiliary aids and services (e.g. audio tours, touch
tours, large-print labels, signed tours, services for
people with Special Educational Needs) is not well
developed.The lack of provision for disabled people is
reflected in the fact that they comprise only 2% of
visitors, compared with 11% in the (UK) population
as a whole. A focus group for disabled people has
been established to advise the Kelvingrove New
Century project, and physical and sensory access will
be addressed as a priority issue.
The success of the Glasgow Open Museum suggests
that any strengthening of its staff resources can only
assist the Museums service in developing wider
access and a more socially inclusive service. A close
working relationship between the Open Museum, the
proposed new venue managers, and the Education
and Access officers will be crucial to integrating
venue-based and outreach work.
3 7
It is proposed that Glasgow Museums in liaison with
the Glasgow Access Panel continue the annual
programme of audits to look at access arrangements
for disabled people involving each venue every
second year and covering all aspects of access.
3 6
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SOCIAL ACCESS: CURRENT
PROVISION
The City Council’s policy of free admission to its
museums and galleries ensures that there is no
financial barrier in respect of admission.
The £16.92 million Glasgow has budgeted in
2000/2001 in providing freely accessible museums is a
major commitment - the largest civic museum service
in the UK - comprising over 40% of all local
government expenditure on museums in Scotland.
The Victorian inheritance of collections (donated by
local people) and the magnificent buildings, the civic
pride they express, and the local tradition of visiting
museums, mean that generations of Glaswegians have
brought their children and grandchildren to the
museums and galleries.This tradition partly explains
why new museums, such as the Burrell Collection
(1983) and the Gallery of Modern Art (1996), have
been successful in increasing the total number of
visitors, with no displacement from existing facilities.
The loyalty and range of frequency of local visitation
combine with the range and quality of the collections
to produce a unique atmosphere in Glasgow’s
museums, where all sections of society can meet in
what are clearly civic spaces.Though there are many,
especially those who suffer from various forms of
exclusion, who do not feel part of this sense of
belonging and ownership, the strength of the tradition
provides a solid foundation upon which improvements in access, audience development and lifelong
learning can be based.
SOCIAL ACCESS: STANDARDS AND
FUTURE PROVISION
Access to all the City Council’s museums and
galleries is free, which in 1998/99 equated to an
investment by the Council of £4.10 per visitor
(i.e. the cost of the service divided by the
number of visitors).
Free access on its own does not break down barriers
to inclusion in museums, but it provides an important
basis for developing a socially inclusive service.The
City Council’s policy of free admission for all visitors
to its museums and galleries should be maintained,
ensuring that there is no financial barrier in respect
of access.
A key element in the social inclusion strategy of the
museum service is the provision of outreach services
which are delivered through the Open Museum,
which was founded as a joint pilot project by the
District and Regional Councils in April 1990.
An evolving area of work for the Open Museum is to
find new ways in which people can make use of
museum resources by empowering community
groups to put on their own exhibitions using museum
objects. Assuming a successful grant application to the
Heritage Lottery Fund, a pilot project will be run in
Pollok for creating the capacity within the community
to develop a local museum resource.The Open
There are large numbers of people in Glasgow who,
for a variety of reasons, feel that museums and
galleries are not for them. An important element in
developing a socially inclusive service is the use of
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museum community venues.This involves organising
over 1,000 loans per year and the management of
over 1200 objects in 200 different community venues.
Resources include reminiscence and handling kits
covering topics which range from everyday life to
Scottish archaeology to exotic insects; tabletop and
touring exhibitions; multimedia interactives; and a
team of seven staff, comprising curators, design
technicians and outreach assistants.
market research and customer feedback as a way of
establishing precisely which sections of the Glasgow
population are under-represented or are not
presently using the service. (This is addressed in
detail in paragraph 6.4.3) The research carried out by
Lowland Research in 1998/99 indicates the following
percentages and socio-economic profile of Glasgow
residents who visit the city’s museums and galleries:
Museums and Galleries
The Open Museum is acknowledged nationally and
internationally as an example of Best Practice and
won the Gulbenkian Best Community Work by a
Museum award in 1997. It has radically improved
museum practice in some areas by serving as a
vehicle for community feedback and for reaching out
to new audiences through established community
networks; but the kind of thinking it embodies has
not been adequately generalised throughout
the service.
Socio-Economic Profile
A, B, C1
C2, D, E
Museum of Transport
48%
52%
People’s Palace
50%
50%
Kelvingrove
58%
42%
St Mungo’s
57%
43%
Gallery of Modern Art
58%
42%
Scotland Street School
61%
39%
The Burrell
60%
40%
Overall
58%
42%
3 9
It is recommended that the Council continues the
work of the Glasgow Open Museum as a key aspect
of Glasgow Museums’ commitment to social inclusion
and access. It is also proposed to establish outreach
and local community liaison as a core priority for
each museum and gallery venue.
While people within the C2, D and E categories do
not necessarily live in poverty or deprivation, they
are generally less well off, and, nationally, tend not to
visit museums.The overall figure of 42% visitors from
C2, D and E categories represents a very significant
visitation level within this group, and is amongst the
highest in the UK for major museums, but it is still an
under-representation of C2, D and E citizens, who
comprise 67% of the city’s population, and an overrepresentation of A, B and C1 categories, who
comprise 33%.While many people from all sections
of society may decide not to visit museums, it is a
reasonable assumption that the under-representation
amongst C2, D and E categories is due to their
exclusion from social, economic and cultural
opportunities, rather than choice, and the service
needs to be developed in order to make it accessible
to all the citizens of Glasgow. A good recent example
of what can be done is the Tiger exhibition in the
Burrell Collection, designed to make that venue
more accessible to local people and to a
family audience.
3 8
SOCIAL ACCESS:WHAT COULD BE
DONE BETTER WITHIN EXISTING
RESOURCES
In developing its commitment to social inclusion, it is
proposed to strengthen Glasgow’s Open Museum
Service as a 7-day-a-week service with the addition of
three members of staff.The appointment of 7
Education and Access Officers would provide a major
opportunity to integrate Outreach (museum services
delivered outside the city centre in local venues) and
Inreach (changing displays and other services in city
centre venues so that they are genuinely welcoming
and relevant to new visitors, especially from excluded
groups). Making these links would make the city’s
major venues accessible to people who have an
interest in museums but who may feel, for a variety
of reasons, that the city centre venues are
“not for them”.
One of the issues identified by the People’s Panel is
the lack of a co-ordinated and affordable transport
system.This is a particular concern for those people
in peripheral areas who find that public transport can
be complicated and expensive, especially for families
with children.The City Council’s powers to do
anything about public transport routes and prices are
now severely limited by legislation and the statutory
functions of the Strathclyde PTE. But the Council
could encourage the city’s transport operators to
GLASGOW OPEN MUSEUM
During the nineties the Open Museum established a
reputation as one of the exemplars of museum access
in the UK. Its primary role has been to overcome
physical and social barriers to accessing collections in
established museums by taking objects out into non-
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promote Glasgow Museums through better
advertising and destination maps, and Land Services
could review signposting to Glasgow’s museums and
galleries. In addition, Glasgow Museums could review
opportunities, in liaison with Building Services and the
Education Service, for the better use of the City
Council’s own transport resources to facilitate access
for schools and local community organisations.
reflect the intellectual and cultural diversity of
potential audiences. It should be noted that in the
Greater Glasgow area, 20% of the population suffer
literacy difficulties and this needs to be considered
when planning how collections are interpreted.
Museums, rather than being thought of as full of
objects with some labels, can be seen as full of visual
clues to the meaning of the written texts, and so
capable of making a contribution to improving
literacy for both children and adults.
Another issue raised by the People’s Panel is the real
cost of visiting museums and galleries in respect both
of transport costs and of catering and retail costs
once at the venue.This is particularly an issue for
families on low incomes and benefits.The Tiger
exhibition at the Burrell Collection included an
experiment in providing a cheaper, more familyfriendly menu in the café, which it is hoped will
provide a basis for future provision. Again, the
Council’s power is limited, but Glasgow Museums
could establish and monitor access targets as part of
a three-year programme for audience development at
each of the city’s museums and galleries.
3 10
Glasgow Museums need to engage people from
different cultural backgrounds and reflect the
diversity of the city. Glasgow’s minority ethnic
population is projected to increase from 3.5% to 5%
over the next 10 years. At present ethnic minority
visitors comprise only 2% of visitors. As it is
estimated that children from ethnic minorities could
make up more than 9% of Glasgow’s child population
by 2008, improving provision is essential to meet the
city’s educational and inclusion objectives.These
statistics use a narrow definition of ethnic minority
and do not include, for example, people of English,
Irish and other European descent, who comprise
more than one third of the population. Furthermore
the time (which never was) when everyone was
assumed to know the basics of classical mythology,
Christian imagery and the outline of world and
British history is gone.
SOCIAL ACCESS:
WHAT COULD BE ACHIEVED WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The largest and highest priority project being
undertaken by the museum service is the Kelvingrove
New Century Project.This has been planned with the
overall aim of creating a visitor-centred museum, and
extensive consultation has taken place.
This has included:
It is therefore important to devise a layered
communication strategy which provides introductory
access to the meanings of the objects on display, as
well as continuing to provide services for
knowledgeable visitors. In short, the museums and art
galleries should not perpetuate a one-voice interpretation of art, history and natural history reflecting
only the culture in which they originated.
• Community Advisory Panel
• Education Advisory Panel
• Disability Advisory Panel
The Core Group accordingly recommends the
following as policy objective number two:
One major development being planned as part of
Phase II of the Kelvingrove project is the
establishment of a Heritage Collections Centre, to
allow public access to the city’s collection in store
and conservation. Further improvements in the
provision of children and family visitor services will
have to be achieved through further capital
developments for the city’s museums and galleries.
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POLICY OBJECTIVE 2
To improve intellectual and cultural access, the
Council should devise procedures to ensure
the City’s collections, acquisitions policy,
exhibition programme and interpretation
practice all reflect the cultural and social
diversity of the city.
INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL
ACCESS: STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
This policy aligns with the policies and practices of
Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Executive and the
UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It also
fits with the views of the Council’s Cultural Diversity
Forum and is supported by Market Research.
The City Council is committed to nurturing a vibrant
multi-cultural city, a learning city. For Glasgow
Museums to contribute to this, they should enable
visitors to explore complex and challenging ideas.
This means that the language of all signage, as well as
the display and interpretation of collections, need to
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INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL
ACCESS: CURRENT PROVISION
An essential feature of a developed access policy (and
of Best Value practice) is consultation with both users
of the service and potential new audiences.This is
crucial to developing a better understanding of
barriers to access, and the needs of different client
groups, and to establishing relevant and socially
inclusive services. It should be an integral part of the
overall planning and monitoring process, enabling
more effective targeting of resources to need, and the
development of sustainable community use and a
sense of ownership. In order to achieve this, Glasgow
Museums should establish a programme of consultation with users and non-users, involving market
research, improved customer complaints and
comments systems, and use of advisory groups.
As in other areas, the more recently created or
refurbished facilities go further towards meeting the
cultural and intellectual access needs of Glasgow’s
citizens than the older displays.The commitment to
make complex meanings widely accessible is best
illustrated in St Mungo’s Museum, where difficult ideas
are addressed without being oversimplified, and
where key labels are translated into community
languages.The service has carried out major
exhibitions to promote tolerance and mutual
understanding, including the Salaam Festival in 1997,
which was the largest celebration of Islamic Art and
culture in the UK for 25 years.While in general
celebratory, both temporary and long-term displays
have an important role in raising difficult issues: e.g.
those surrounding the use of the veil in Islamic
societies were raised in a temporary exhibition in St
Mungo’s Museum, while sectarian divisions within the
ethnic majority have been acknowledged in the
displays in St Mungo’s Museum and the
People’s Palace.
3 13
The Core Group recommends that Glasgow
Museums should examine how far these recommendations can be implemented through the
redeployment of existing resources.
3 14
LEARNING:THE POLICY
FRAMEWORK
The City Council has established a key objective of
improving educational attainment in the city and is
committed to promoting lifelong learning through a
number of initiatives.Through a Learning Alliance,
involving Glasgow Development Agency, Glasgow
Telecolleges Network and the City Council, Glasgow
aims to become a Learning City and is developing a
strategy for Community Learning which is defined as:
INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL
ACCESS:WHAT COULD BE
DONE BETTER WITHIN
EXISTING RESOURCES
Glasgow Museums could make more use of
community languages in selected promotional and
interpretative materials to reflect the city’s cultural
diversity, as piloted in St Mungo’s Museum.
“any community-based learning activity which involves
a partnership approach, is driven by learner needs
and provides benefits to individuals, communities
and organisations. Community learning should
promote social inclusion through all aspects of
learning, formal or otherwise.”
One of the two key issues raised by the People’s
Panel was the level of services for young people.
Younger people (of all backgrounds) have a frame of
cultural reference which relates more to global media
than to traditional high culture, and a coherent
strategy must be devised to ensure that they are
given access to their heritage. Suggestions from the
People’s Panel included: improved school curriculum
links; child- and family-centred facilities; after-school
youth programmes; more involvement and consultation with young people; opportunities for young
people to serve as peer guides; in conjunction with
the transport network in Glasgow, better advertising
and map-guiding to Glasgow’s museums and galleries.
In response to these suggestions, Glasgow Museums
should develop a more focused programme of
children’s and young people’s after-school and holiday
activities within the City’s museums and galleries. It
should also create new Education and Access posts
to ensure that the core service is shaped towards a
social inclusion and lifelong learning agenda.
The vision of the Learning Alliance is of a Glasgow
where “all learning is valued and where community
learning is recognised as a powerful agent of change
and growth for individuals, groups and communities.”
It is important that the key role of Glasgow’s
museums and galleries as public learning centres is
fully recognised in the City’s emerging Community
Learning Plan.
One of the priority issues raised at the Open Space
event and discussed in detail at a follow-up workshop
was the need for a long-term commitment towards
developing, supporting and sustaining the role of
museums and galleries in enhancing lifelong learning
and education.This was supported by the People’s
Panel which identified as one of its top priorities the
need to support actively museums and galleries as
learning centres and develop them as places of
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understanding between different communities and
different cultures.
natural and historical objects and can provide
the following:-
At a national level the main policy initiatives for
education and lifelong learning include the National
Grid for Learning and the development of Learning
Centres to be based in existing community facilities
such as museums and public libraries.The Social
Inclusion Strategy also sets out a programme of work
which includes the need to widen participation in,
and demand for, lifelong learning.
• Inspirational experiences to motivate learning
• Experiences for school children which can be
shared with parents/carers at subsequent visits
• Hands-on and visual experiences which stimulate
children who may not be confident academically
• Educational resources covering the whole range of
the curriculum, not just in terms of exhibitions, but
also electronic and paper publications, which can
support learning using original materials in
the collections
At a UK level the Department of Culture, Media and
Sport (DCMS) publication “A Common Wealth Museums in the Learning Age” states that:-
• Stimulating informal learning environments for
family and adult learners and those at risk of
social disadvantage.
“Museums and Galleries offer a unique kind of
learning, based on first-hand experience of authentic
objects, works of art and other resources in a public
and social environment.They can support cultural
literacy for individuals and cultural development for
communities. [...] They can provide ethical
leadership, and help children and adults to acquire
skills of learning through cultural resources.
Museums and Galleries have a crucial role as public
learning centres in fostering the creative skills of
children and adults.”
Evaluating learning, especially in informal settings, is
extremely difficult and time consuming, and there are
no agreed standards or methods.To ensure quality is
being achieved it will therefore be necessary to
establish learning objectives and evaluation methods
for selected projects and aspects of the service. Using
a model derived from the Children’s Museum, Athens,
possible learning objectives could be set
out as follows:-
This represents a major change in the cultural aims of
museums and galleries, representing a move from a
didactic approach related to teaching people specific
content or providing purely aesthetic experiences, to
one which responds to the whole person, and is
based on the potential of each visitor for growth in
him/herself, in relation to others and to the wider
community. It is very much in keeping with the
Victorian ideals of those who established the
museums, and gives rise to the proposal for the third
policy objective for Glasgow Museums and Galleries:
i) The Individual
Self-awareness, self-esteem, development of
personal skills, confidence building, self-expression,
self-fulfilment, self-identity
ii) Interpersonal relationships
Communication, acknowledging and understanding
of others’ viewpoints, co-operation, negotiation,
sharing feelings, social bonds, affirmation
of self-image
iii) The Community
Active participation, acceptance and rejoicing in
the richness of difference, networking, positive
group identification.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 3
To reinforce the role of Glasgow Museums and
Galleries as an agent for social change by
enhancing their role as a force for learning
in the City.
It is important that the role of its museums and
galleries as public learning centres and their potential
to contribute to Glasgow’s Learning Network is built
into the museums’ target setting and evaluation.
This policy aligns with the policies and priorities of
Glasgow City Council and other Learning Alliance
partners, the Scottish Executive and the UK
Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It also fits
with the strategic priorities identified at the Open
Space event and the People’s Panel.
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LEARNING: CURRENT PROVISION
Recent long-term displays have been designed with a
strong learning agenda, for both formal and informal
learning, at St Mungo’s, the People’s Palace and
Scotland Street School Museum.The development of
temporary exhibitions and programmes of events and
activities targeted at specific groups has, however,
been greatly hampered by the reduction in curatorial
and design staff, and by the drastic reduction of
LEARNING: STANDARDS AND
FUTURE PROVISION
Glasgow Museums provide novel and unique learning
environments with their wide range of original art,
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Museum Education Service staff from 14 to 1.The
work of venue-based teams and a radical rethink of
the Museum Education Service have enabled some
provision to continue, but it is not on a sufficient
scale, or systematic enough, to have a
significant impact.
3 17
Education Services and the City’s colleges and universities; and the development of procedures to ensure
that the venue-based teams, the Education and Access
officers and the Open Museum work closely together
and with Education and Social Work Services and
other educational and care organisations in the city.
New procedures are required so that priorities will
be agreed for each venue in respect of programmes
and desired outcomes.
LEARNING: COMMITTED
IMPROVEMENTS
The Kelvingrove New Century Project modernisation
strategy is based on enhancing the museum’s qualities
as an environment which makes learning easy and
exciting.The “Discovery Centre” displays are specifically geared to children and young people learning
about themselves and the city, country and world in
which they live.The linking of the proposed new
displays and other resources (e.g. materials prepared
for people with learning difficulties) to the schools,
especially through the schools Intranet, will provide a
major bespoke resource for teachers and students.
The development of the basement at Kelvingrove will
provide classrooms and ICT learning resources for
schools and other visiting groups to support the
development of Kelvingrove as a public
learning centre.
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WHAT COULD BE ACHIEVED WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
To strengthen the service’s commitment to education
and lifelong learning would require four additional
dedicated posts, including a dedicated Education ICT
Resource Manager. In addition, all future Glasgow
Museums projects should prioritise, along with access
requirements, the creation of relevant and exciting
learning environments as well as classroom and ICT
learning facilities.The achievement of this will depend
on the availability of new capital resources. For
example, one project identified by this Review is the
development of a Visual Art Learning Centre and
enhanced educational classroom space at the Gallery
of Modern Art (GoMA) as part of the proposed
capital improvements to develop GoMA’s role as a
public learning centre.
LEARNING:WHAT COULD BE DONE
BETTER WITHIN EXISTING
RESOURCES
The staffing complement proposed for the service by
management calls for an increase in staff to support
Education and Access from the single post within
Education Services to a team of eight posts, including
seven Education and Access officers based within the
service’s principal venues.These posts will also have a
city-wide responsibility for working with particular
groups such as elderly people, children in care,
minority ethnic groups and young people at risk, in
conjunction with Social Work Services and other care
agencies. Each venue will, in addition to working with
schools and community organisations, focus on a
different mix of target groups.
Furthermore it is proposed that the role of a number
of museum assistant posts should be developed into
“Learning Assistants” to reflect greater emphasis on
the learning experience of the visiting public and
meeting the particular needs of group visits, including
schools.This will, of course, be supported by
appropriate training programmes for staff.
In addition to the staffing improvements, three other
measures could be undertaken with existing
resources: the development of display, ICT, curriculum
and classroom resources; partnership working with
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4 1
INTRODUCTION
4
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Braehead). Just as access to the City Council’s
collections is important to all the residents of the
region, and for the implementation of national policies
on social inclusion and lifelong learning, so is it
important to the citizens of Glasgow that they should
enjoy access to all the rich resources of the region,
and that access should be understood throughout the
region in the broad sense discussed in Chapter 3.
Glasgow’s museum and art gallery collections reflect
the unique and invaluable artistic, historical and
scientific heritage of the city, and its place in Scottish
and world history.They are a major cultural resource
for the City and for Scotland.The City’s museums
hold the highest quality and most wide-ranging
collection of art, history, technology and natural
history of any non-national museum in the UK.
Substantial areas of the collection are of national and
international importance, and as a whole it
constitutes “one of the greatest civic collections in
Europe”, according to Neil McGregor, Director of the
National Gallery.
4 2
GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL’S
COLLECTIONS
4 2 1 ART
The two largest collections held in Glasgow are
those of the City Council and those of Glasgow
University, which has internationally important
collections in a number of areas.The Hunterian Art
Gallery excels in works by James McNeill Whistler,
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, European prints from the
15th to 20th centuries, and European and Scottish
paintings from the 16th to the 20th centuries.The
Hunterian Museum (the oldest public museum in
Scotland) has international-quality collections of
geology, archaeology, coins, scientific instruments and
ethnography. The university also has specialist
museums devoted to Zoology, Anatomy and the work
of Lord Kelvin.
Unlike other municipal art collections, Glasgow
Museums are almost unique in having a fine Old
Master collection of oil paintings. Many of these were
part of the Archibald McLellan Bequest of pictures
which came to the city in 1854 and were the
foundation of the collection. Among the treasures he
bequeathed were “The Adulteress brought before
Christ” attributed to Giorgione, which reputedly
once belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden,
Bernard van Orley’s “The Virgin and Child by a
Fountain” and the Master of Moulins’ “St Maurice or
St Victor with a Donor”. He also bequeathed some
important 17th century Dutch paintings which were
strengthened by later bequests, most notably of
Rembrandt’s “Man in Armour” and “Carcass of an
Ox”.The art collection is also strong in French 19th
and early 20th century painting. All the major
movements are represented - Realism, Impressionism,
Post-Impressionism, Fauvism and Cubism - with
works by Millet, Corot, Courbet, Monet, Pissarro,
Sisley,Van Gogh, Cézanne, Matisse, Derain, Picasso
and Braque.This part of the collection is extremely
popular with the public.
Other significant collections in Glasgow include those
of the National Trust (especially in the Tenement
House), Strathclyde University (Scottish paintings
from the 18th to the 20th centuries, scientific
instruments of the 18th and 19th centuries), Glasgow
School of Art (works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
and others of the Glasgow school), Caledonian
University (Social Work collection in the
Heatherbank Museum) and the Royal Highland
Fusiliers Regimental Museum.The Clyde Maritime
Trust owns the largest industrial artefact in Glasgow,
the 19th century Clyde-built sailing ship, Glenlee,
which is recognised as part of the UK Core
Collection of Historic Ships. It is the only example
afloat in the UK of a sailing bulk cargo vessel, and
one of only five such Clyde-built ships still afloat
in the world.
The collection of British paintings is dominated by
works of Scottish artists.There are fine representative examples of all the leading artists from the 18th
century onwards - portraits by Raeburn and Ramsay;
landscapes by Knox, Nasmyth and McCulloch;
Victorian narrative paintings by Faed, Orchardson and
Pettie; and the internationally acclaimed Glasgow
Boys and Scottish Colourists.There are also key
examples by their English contemporaries such as
Turner, Constable and the Pre-Raphaelites, and an
important portrait by Whistler of the Scottish writer
Thomas Carlyle.
The City Council rightly points to the national significance of its own collections, so it is entitled, and
perhaps even duty-bound, to look for partnership
working with independent and municipal collections
elsewhere in the region.The most significant of these
are Summerlee Industrial Museum (North
Lanarkshire), New Lanark (South Lanarkshire), Biggar
Museums (South Lanarkshire), Paisley Museum and
Art Gallery (Renfrewshire), and the Scottish Maritime
Museum (with collections in Irvine, Dumbarton and
In addition to the oil paintings, Glasgow has over
2,000 watercolours and drawings and over 12,000
prints.The British School is by far the largest holding,
with Scottish etching being a key feature: the big four,
Bone, Strang, Cameron and McBey, are all well
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the British Isles, include snares for catching sea-birds
- the St Kildan staple diet
- and the oldest spinning wheel on the island at the
time of the evacuation.
represented. Nearly all these works are held in store
and are inaccessible to the general public.
The Decorative Arts Collection has some nationally
important European sections such as Italian
Renaissance maiolica, 16th century Venetian glass,
Spanish glass from the 16th to the 19th centuries,
British costume from c.1760 to the present, and
Scottish metalwork from the late 17th to the mid19th century. However, its main strength lies in its
material of international significance relating to
Charles Rennie Mackintosh and “ The Glasgow Style”.
4 2 5 GLASGOW AND LABOUR HISTORY
Material related to the social, economic, political and
religious life of the city of Glasgow is a substantial
holding. Objects associated with the Trade Union
Movement and Women’s Suffrage are of national
importance, while the civic life of the city, its religious
convictions, its links with the Empire and popular
culture are also included. Almost every aspect of
people’s life in the city, whether at home, at work or
at leisure, is represented.
4 2 2 THE BURRELL COLLECTION
The Collection comprises internationally important
individual collections.The Medieval art collection
includes polychrome wood sculpture, tapestries,
alabasters, stained glass and English oak. Among the
European paintings are masterworks by Cranach and
Bellini; an important collection of works by the
Hague School artists, including Mauve, Jacob and
Matthijs Maris; and a major holding of works by 19th
century French artists including Millet (9), Daumier
(18), Courbet (6), Boudin (11), Manet (9) and
Degas (22), as well as works by Sisley, Pissarro, Renoir
and Cézanne. Further important areas are the art of
Ancient China, Egypt, Greece and Rome; Near- and
Middle-Eastern textiles and ceramics; and modern
sculpture, including works by Epstein and Rodin.
4 2 6 ARMS AND ARMOUR
The arms and armour collection, the core of which
was donated by RL Scott in 1939, is the best
collection in the country after that of the Royal
Armouries.The Gothic Milanese field armour of
about 1450 is probably the earliest and most
complete plate armour in the world and the
Greenwich armour for man and horse, originally
owned by the Earl of Pembroke, is the only example
of its type to survive.These are only two of the
treasures from this internationally
significant collection.
Japanese material is particularly strong in the Asian
collections, including Samurai arms and armour, and a
wealth of domestic items given by the Japanese
government in 1878 in exchange for some paintings.
South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka)
is also well represented, especially by items from the
Indian courts which came into the city’s possession at
the time of the Glasgow International
Exhibition of 1888.
4 2 3 ARCHAEOLOGY
Ancient Civilisations are represented in the collection
in three main areas - Egyptian material from all
periods, Cypriot pottery from the Bronze Age, and
terracottas from Lipari.
Glasgow’s Scottish archaeology collection focuses on
life in the west of Scotland from the first settlers
c.8,000 years ago up to the early medieval period. It
is particularly strong in Bronze Age material and in
objects from the post-Roman period, with a
significant holding of crannog material.The collection
of objects associated with the Vikings is small but
very significant, in particular a rare Viking
carved stone.
4 2 7 NATURAL HISTORY
Glasgow Museums hold the premier natural history
collections relating to the past and present of the
west of Scotland.The natural world is represented by
vast collections, including 600,000 insects, 100,000
fossils, 13,000 bird skins, 6,000 eggs, 20,000
herbarium specimens and examples of almost every
species found in Scotland. Many specimens date from
the early 19th century and have a major role in the
studies of pollution and DNA.
4 2 4 SCOTTISH HISTORY
Rural and urban life in the west of Scotland is well
represented, and because of Glasgow’s strong links
with the Western Highlands and Islands, a substantial
collection of everyday-life material has been
accumulated. Objects from St Kilda, until its
evacuation in 1930 the remotest inhabited island in
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4 2 8 TRANSPORT AND TECHNOLOGY
management of related information, set down in the
Museum Registration Scheme.There is, however, no
Scottish national policy for the care and management
of collections not held by National Museums and
Galleries. In particular there is no official process for
assessing which collections are of national
importance, unlike in England, where the Designation
Scheme makes that judgement, and links it directly to
a Designated Collections Challenge Fund.The
National Strategy for Museums issued by the Scottish
Museums Council (SMC) in 1999 identified a need for
a National Audit of collections and associated
services as a key priority.The SMC has now
established a National Audit Project, which is
addressing, amongst other questions, the key issues of
“National Significance” and Database compatibility
(i.e. ensuring that when museums put data on their
computing systems about their collections, they use
consistent terminology so that eventually they will all
be accessible).
Representing Glasgow’s industrial past, the strengths
are in transport, engineering, domestic and office
technology.The oldest surviving bicycle in the world
is complemented by a replica of the first car and the
best collection anywhere of Scottish-built vehicles.
The city’s world-renowned achievement in
shipbuilding is represented by one of the world’s
major collections of ship models (over 800). Glasgow
was lauded as locomotive builder to the world, and
important local engines are displayed, alongside a
unique collection of trams which were such a feature
of Scottish urban life up to the early 1960s.
4 2 9 CULTURES OF THE WORLD
Glasgow’s links with the rest of the world are well
represented. It has major holdings of African objects,
the most important figure carving being the ancestral
screen from the Kalabari people of the Niger River
delta in Nigeria. Dating from the late 19th century, it
is the largest of only 11 examples surviving in the
world. Of Glasgow’s two Benin bronze portrait
heads, one is among the largest known anywhere and
dates from the 19th century.The Massie-Taylor
collection of Mende material from Sierra Leone,
collected in the 1950s, includes many fine Sowie
masks and Minsereh figures.
The Open Space Workshop on Collections Care and
Management recommended collating a list of what
collections exist in the city as the bedrock of any
city-wide strategy, not just for care and documentation, but for future collecting.This would contribute
to the National Strategy for Museums’ recommended
national audit of collections.The workshop revealed
many concerns that are shared between the City
Council and other organisations responsible for
collections in the city, as well as an enthusiasm for
sharing resources and partnership projects.
Of particular note is the outstanding collection of
objects from the Torres Straits Islands in the Pacific.
These came mainly from the collection of the
Glaswegian ship engineer Robert Bruce who lived
and taught there. His bequest in 1889 of 150 objects
formed one of the most important collections in the
world and included masks, musical instruments and
other ceremonial material. A small but significant
group of objects relates to the Maori tribes of New
Zealand and includes a rare free-standing figure with
human hair.
The approach of the National Strategy was also
confirmed in the workshop’s agreement that
opportunities provided by information technology for
sharing information between institutions have the
potential to add value to existing work. Research and
making connections will be greatly facilitated for staff
and public alike.Tackling the issues of data compatibility was also agreed to be a priority.
The traditional museum practice of storing
collections in the basements and back rooms of
buildings which house displays and visitor services has
resulted in the dispersal and fragmentation of storage
and related information. The best-practice strategic
solution to this is to centralise the vast majority of
the objects in one location, and, as part of the
process of moving, to inventory the objects.This is
now recognised as best practice and similar projects
have been undertaken by the National Museum of
Scotland and the London Museum of Transport. Such
a central facility is also pivotal to the proposals for
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum as the
collections in store there must be decanted to make
way for new display galleries.
Given the quality, range and scope of these
collections, the Council’s objectives should be to
achieve a systematic overview of all collections in the
city, and a strategic approach to their documentation,
preservation and development.
4 3
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CARE, AUDIT, ACCESS AND STORAGE
4 3 1 POLICY FRAMEWORK
Glasgow City Council and national audit regulations
require Glasgow Museums to have a complete list of
every object in the collection, and a record of its
location. Glasgow is committed to meeting UK
standards for the care of collections and the
In order to achieve the minimum standards set out
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4 3 2 STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
by the Museums and Galleries Commission
Registration Scheme, and the emerging goals of the
Scottish National Strategy for Museums, Glasgow
Museums staff will need to take a lead in carrying out
an inventory and condition survey of all the
collections in Glasgow, in close co-operation with the
SMC National Audit.This will require setting up
practical partnerships within Glasgow and the rest of
Scotland to maximise use of resources for care, audit
and access to collections, on the basis of common
goals for usage, storage and care of collections.The
partnerships should establish and maintain common
documentation and cataloguing standards and develop
electronic access for the public and between organisations to information relating to the collections.
Partnership amongst all organisations with collections
is clearly the way to achieve Best Value in the
management of the city’s material culture inheritance;
the alternative is for each museum service to seek
self-sufficiency, which will lead to unnecessary
duplication and increases the risk of museums in the
city being unable to maintain Museum Registration
standards. At the Open Space Day and the
subsequent Workshop on Care and Management of
Collections, there was a consensus that the scale and
centrality of Glasgow Museums put them in a unique
position to foster these partnerships.
There is no national optimum standard for the care
of, and information management for, such a highquality, diverse and substantial collection. Registration
provides a minimum rather than an ideal standard,
and Glasgow should be aiming to exceed rather than
merely meet its requirements. Comparison with
museums on a similar scale suggests that to ensure
the long-term survival of the collection and the
provision of access to the objects and related
information, Glasgow should be spending about twice
as much as it currently does on these functions. A
detailed comparison of Glasgow’s Collections with
those of the National Museums and Galleries on
Merseyside appears in Chapter 10. The staffing
comparison is as follows:
Liverpool Glasgow
Conservators and
Conservation Technicians
40
13
Amongst national museums and galleries funded by
the UK DCMS in England, the percentage of total
expenditure devoted to conservation and collection
management functions was as follows:
The Core Group proposes that the emerging policy
framework for museums, and the clear consensus in
favour of a partnership approach, justifies the
adoption of the following policy objectives:
Activity
DCMS-Funded
National Museums
Glasgow
Museums
POLICY OBJECTIVE 4
Conservation
4.57%
2.8%
To improve the care, audit and access of
Glasgow’s collections by:-
Collection
Documentation
3.08%
1.7%
• Strengthening staff expertise in conservation
and curatorial knowledge-base relating to
collections
Information Systems
Management
3.01%
0.4%
Collections Storage
2.40%
1.0%
Loans
0.55%
0.4%
Total
13.61%
6.3%
• Identifying and establishing partnerships
• Improving public and staff access to
collections and information about collections
• Providing a central accessible storage facility
(Heritage Collections Centre).
If Glasgow spent a similar proportion of its budget
on collections, care and management as these
museums, it would involve more than doubling the
amount from approximately £725,000 to £1,565,000.
Given the constraints on City Council budgets, a net
increase is very difficult to envisage. Given the
funding tied up in simply keeping buildings open, and
the priority to be given to public programme and
social inclusion objectives, diverting funds within the
POLICY OBJECTIVE 5
Glasgow Museums should offer a lead in
developing practical partnerships to maximise
the efficient use of resources, to share
experience, and to develop common data
standards and databases for collections in the
city and the West of Scotland.
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museums budget on this scale is also very difficult to
envisage even with the most radical restructuring.
Making the case for national assistance with the
long-term care of the collection, as a central part of
Scotland’s heritage, has to be a priority for the
City Council.
collection is the conditions in which it is stored and
displayed. Preventing deterioration by improving
display and storage conditions is the most effective
use for conservation resources when resources are
limited. At best this keeps the stable parts of the
collection in stasis, but unstable objects will continue
to deteriorate. It does not result in an improvement
in object stability, or in display condition, and does
nothing to improve access to collections. Under the
current staffing arrangements, conservation work
required for object stabilisation, the rotation of
displays, lending or touring collections, or mounting
of new exhibitions is out-sourced subject to
availability of a contractor.
Funding at this level would enable Glasgow Museums
to carry out Policy Objective 5 and to convene a
Care and Management of Collections Forum for the
West of Scotland and facilitate the development of a
shared agenda designed to:• Share resources
• Make computerised databases compatible
The Museums section has a revenue budget of
£120,000 per annum to cover all collections care and
documentation costs.This includes:-
• Share expertise and best practice.
4 4
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• Statistical surveys of the conditions of objects
CURRENT PROVISION
• Storage improvements
• Freelance staff to inventory specialist areas of
the collection
4 4 1 PARTNERSHIP WORKING IN THE
CITY AND REGION
• Minimum treatment of objects which are in danger
of deterioration
There is considerable, and increasing, informal cooperation between organisations which hold
collections in the city, but there is no systematic or
strategic system of working together. In developing its
policies for its own collections, the City Council
should always consider how its decisions will affect
the work of independent museums, galleries and
collections in the city and, indeed, the region.
• Minimum treatment of objects for display and loan
(some costs recovered).
Substantial progress has been made with preventive
conservation projects, but the pressures of providing
a service to exhibitions, loans, and planning for major
projects such as the Kelvingrove New Century
Project, have meant that a Preventive Conservation
Strategy has proved difficult to implement.The
assumption that time for preventive projects would
be created by out-sourcing remedial conservation
work has proved largely impractical because of the
very small number of conservators in the
marketplace.The use of external conservators also
means that a great deal of time is spent by highly
skilled staff administering procurement and contract
procedures, and that knowledge about the collections
is not being accumulated as a result of the work.The
net result is that the Museums are experiencing
considerable difficulty in achieving the targets
submitted as part of the Registration process.
4 4 2 PREVENTIVE AND ACTIVE
CONSERVATION: EXPERTISE AND
STAFFING LEVELS
Prior to the cuts of 1996/98, staffing levels within the
conservation section allowed for object treatments
(active conservation) and preventive conservation to
be carried out in-house.The budget cuts and the
corresponding reduction in posts forced a change in
emphasis, prioritising preventive conservation.This
“fall-back” position ensures a minimum standard for
the care of the collection, though it also reflects a
new national change in policy led by the Museums
and Galleries Commission and Scottish Museums
Council, which aimed to take a more strategic
approach to collections care.
4 4 3 DOCUMENTATION
The collections have been built up over the past 150
years, with very partial documentation of many
holdings.There is 100 years’ worth of documentation
backlog which will take about 20 years on current
resources to resolve.These problems have been
This new policy encouraged museums and galleries to
take a broad look at the needs of the whole
collection. It is based on the pragmatic premise that
the key to the long-term preservation of the entire
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which is accessible and flexible enough to meet the
needs of a wide range of users. As part of the system
for renewal of Registration, targets have been
established for inventory of the collection. This is
being integrated with the task of moving around
140,000 objects from Kelvingrove during the
refurbishment and involves identifying each object
individually before moving it to a defined place in a
new store so that it can be located again.
compounded historically by:• inconsistent methods of documentation
• lack of documentation pertaining to legal
transactions
• documentation separated from the collections
• lack of procedures and time to accession individual
items fully
• deterioration of labelling on many artefacts.
4 6
In short the documentation, the collection and its
legal status have to be tied up together. At present it
is very difficult to provide public access to
information about the collection, or to meet
audit requirements.
The current approach to collections care and
management is correct, and in line with city and
national strategies, so it is very difficult to identify
areas for the improvement of performance within
existing resources.The pressures of sustaining the
care and maintenance of the collection at current
levels of public service, and the current capital
projects and exhibition touring commitments, mean
that the key issue for staff involved is not deployment
but the fact that resources are substantially
over-stretched.
Documentation has been progressed however:
• 320,000 records have been entered onto 4
computer databases
• 85,000 objects have been inventoried, their identity
and location verified.
4 4 4 STORAGE
Existing commitments to preventive conservation and
inventory projects are difficult to meet, and the
leadership role set out in Policy Objective 5 would be
impossible within existing resources.
Storage space for the collection has been a problem
for generations, and the result is that objects are
stored wherever space could be found within
museum buildings or leased spaces. Not all of these
are suitable for the storage of the collections for a
variety of reasons, many of which were identified
through recent Scottish Museums Council, Health
and Safety and Environmental and Pest
Control reports.
4 7
WHAT COULD BE ACHIEVED
BY REALLOCATING EXISTING
RESOURCES
In order to meet the standards and targets set out in
Registration Phase II, considerable additional staffing
resources are required.The minimum increase
identified to progress this is a team comprising 4
Curatorial and 4 Conservation posts, and a
Publications and Copyright Officer. This would also
enable the museums to undertake in a limited way
some of the leadership roles set out in Policy
Objective 5.The creation of a Research and Projects
section with responsibility for curatorial information
about the collection and the creation of new
curatorial posts would contribute to the efficiency of
the inventory and cataloguing processes. Even with
this reallocation, a complete audit of collections will
take at least 15 to 20 years to achieve. This is a
theoretical calculation based on current progress. In
practice it is very difficult to sustain a project over
such a long period of time, and it would mean that
Glasgow Museums would continue not to meet audit
requirements for the duration.
Recent attempts to rationalise storage facilitated by
the termination of leases at other sites and closure of
museums buildings within the city led to the leasing
of a large industrial space at Maryhill.This has been
converted into a store for a large number of objects,
chiefly furniture, technology and social history. It also
accommodates the workshop for the Mackintosh
Tearooms.The rental is £60,000 per annum and is
due for renewal in 2005. Although the Maryhill store
represents a significant improvement, it does not
enable Glasgow Museums to meet their basic
collections storage requirements.The Museums still
have their collection stored in over 140 spaces in 4
main sites, with many rooms inaccessible because of
the density of storage.
4 5
WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
COMMITTED IMPROVEMENTS
The City Council has agreed to fund a new computer
system capable of managing the information relating
to the 1.2 million objects in the collection, in a way
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• systematic storage of the collection in
optimum conditions
WHAT COULD BE ACHIEVED WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• public access for school, college and specialist users
Full achievement of city-wide and regional strategic
leadership, and achieving the minimum standard of
Registration would require additional staff, as set out
in paragraph 8.7 in Chapter 8.
• access for members of the general public, former
donors etc.
Phase II would include a basic inventory of all objects
in the collection, to Audit standards, and a more
detailed entry of 10% of the collection which is most
likely to interest the general public in the next ten years.
4 8 1 HERITAGE COLLECTIONS CENTRE
There is a recognised need for a centralised Heritage
Collections Centre which would provide enough
space to house all the city’s collections in store.
The Heritage Collections Centre would provide
proper environmental conditions and improve
security for the storage and conservation of the
museums’ collections. In addition, it would provide
modern conservation workshops, office accommodation and visitor access facilities.
4 9
COLLECTING POLICY
4 9 1
POLICY FRAMEWORK
Collecting human artefacts and natural history
specimens for museums is shaped by a broad
framework of legal regulations and professional
ethical guidelines.These include The Code of
Conduct of the Museums Association and the
International Council of Museums (ICOM), as well as
the regulations of the Museums and Galleries
Commission Registration Scheme (Phase II).The great
diversity of the collection is reflected in the range of
legislation and international agreements within which
collecting takes place.These include: Customs
regulations relating to imports; legislation relating to
objects accepted in lieu of tax; Firearms licensing;
Birds Egg Licensing; the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES); the Wildlife and
Countryside Act; and Treasure Trove (Bona Vacantia
within Scotland).The policy should also take into
account Guidelines issued by the Museums and
Galleries Commission on Repatriation and
Restitution, and on the Spoliation of
Works of Art.
Initial cost estimates suggest it will need to be
phased, with Phase I providing 6,500m2 for the decant
of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
at an indicative cost of £4.5m-£5m.
Future phases would provide enough space to house
all the City’s collections as well as bringing together
the archives and records currently held in different
locations in the city, including the City Council’s
archives and records and those of the other
appropriate bodies such as the universities.
A site in South Nitshill is currently being investigated.
It is hoped that Phase 1 of the work on the site will
start before the end of 2001.
4 8 2 COLLECTION INVENTORY
The alternative to completing the collection
inventory in 20 years is to include in the Heritage
Collections Centre, Phase II, a complete inventory of
the objects (i.e. a fixed-term three-year project team
who would accelerate the inventory).This spend-tosave approach is being used for similar backlog
projects in York Museums. This would mean that it
would not be an archival repository which served
only specialist visitors - public service and social
inclusion would be an inherent part of its function.
The strategic importance of this initiative cannot be
overestimated, and it would make a major contribution to a National Audit of Collections, which is
deemed a high priority by the Scottish Museums
Council. Bringing together all the City’s reserve
collections (except those in the Burrell) to one place
provides the essential preconditions for:-
A fundamental principle of all the guidelines and
legislation is the establishment of legal title.
The Museum should not acquire, whether by
purchase or gift, bequest or exchange, any items
unless satisfied that valid title to the item in question
can be acquired. In particular, no item should be
collected that has been acquired in, or exported
from, its country of origin (including the UK or any
intermediate country in which it may have been
legally owned) in violation of that country’s laws.
Similarly museums should not acquire a biological or
geological specimen unless satisfied that it has not
been collected, sold or otherwise transferred in
contravention of any national or international wildlife
protection or natural history conservation law or
treaty of the United Kingdom or any other country,
except with the express consent of an appropriate
outside authority (e.g. a British court in the case of a
• systematic inventory to meet audit requirements
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specimen seized from a third party under the
Protection of Birds Acts). Collecting should be
carried out within specified parameters (geographical,
chronological, etc.) which vary from collection to
collection.Within these parameters, and exceptionally
outside them, collecting should take into account the
collecting interests of other museums and galleries.
• the acquisition of objects which help increase
understanding of existing collections
• proposed acquisitions being accompanied by as
much documentation as possible, to maximise their
use in terms of increased understanding.
New areas of collecting should be few, and selected
to reflect changes in society and the environment
which can be effectively displayed in a museum using
real objects. In particular, collecting should be
developed to reflect the Council’s social inclusion,
education and visual arts policies, and to collect the
present for the future.
There is a strong presumption against the disposal of
items from the museum collections, other than in
very specific circumstances. A formal Disposal Policy
is therefore required which defines the process by
which the highest level of approval (the Cultural and
Leisure Services Committee) is secured for
exceptions to be made. Specifically, the Disposal
Policy sets out the procedures for processing claims
for the repatriation of human remains and cultural
artefacts.
4 9 3 CURRENT PROVISION: DONATIONS
AND ACTIVE COLLECTING
The vast bulk of Glasgow’s collection has been
formed by gift, ranging from internationally famous art
collections (e.g. McLellan, McInnes, Burrell) to
individual specimens or local history objects.The long
and deep tradition of public support for museums
means that this continues to be the most important
source of acquisitions, despite the increased
commercial value on almost every kind of object.
The People’s Panel raised issues about collecting, in
particular about the selection of objects for
collection and display.The Open Space Workshop on
Care of Collections expressed concern that, in the
absence of an audit of collections in the city, areas of
interest may be under-represented, or unnecessary
duplication may be taking up valuable resources.The
following Policy objective is therefore recommended
as a means of addressing these issues:
Glasgow Museums also collects actively in areas
where there are gaps, usually relating to specific
projects aimed at broadening the scope of the
museum’s audience (for example Out of Sight, Out of
Mind resulted in the acquisition of very significant
collections relating to mental health care in the city).
POLICY OBJECTIVE 6
To review Glasgow’s Collecting Policy and,
through consultation with other museums and
with existing and potential audiences, establish
priorities for future collecting, in particular to
reflect the culture and interests of groups
whose history and culture is underrepresented in the current collection.
4 9 4 GENERAL PURCHASE
Despite the tradition of donation, purchasing remains
an important means of acquiring objects for the city’s
collection.When objects ranging from the portrait of
Glasgow Art Dealer Alexander Reid by Vincent van
Gogh to Benny Lynch’s World Championship boxing
trophy become available for purchase, Glasgow
Museums make every effort to be alert to such
opportunities and to raise the required funds.The
only budget for acquisitions other than contemporary
art is a £5,000 Purchase Fund (reduced from £75,000
in 1996).This symbolic amount was retained in the
hope of future growth, but nonetheless provides a
small amount of funds to match grants for decorative
arts and local history objects, especially from the
National Fund for Acquisitions.
4 9 2 STANDARDS AND
FUTURE PROVISION
Collecting objects for a museum involves a
commitment to preserve them forever, and to the
long-term costs for care, storage and display.The
decision to acquire an object is therefore not taken
lightly, and, like most museum authorities, Glasgow is
now extremely selective about what it collects.
Glasgow Museums’ priority should be to make better
use of existing collections rather than to make
extensive acquisitions.This recognises the richness of
existing holdings and the limitations of time, staff,
storage space and finance. It also implies that in the
objects which are collected, priority should
be given to:
4 9 5 ACQUISITIONS FOR THE
BURRELL COLLECTION
The Burrell Trustees manage a trust fund which
makes additions to the collection of material comple-
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terms, but is very time-consuming. Additional
curatorial staff (see paragraph 8.7 in Chapter 8) are
vital to enable this to take place, as are the additional
conservation staff to care for the objects collected.
mentary to the collection.The funding available
provides the crucial contribution which levers in
grant aid from organisations such as the Heritage
Lottery Fund and the National Art Collections Fund.
Joint working by staff and trustees has led to the
acquisition of major works, notably 16th century
Chinese furniture, and Judith and Holofernes by
Lucas Cranach.
Additional money for the Purchase Fund would
enable the museum to acquire more objects which
are available through auction, antique dealers or
private sale. A sum of £100,000 a year is the
minimum which would enable the museum to
function at a reasonable level in these markets. Even
with this sum, most works of art from before World
War II which would be relevant to our collection
would be extremely difficult to acquire, but it would
provide the matched funds which are the key to
grant aid.
4 9 6 THE HAMILTON BEQUEST
This bequest is dedicated to the purchase of paintings
for Kelvingrove and has contributed some of the
best-loved works to the collection. The vast increase
in the cost of paintings since the establishment of the
bequest has made purchasing more difficult, but
significant purchases are still made, though less
frequently.
4 9 10 CONTEMPORARY ART
The acquisition of contemporary art is inevitably
controversial, as it takes place before posterity has
decided what merits long-term survival, though it
should be noted that posterity often changes its
mind. One way of addressing this would be to make
an exception of the presumption against disposal for
contemporary art, and agree that after a specified
length of time (e.g. 10 years), works in this category
may be sold. (Glasgow Museums also needs to
address the issue of collecting the present for the
future, and it may be useful to extend the remit of
this process to contemporary objects reflecting
changes in society, whose merit is also difficult to
assess.) A formal proposal evaluating the pros and
cons of this should be brought forward to the
Cultural and Leisure Services Committee after the
consultation period and once the overall framework
has been agreed by the Council.
4 9 7 CONTEMPORARY ART FUND
Acquisitions and Commissions made from the
Contemporary Art Fund (presently, £100,000 p.a.) are
carried out under a procedure based on recommendations by curatorial staff to the Director of
Cultural and Leisure Services, who can authorise
purchases under £10,000, and the Convener of the
Committee who can authorise sums over that amount.
4 9 8 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
The value of the Burrell Trust Fund, the Hamilton
Bequest and the City Council’s Purchase Fund is
already maximised by using them to access
substantial grants.
For example, in 1999/2000 grants totalling £300,000
were secured.The process by which the
Contemporary Art Fund is spent should be made
more inclusive, involving external experts and
audience representatives. Successful experiments in
this approach have been carried out, for example
involving a women’s group in selecting a work by
Helen Flockhart, and a committee in the commission
of an image of Jesus for the Millennium.This process
should be formalised to create a more open and
inclusive collecting procedure.
4 9 11 GLASGOW ART FOUNDATION
Raising funds to purchase artefacts and specimens for
Glasgow Museums may be facilitated by the creation
of a trust or foundation to which the Council
contributes and other partners add grants and
donations. This could include either or both general
collecting and collecting contemporary art, and would
make transparent to donors the acquisitions to which
their donations had contributed.The Contemporary
Art Fund (ideally at the original level of £200,000 p.a.)
would be paid into this fund. Representatives of the
Glasgow Art Foundation, museum staff, external
experts and audience representatives, could manage
both purchases and, if they agreed to establish such a
process, disposals.
4 9 9 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Collecting artefacts relating to contemporary life,
both to represent excluded communities within the
museum displays and to pass on an enriched
collection to the future, is not expensive in cash
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Visitors to Glasgow Museums donate approximately
£60,000 every year, £50,000 of which is counted as
income towards the running costs of the museum service.
It would be more appropriate for this money to be used
to add to the collection and therefore to be added to the
Collecting Trust’s income. It should be noted, however,
that this would require a compensatory £50,000 to be
added to Glasgow Museums’ revenue budget.
The Core Group recommends that a proposal on this
should be brought to the Cultural and Leisure Services
Committee.
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5 1
5 1 5 WILD WET AND WONDERFUL
INTRODUCTION
A collaborative exhibition with Scottish Natural
Heritage, this exhibition celebrates the environmental
richness of Scottish boglands, and their role in history
and archaeology.
THE ROLE OF TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
While the core collections of the city are the prime
attraction for many visitors, local and tourist,
temporary exhibitions play an important part in
sustaining the interest of regular visitors, bringing
facets of the city’s collection to light, and showing
aspects of the heritage of the world to Glasgow.
Exhibitions can carry out a large variety of functions
and evoke a wide range of reactions from visitors.
They can inspire, inform and educate; they can
celebrate the natural world and human achievement;
they can also explore human destructiveness,
challenge preconceptions and help change attitudes.
They can have a strong social inclusion function,
providing groups with a platform for self-expression
and for sharing their culture with the wider
community, thus extending a sense of ownership of
the museums as civic spaces. Recent exhibitions
mounted by Glasgow Museums have covered:5 1 1
5 1 6
ENTWINED
An exhibition of the works of Amrit and Ravindar
Singh, which included a specially commissioned work
of Glasgow from a Sikh point of view.
5 1 7
OUR GLASGOW
This is a small area of the Visions of the City
permanent display in the People’s Palace, given over
to changing exhibitions by community groups to
celebrate their presence in the city or to raise issues
they are concerned with. Groups which have shown
so far include: Glasgow Asian community, Glasgow
Jewish community, Glasgow Women’s Library, Centre
for Women’s Health, Flourish House (mental health
project), Glasgow and Deaf Connections.
CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH
Exhibitions encourage people who visit already to
visit more frequently, and can encourage one-off visits
from people who find a particular subject interesting.
Crucially in terms of achieving the City Council’s
Social Inclusion and Educational objectives, they also
have an important role to play in audience
development. Exhibitions of works from Glasgow’s
collection can also help promote the city overseas,
whether by attracting visitors to the city, or by
showing the treasures of the city abroad, and
promoting its image as a cultural tourist destination.
This £1.2 million exhibition attracted substantial
numbers of foreign tourists, as well as locals and
people from all over Scotland, and promoted
Glasgow abroad when shown in New York, Chicago
and Los Angeles.
5 1 2 OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND
This explored the history of mental health care in
Scotland, working with relevant agencies and client
representatives.
5 2
5 1 3 OPEN SESAME
TEMPORARY EXHIBITION
PLANNING
Uncertainties created by the reductions in local
government funding and consequent reorganisations
of the museums service have made long-term
planning for major exhibitions difficult.To undertake
systematic audience development whether from a
social inclusion or tourist point of view, a much
longer planning period than has been possible since
1996 must be established for medium- to large-scale
exhibitions.This is especially important given the scale
of capital redevelopment being undertaken in the
city’s major museums. Long-term planning is also
crucial to securing sponsorship by private sector
companies, which between 1990 and 1996 made a
substantial contribution to the exhibition funding.This
chapter aims to establish the framework within which
longer-term planning of exhibitions can
be established.
This exhibition celebrated the arts of the Islamic
world, showing treasures of Glasgow’s collection
which had rarely been displayed before.This was
followed up with a longer-term display of works from
the exhibition selected by representatives of the local
Muslim community.
5 1 4
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SCROLLS FROM THE DEAD SEA
Glasgow was the only UK venue for this world-class
exhibition about one of the greatest archaeological
discoveries of the 20th century, with deep resonance
for Western Civilisation.With 197,000 visitors in 17
weeks this was the most popular temporary
exhibition ever mounted in Glasgow.
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POLICY FRAMEWORK
long-term displays reflect their interests and cultures,
help recruit them as regular visitors to the museum.
For example the Salaam Festival in 1997 was the
largest celebration of Islamic culture in the UK for 25
years. It was followed up by changing the long-term
displays in Kelvingrove to include some of the city’s
Islamic collections (selected in consultation with
members of the local community).
There are no formal national or local policies for
exhibitions. Glasgow City Council has had an informal
policy of promoting tourism to the city through
major cultural festivals, responding to opportunities
to compete for awards such as the European City of
Culture, the Year of the Visual Arts, and the Year of
Architecture and Design.Temporary exhibitions
played a key part in all of these, with the Charles
Rennie Mackintosh (1996) in particular attracting
substantial numbers of overseas visitors.
This was essential to ensure that those who visited a
museum for the first time during 1997 would feel
welcome and recognised if they visited again, after the
temporary exhibitions were finished. Thus temporary
exhibitions can be a driver for change in the longterm displays as part of an overall audience
development programme.
To build on the international profile created by these
and other events (e.g. the Garden Festival), the
Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board
(GGCVTB) advises a less ad hoc and more sustained
approach.Within such an approach the architecture
of the Victorian city and the core collections on longterm display are the key attraction for tourists, either
taking city breaks or visiting Glasgow as part of a
Scottish holiday. Against this background temporary
exhibitions provide variety in the product and so
create marketing opportunities. One significant
exhibition (i.e. an exhibition attractive enough to
encourage international tourists to decide to visit
Glasgow) every two years would be needed to meet
the GGCVTB requirements for international
promotion of the city. A key requirement for them to
be effective is long-term planning, i.e. adequate notice.
In the Open Space event in June 1999, Glasgow
Museums’ exhibition policies attracted considerable
discussion.The participants wanted to see an
improvement not only in Glasgow Museums’ own
exhibition programme (and related activities such as
events and contemporary art acquisitions), but also in
co-operation between the Council’s museums and
independent establishments in developing an
exhibition strategy for the city as a whole.They also
wanted to see more effective policies to use
Glasgow’s museum and gallery resources to
strengthen the city’s national and international profile
and to meet public interest in local history and
natural history.The Open Space participants were
also clear that they wanted to see the City Council’s
Cultural and Leisure Services Department taking the
lead in this work, acting on its responsibility to
provide civic leadership and make its collections as
widely accessible as possible. It would accordingly be
appropriate, in order to respond to these views and
to meet these needs, for the Council to adopt the
following policy objective:
Temporary exhibitions also play an important role in
day-trip visits from the Glasgow catchment area,
helping to support Glasgow as a retail centre for
central and western Scotland. Exhibitions with
sufficient attracting power for this market need
to be mounted more frequently, ideally once or
twice a year.
Exhibitions mounted under these guidelines clearly
have a contribution to make to achieving the key
Council objective of promoting economic
regeneration.They can also help improve educational
standards and promote lifelong learning and social
inclusion.The investment in the exhibitions, in
marketing and in support materials benefits local
audiences and, as in all aspects of the museums
programme, social inclusion is an integral aim.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 7
To develop a 5-year rolling programme for
international, national and regional exhibitions
in Glasgow’s Museums and Galleries.
5 4
More local, temporary exhibitions make specific
contributions to achieving educational objectives, as
well as sustaining the loyalty of existing visitors. Art
Machine II in the McLellan Galleries involved
widespread participation by schoolchildren and
adults, including those with learning difficulties, and
was a celebration of their creativity. Exhibitions can
also help achieve the city’s aim of becoming an
increasingly vibrant multicultural city.Targeted
exhibitions can recruit new audiences, and, as the
STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
Exhibitions on a scale to attract substantial new
audiences, especially from excluded groups, and those
significant enough to attract international tourists and
day-trip visitors should be planned at least three and
ideally five years ahead.This should be a rolling
programme and should be updated annually.These
exhibitions should have clear objectives devised in
collaboration with relevant organisations to achieve
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required to maximise their effectiveness. An
additional budget of £125,000 per annum for
exhibitions would, it is estimated, enable the city’s
museums to achieve the standards necessary to give
effective implementation to policy objective 7.
the Council’s economic, educational and social
inclusion objectives.
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CURRENT PROVISION
Glasgow Museums have an annual budget of £370,000
for public programming. Of this, £260,000 is allocated
to developing, mounting and marketing exhibitions in
all seven venues in which temporary exhibitions take
place:-
5 8
EXHIBITION PLANNING
FOR THE CITY
• Kelvingrove
POLICY OBJECTIVE 8
• Burrell Collection
In conjunction with the Arts Section, to
organise a city-wide planning forum for
sharing information and maximising opportunities for collaboration in programming,
audience development and marketing.
• Museum of Transport
• People’s Palace
• Gallery of Modern Art
• Scotland Street School Museum
5 8 1 STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
• Provands Lordship
A further £100,000 is devoted to community-focused
events in these venues (organised by the Venue Based
Teams) and £10,000 to producing and marketing the
Open Museum’s touring exhibitions and handling kits.
5 6
The Arts Section of Cultural and Leisure Services
manages the City’s Cultural grants programme, which
supports independent galleries and individual arts, and
has a broad remit to develop visual arts in the city
(see Part Two of this review, on the Visual Arts).
Integrating their role in the visual arts with city-wide
exhibition planning is crucial to ensuring best use of
resources and maximum added value in terms of
marketing, education and social inclusion
programmes. A forum would enable collaboration
where possible, agree themes for collaborative
programming, and an integrated audience
development strategy, providing opportunities for
individual venues to take part (or not), as appropriate
for their programme and audiences. Such a forum
would also provide opportunities for links between
exhibitions, performing arts and other major events,
and facilitate input from agencies involved in
promoting the city abroad.
WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
A continuation of this level of funding implies that
major exhibitions will need substantial external
funding and/or to be charged for to be viable. For
example, an exhibition of a quality and scale great
enough to make an impact on local and regional
visitors to the Burrell or Kelvingrove would cost in
excess of £150,000. At current funding levels, only
one exhibition on this scale can be organised in any
one year.
Secure funding at existing levels over longer periods
of time would enable more effective planning to take
place, partnerships to be built and sponsorship to be
secured. However, the museums’ infrastructure in
terms of the skills required to mount exhibitions
(curatorial, conservation, education, design, events) is
below the minimum level, and it is not certain that
longer planning cycles alone will deliver
improvements.
5 7
5 8 2 CURRENT PROVISION
Many organisations in the city mount exhibitions, with
associated educational and outreach programmes.
There is considerable collaboration on specific
projects, through individual contacts, bilateral working
(e.g. between Glasgow Museums and the Hunterian,
and between the Gallery of Modern Art and The
Lighthouse) and organisations like the Glasgow
Galleries Group, and the Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Group.There is, however, no framework for longterm planning, and thus no strategic approach to
fundraising, marketing or audience development.
WHAT COULD BE ACHIEVED WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
While collaboration and partnership will generate
additional resources for the goals of promoting
economic regeneration and the social inclusion and
lifelong learning agendas, additional funding would be
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WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
Department of the City Council, Glasgow and Clyde
Valley Tourist Board, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow,
Scotland the Brand, and Locate in Scotland. Other
museums and art galleries in the city, including the
Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery and Glasgow
School of Art, are interested in collaborating on
such a venture.
There is a general enthusiasm for partnership within
the city, but it is difficult to capitalise on this when
most organisations are over-stretched - notably the
Council’s own museums and galleries. Changes to the
system of local government finance to allow the
longer-term planning of budgets is essential for the
development of strategic partnerships, but even with
this, it will be difficult to move beyond current levels
of co-operation without additional resources.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 9
To use Glasgow Museums’ collections and
exhibitions to promote the city nationally and
internationally.
5 8 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
5 9 3 STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
The 21 additional staff resources specified in 8.7 are
the minimum number required to enable the city to
develop a rolling 3-5 year exhibition plan which
would contribute directly to the city’s key social,
economic, educational and promotional objectives.
The additional staff specified in paragraph - 8.11
would enable Glasgow to realise the full potential
of its collection.
5 9
In order to sustain its position as the third most
visited tourist destination in the UK, promote inward
investment by improving and communicating the
quality of life in the city, and help attract conferences,
Cultural and Leisure Services in general and its
museums in particular should devise strategies which
deliver, or negotiate with partners, the following:• Active involvement of the museum and visual arts
sector in the strategic planning of the city’s
promotional activities at home and abroad
PROMOTING GLASGOW’S
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
PROFILE
• Specific targets for the sector’s inclusion in UK and
Scottish tourism marketing programmes
5 9 1 INTRODUCTION
The key resource which the Museums and Galleries
section contributes to Glasgow’s national and
international profile is its permanent collections particularly the art collections in the Burrell,
Kelvingrove, Gallery of Modern Art and the
Hunterian, though there is a strong and growing
international market for technology and transport
displays as well. For one market segment - expatriates
from the West of Scotland on return visits, and
descendants of Scottish emigrants - the Museum of
Transport and the People’s Palace provide crucial
access to the history of their West of
Scotland identity.
• The promotion of Glasgow Museums and Visual
Arts throughout the UK
• Touring of at least one exhibition outside the British
Isles at all times
• Touring of at least one exhibition within the British
Isles at all times
• At least one television programme a year about
Glasgow Museums
• Work with all relevant stakeholders to maximise
the impact of Charles Rennie Mackintosh
collections and buildings and the architectural
heritage of Glasgow on the national and international image of Glasgow.
The experience of the Mackintosh exhibition in
America has shown that touring high-quality material
from the collection can raise the city’s profile in
general, and more particularly can be used by tourism
and inward investment agencies to build networks.
5 9 4 CURRENT PROVISION
Due to the significant number of works which will
not be on display as a result of work on Kelvingrove,
tours of Glasgow Style material to Japan and of
French paintings to the United States are being
organised.These will be the first major tours since
Mackintosh was toured to the United States, in
partnership with Glasgow School of Art and the
Hunterian Art Gallery.
5 9 2 POLICY FRAMEWORK
There is no national or local policy for touring
collections abroad. However, raising the city’s profile
and especially communicating the image of a cultural
city with a high quality of life fits with the objectives
of the Development and Regeneration Service
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WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Mr Donald
Kahn.They represent one of Glasgow’s greatest
unrealised cultural assets and it is one of the city’s
objectives to find an appropriate sustainable location
for their display and interpretation.
The tours currently being planned are one-off
projects, as indeed was the Mackintosh tour. It would
be impossible to resource a full programme on an
ongoing basis within the existing staff and budget
levels. Such tours require at least two years to
organise, and to bring maximum benefits, they require
three to five years of planning, so that the best
venues can be booked and the exhibitions fit into
long-term marketing and sponsorship plans.This is
only achievable with consistent long-term resources.
5 10
LOCAL HISTORY
5 10 1
INTRODUCTION
Glasgow as a whole has a rich history, and each
neighbourhood within it has its own heritage.There
are regular requests for museums to be established in
historic areas of the city. Since 1945 the demolition
of large sections of the tenement city, the creation of
housing schemes and new towns, and the decline of
heavy industry have meant that a large number of
individuals have experienced dramatic and rapid
change.This has caused a sense of loss and a sense of
dislocation between the experiences of different
generations, which in turn have generated an interest
in the recording of life histories, so that these
experiences can be acknowledged, preserved
and shared.
5 9 6 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
There is evidence of international demand for touring
exhibitions of the kind being toured to Japan and the
USA, which may be on a scale significant enough to
make touring financially self-sufficient after an initial
investment of £300,000 over two years.This would
cover the costs of: a Tour Manager, who would work
with curators to devise exhibitions and sell them to
key institutions abroad; a Conservator who would
manage the conservation of the objects prior to
travel and ensure their condition was not affected by
transport and display; a Registrar who would arrange
the transport, insurance and customs transits for the
objects; an Administrator who would supervise the
documentation and budgets; and marketing and
research costs.These exhibitions would be targeted
exclusively at destinations important for Glasgow’s
economic development, whether through tourism or
inward investment.
5 10 2 POLICY FRAMEWORK
There is no national or local policy which deals
directly with local history. However, its importance is
recognised implicitly or explicitly in a whole range of
major policies such as those relating to Treasure
Trove and Public Records, to Volunteering and
Community Action, and to Social Inclusion. In an era
of rapid social change, local history is an increasingly
important element in individual and communal
identities, especially but not exclusively for elderly
people.The latter can derive major benefits from
involvement in local history activities, in terms of
intellectual and social stimulus, as well as an
opportunity to contribute from their experiences and
wisdom to younger generations and to the historical
record (e.g. through oral histories).The importance
of a sense of place is recognised as important to the
quality of life for people of all backgrounds, and is a
key element in making Glasgow a liveable city.
A formal feasibility study and business plan should be
undertaken which addresses:• the real resource implications of such tours, based
on the experience of the two tours to Japan and
the USA
• the range of material which could be organised into
appropriate touring exhibitions
• the impact of releasing this material for tour on the
displays within the city
• the potential income generated, and its value in
relation to the real costs and the economic benefit
to the city.
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POLICY OBJECTIVE 10
To devise and implement a Local History
Strategy for the city.
MACKINTOSH INGRAM STREET
TEAROOMS
The interiors of the Ingram Street Tearooms designed
by Charles Rennie Mackintosh have been preserved
by the City and are now being restored in a project
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STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
in consultation with all the relevant stakeholders.This
can be achieved if the additional posts identified in
Chapter 8 are secured.
There is great potential to develop for the first time
a systematic service which reflects the strong sense
of neighbourhood identity within both Glasgow’s
historic boroughs and the more recently established
communities, through joint working with Libraries
and Archives, the Social Inclusion Partnerships and
voluntary organisations.
There is considerable experience to build a Local
History Strategy on, and in particular there is much
to be learned from Springburn Museum.While
funding for the museum is no longer available, the
display facilities and function are to be integrated into
the new Springburn Library in a more accessible
location within Springburn Leisure Centre.This, along
with the Pollok Kist, will provide a pilot for a
sustainable city-wide service.
Support for voluntary Local History Societies, and
other organisations interested in local history, such as
amenity groups, arts groups or elderly groups, can be
based in the extensive library network, and draw on
the resources of the museums, libraries and archive
collections and staff. Bringing the relevant organisations together and developing shared objectives and
co-operative working is a substantial task. Linking the
past with the present through displays and related
cross-generation events and activities can make a
significant contribution to community building and
Community Learning Plans. In order to achieve these
objectives, the Museums and Libraries sections of
Cultural and Leisure Services should establish a Local
History Forum which will develop and implement a
Local History Strategy for the City.
5 10 6 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
City-wide and neighbourhood festivals celebrating
aspects of Glasgow’s history, and print, multi-media
and web-based publications and educational
programmes are all potentially possible with
additional resources.
5 11
NATURAL HISTORY
5 11 1 INTRODUCTION
5 10 4 CURRENT PROVISION
Concern for the environment both within the city
and in the countryside accessible from the city is
increasingly important. Consultation with colleagues
principally in libraries, Land Services and
Development and Regeneration Services (mainly
Planning), as well as with the Hunterian Museum,
Scottish Natural Heritage, schools, colleges and
universities, suggests that there is considerable
potential to bring together many voluntary and
statutory organisations concerned with natural
history and to plan activities more strategically.
Research on public interests carried out for the
Kelvingrove 2000 project shows this to be a priority,
and consultation with natural history organisations
suggests an expectation that the City museums
take a lead.
The Museums and Galleries service provides
significant local history services through exhibitions
and events at the People’s Palace, the Museum of
Transport, Provands Lordship, and Kelvingrove.The
Open Museum offers assistance to local history
groups to mount their own exhibitions in libraries or
other venues, and manages the Glasgow 2000 Lives
programme, working with volunteers to record life
histories.The Libraries section mounts exhibitions in
the Mitchell Library, some of which tour to
community libraries. Independent organisations
contributing within the city include the National Trust
(through Hucheson’s Hospital, Pollok House and the
Tenement House), the Glenlee and Provan Hall.
There is no systematic provision of these services to
all areas of the city or to all groups, or coherent cooperation with the Adult and Continuing Education
departments of the Universities, Further Education
Colleges, or the BBC and STV.
5 11 2 POLICY FRAMEWORK
Glasgow City Council has produced an Environmental
Strategy which has relevant objectives, especially in
terms of public education about the local
environment, which should inform a Natural History
Policy for museums. Other relevant Council
strategies include the Landscape Strategy, Parks and
Open Spaces Strategy, and the Wildlife and Nature
Conservation Policy. Also mentioned in the
Environmental Strategy are other initiatives such as
5 10 5 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER BY
DIVERTING EXISTING RESOURCES
The greatest need is for management structures
within museums and libraries to allocate clear
responsibility for developing a local history strategy
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permanent educational facilities relating to natural
history, with additional temporary interpretation
The Regeneration Alliance and The Derelict Land
Strategy, while both a Contaminated Land Strategy
and Local Air Quality Strategy are being developed.
Close working with other Council services who have
policies relating to natural history, such as
Development and Regeneration (Planning) and the
Countryside Ranger Service of Land Services,
is essential.
provided at other venues and through the
Open Museum.
Working with colleagues principally in Libraries, Land
Services, and Development and Regeneration
Services, as well as with the Hunterian Museum,
Scottish Natural Heritage, schools, colleges and
universities, there is considerable potential to bring
together many voluntary and statutory organisations
concerned with natural history and to plan activities
more strategically.
A Local Biodiversity Action Plan for Glasgow has
been formulated by all the major environmental
groups within the City and is backed by the Council.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act, Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
and other wildlife legislation affect what we should
and should not take into our collections, and exhibit.
Charitable bodies such as the Scottish Wildlife Trust
and the RSPB have nature conservation policies and
nature reserves.These and other bodies such as the
Geological Society and the Amateur Entomologists’
Society provide guidelines for responsible fieldwork
and collecting and produce codes which should
inform our collecting and exhibiting policies, as
should the collecting policies of other museums,
especially that of the Hunterian and the National
Museum of Scotland.
The resources and staff of the museums, libraries and
archive collections can provide a systematic service
to support natural history societies and other organisations interested in natural history, such as
community and amenity groups.
An increased understanding and appreciation of the
local and global natural environment can be
promoted through access to collections, displays,
related events and activities.
5 11 3 CURRENT PROVISION
The Museums and Galleries service provides a
significant natural history service through collections,
natural history records, exhibitions and events.The
displays in Kelvingrove and Fossil Grove are
permanent educational facilities relating to natural
history, with additional temporary interpretation
provided at other venues and through the
Open Museum.
Scottish Natural Heritage is charged with the conservation and improvement of the natural environment the wildlife, habitats and landscape.
SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) is
responsible for legislation in areas dealing with
pollution, waste disposal, air quality and
the environment.
The views of local natural history bodies such as the
Glasgow Natural History Society and the Geological
Society of Glasgow should also be considered.
5 11 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITH DIVERTED RESOURCES
The National Biodiversity Network (set up through
the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the
Biological Records Centre and wildlife trusts) has
produced national standards for recording. As a local
record centre, we need take these into account.
The creation of a new post of Senior Curator of
Natural History would provide the focus and allocate
responsibility for co-ordinating the city-wide strategy.
The Farming Wildlife Advisory Group helps with
liaison between farming bodies and environmental
groups and provides funding to farmers to conserve
important species habitats on their land.
5 11 5 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
As is the case for Local History, city-wide and
neighbourhood festivals celebrating aspects of
Glasgow’s natural history, and print, multi-media and
web-based publications and educational programmes
are all potentially possible with additional resources.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 11
To develop and implement a Natural History
Interpretation Strategy for the city.
The Museums and Galleries service provides a
significant natural history service through collections,
natural history records, exhibitions and events.The
displays in Kelvingrove and Fossil Grove are
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6 1
INTRODUCTION
services such as Birmingham and the National
Museums of Scotland have gained Chartermark
accreditation, and certainly Chartermark criteria
focus on the service to the customer and could be
used as a future benchmark to assess the quality of
visitor services.
This chapter addresses the issues of service quality
standards and opening hours, and visitor attraction
classification and awards schemes as tools for
developing and ensuring improved visitor services. It
also addresses the overall marketing and promotion
of the Service and considers the role and contribution of volunteers and specifically the “Friends of
Glasgow Museums” to visitor services and audience
development. Finally, it addresses the visitor service
and commercial development opportunities afforded
by museum retail, catering, venue-hire and corporate
hospitality, and copyright and licensed materials.
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The Scottish Tourist Board (STB) classifications for
visitor attractions are another measure of the quality
of visitor services.These are currently recognised by
the Scottish Museums Council as complementing the
Registration Scheme for Museums.
The Scottish Tourist Board operates a national
Quality Assurance inspection scheme for visitor
attractions, including Museums and Galleries.This
scheme provides the public with the means to
identify visitor attractions which meet the desired
quality; it provides an official independent
endorsement of the visitor attraction, and encourages
and acknowledges improvements in standards
throughout the industry.There are five quality grades
awarded for the standard of facilities and services,
ranging from “exceptional, world class” to “fair and
acceptable”.The core criteria of the scheme include:-
SERVICE QUALITY
6 2 1 POLICY FRAMEWORK
There are no formal national policies for the quality
of visitor services in museums and galleries.The Core
Group has looked at the quality of visitor services in
Glasgow’s Museums and Galleries in the context of
policies adopted by the City Council and in the light
of views expressed by those consulted in the course
of this review.
• Pre-arrival - covering brochures and leaflets; road
and directional signage; car parking
• Arrival - covering signage; price display; welcome,
attitude, efficiency and appearance of staff; interior
layout and cleanliness
One of the City Council’s Key Objectives 1999-2002
which relates to service quality is to:“Improve the effectiveness and value for money of all
the Council’s services”.
• Catering - covering layout; menu presentation; food
presentation and quality; attitude, efficiency and
appearance of catering staff; décor and maintenance,
and cleanliness
One of the priorities identified by the People’s Panel
was the need to improve facilities in Museums and
Galleries for visitors.This applies to many aspects of
visitor services and, in particular, catering, access for
disabled people and those with children, as well as
opening hours which better suit visitor needs.
• Retailing - covering layout; merchandise; presentation; attitude, efficiency and appearance of retail
staff; décor and maintenance, and cleanliness
• Adequacy and cleanliness of toilet provision.
In addition, there are specific criteria which relate to
Museums and Galleries and cover areas such as:
interpretation and information; presentation of
collection; balance and mixture of content and
facilities; décor and maintenance of the attraction
area; safety provision; attitude, efficiency, knowledge
and appearance of staff; internal signage and guides.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 12
To establish minimum service and quality
standards for the provision of visitor services
in Glasgow Museums and Galleries.
This policy aligns with one of the key objectives of
the City Council. It also fits with a strategic priority
identified by the People’s Panel.
6 2 3 CURRENT PROVISION
6 2 2 STANDARDS AND
FUTURE PROVISION
At present, only St Mungo’s Museum is highly
commended (which is equivalent to a 4-star grading
under the new scheme), and all other Museums are
commended under the current Scottish Tourist Board
Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme (which
is equivalent to a 2-star grading under the
new scheme).
Whilst there is no recognised or accredited quality
system within Glasgow Museums and Galleries, there
are recently agreed minimum standards for service
delivery at all venues including, for example, physical
access and customer care. Some UK museum
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A robust customer feedback system has been
established within each venue to enable an
assessment of visitors’ perceptions of the quality of
the service in Glasgow Museums.This comprises a
comments card and visitors book system enabling
visitors to make general comments and specific
suggestions regarding the quality of the service
provided. A tracking system was recently introduced
in which visitor comments/complaints are
acknowledged within 10 days and followed up by a
written response by the relevant staff member with a
target date for any action required.
In order to address the issue raised by the People’s
Panel, Cultural and Leisure Services proposes to
introduce extended opening (up to 8.00pm) on one
evening a week at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and
Museum, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum
of Transport during the Spring/Summer season.
Effective marketing is essential in order to test this
change in long-established visitor habits.The review
could also consider a revision of Friday opening back
to 10.00am from 11.00am.
6 2 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
6 4
It is recommended that within 5 years all appropriate
Glasgow Museums should aspire to achieve a 5-star
grading (i.e. Exceptional,World Class) under the new
Scottish Tourist Board Visitor Attraction Quality
Assurance Scheme.This means that Glasgow
Museums will have to meet the appropriate standards
for the core criteria of the scheme and the specific
criteria which relate to Museums and Galleries, as
outlined in 6.2.2 This is a major task which involves
significant capital commitment to bring all appropriate
venues up to 5-star grading. However, at the very
least the City Council should aim to bring its
principal venues up to the highest possible grading,
prioritising the following venues for the achievement
of 5-star grading:- Kelvingrove, Gallery of Modern Art
(GoMA), Burrell Collection, People’s Palace and
Museum of Transport.
6 3
MARKETING GLASGOW MUSEUMS
6 4 1 POLICY FRAMEWORK
There are no formal national policies for marketing
and promotion of museums and galleries. However,
the Core Group has looked at marketing and
promotion of Glasgow Museums in the context of
policies adopted by the City Council and the
Glasgow Alliance, and in the light of views expressed
by those consulted in the course of this review.
One of the City Council’s Key Objectives 1999-2002
is to:• Develop Glasgow’s metropolitan role, quality of
life and services for the benefit of its citizens
and visitors to the city.
One of the objectives of the Glasgow Alliance
Strategy, “Creating Tomorrow’s Glasgow” (1998), is to
create the “Vibrant City” by:-
OPENING HOURS
“ improving the choice and quality of visitor attractions,
cultural facilities and the city’s tourism infrastructure;
improving linkages between City Centre attractions,
including signage; and securing the development of
international standard cultural facilities which will be
attractive to visitors, residents and local entrepreneurs. ”
6 3 1 CURRENT PROVISION
One of the issues raised by the People’s Panel was
for consideration to be given to the introduction of
extended opening hours at some Glasgow Museums.
An integral part of the wider Glasgow Alliance Plans
for the city is “Glasgow’s Renewed Prosperity - A
Joint Economic Strategy” prepared by Glasgow City
Council and Scottish Enterprise (Glasgow). Of
particular relevance to Museums and Galleries is the
following action to:-
The current opening hours at Glasgow
Museums are:• 10.00am to 5.00pm on Monday to Thursday and
Saturday, and 11.00am to 5.00pm on Friday and
Sunday - a total of 47 hours per week.The late
opening on Friday was introduced in 1999 to make
communication with staff during the Best Value
Review process possible (the current rota system
does not allow front-of-house staff to meet).
“ Develop a world class urban product by investing in
upgrading current cultural assets to the highest
international standards including Kelvingrove
Art Gallery and Museum. ”
One of the top priorities voted by participants at the
Open Space Event and considered by a follow-up
workshop was audience development and marketing.
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In particular it considered how museums and galleries can
increase and broaden attendances and encourage repeat
visitors. It also explored the wider marketing issues
affecting all Glasgow’s museums and galleries.Two of the
top priorities voted on by the People’s Panel were: the
need for more effective advertising and information on
“what’s on” in museums and galleries; the need to
advertise in a child-friendly way which engages the next
generation as early as possible to take an interest in, and
use museums
and galleries.
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focusing on the barriers to access and capturing the
interest of those who are socially and culturally
excluded. It is proposed that a marketing plan for
Glasgow Museums is prepared by the end of 2001
which targets new and existing audiences and also
promotes the profile of the Service, both nationally
and internationally. It should contain a 3-year public
programme, and an audience development and
marketing strategy for each venue which will
incorporate explicit performance targets.
The Core Group accordingly recommends the
following policy objective on marketing and
promoting Glasgow Museums:
6 4 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
In terms of targeting new audiences, market research
could be used to establish more precisely those
sections of the Glasgow population who are underrepresented or are not presently using the service.To
achieve this, a service-wide Customer Feedback
System was introduced in October 2000 and an ongoing market research programme (especially among
non-visitors) is being established to support more
effective and targeted marketing, and the
development of longer-term customer relationships.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 13
To develop a Marketing Plan for Glasgow
Museums that targets new audiences by
supporting and promoting access, education
and outreach strategies, and existing audiences
by encouraging repeat visits, and supports the
promotion of Glasgow as a major national and
international visitor destination.
Marketing resources and new technologies could be
deployed to provide targeted promotional and
advertising support which takes into account a wider
range of lifestyles and learning styles.This would
support the work of the curators, the new Education
and Access Officers, the proposed Learning Assistants
and the Open Museum, who together will have the
principal, proactive remit for targeting new audiences
through their outreach, education and lifelong
learning activities and programmes. Under the new
Marketing Structure for Cultural and Leisure
Services, marketing resources will be devolved to
frontline services with a minimum of two officers
dedicated to providing marketing and promotional
support for the Museums Service.
6 4 2 STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
There are no formal standards set for the marketing
and promoting of museums and galleries. However, as
part of this Best Value Review other comparable
museums services were invited to take part in a
benchmarking exercise.Those who participated were:
the National Museums of Scotland, the National
Galleries of Scotland, Birmingham Museum and Art
Gallery,Tyne and Wear Museums and Dundee City
Council.The benchmarking exercise indicated that
total marketing and promotion costs for Glasgow
Museums Service amount to £49 per 1,000 visitors,
the lowest amongst all the benchmarking partners
and well below the average marketing and promotion
expenditure of £151 per 1,000 visitors.
In order to promote the national and international
profile and the business tourism potential of Glasgow
Museums, it will be necessary to develop reciprocal
marketing networks and relationships both within and
outwith the City, to contribute to other key
initiatives such as the city-wide Marketing and
Tourism strategies, and to work in close collaboration
with key partner organisations including the City
Council’s Development and Regeneration Services,
Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, Greater Glasgow and
Clyde Valley Tourist Board and Convention Bureau,
and the Scottish Tourist Board.
Glasgow Museums attract over 3 million visits per
annum. Extensive research undertaken by Lowland
Market Research in 1998/99 (11,000 face-to-face
interviews at seven venues) indicated 39% of visits
are from within the Glasgow City Council area, 42%
from the rest of Scotland, 12% from the rest of the
UK and 6% from outwith the UK. Other key
information included the preponderance of visitors
from the A, B and C1 socio-economic groups and the
under-representation of disabled and minority ethnic
groups and citizens from social groups C2, D and E.
This indicates that there is clearly potential to
develop new audiences from within Glasgow by
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6 4 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
standards and strategies of the relevant organisation,
and clarify the ways in which volunteers complement
rather than replace permanent staff.
The benchmarking exercise indicated that total
marketing and promotion costs for the service
amounts to £49 per 1,000 visitors, the lowest
amongst all benchmarking partners. If the City
Council could increase the overall marketing and
promotion budget for Glasgow Museums closer to
the average expenditure of the benchmarking
partners of £151 per 1,000 visitors, this would enable
the dedicated officer resource required to support
the marketing of the service to be expanded and
should include a dedicated resource for sponsorship
and fundraising.
As part of the Best Value Review, consultation took
place with the Friends of Glasgow Museums, a 2,200strong voluntary organisation which provides support
to the Museum Service in achieving its objectives, and
direct services to visitors as well as its members.
They strongly support the development of an active
policy on volunteering to be developed jointly by staff
and volunteers working together, in line with
Council priorities.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 14
At the same time this would provide greater
opportunity for media advertising, specific marketing
campaigns, market research and national and international promotion.The City Council cannot expect
to get the full benefit of its Museums Service, particularly with respect to the promotion of Glasgow
throughout the UK and internationally, without
investing in the necessary marketing programme.
6 5
To support and encourage the contribution of
volunteers to Glasgow Museums by developing
a set of procedures which set out the roles,
rights and responsibilities of volunteers and
establish clear principles for their involvement
in the delivery of services.
6 5 2 STANDARDS AND
FUTURE PROVISION
VOLUNTEERS
The development and implementation of a formal
Policy and accompanying set of procedures for
volunteers working in Glasgow Museums should set
out the roles, rights, and responsibilities of volunteers
and establish clear principles for their involvement in
the delivery of services. Extending recruitment to
groups in society who do not volunteer, and services
provided by volunteers to excluded groups will
ensure that the volunteering strategy contributes to
social inclusion.
6 5 1 POLICY FRAMEWORK
Glasgow City Council recognises the vast contribution made to the quality of life in the city by the
contribution of volunteers, and is committed to
supporting their work, and developing policies and
strategies which foster volunteering. “Active
Communities, A Draft Strategy for Volunteering and
Community Action” states the Scottish Executive’s
“strong commitment to supporting volunteering and
encouraging community action”, which they see as
playing an important role in “promoting active
citizenship”.The aims of the draft strategy are to:-
6 5 3 CURRENT PROVISION
• bring about more positive attitudes at all levels
towards volunteering and community action
FORMAL EDUCATION
Glasgow Museums provides opportunities for
students in full-time education, especially secondaryschool students seeking work placements and
Museum Studies students seeking work placements,
as well as students in specialisms such as art history
or archaeology.
• locate volunteering and community action at the
heart of policy
• broaden the range of people involved
• increase the number of people involved.
“Volunteer Development”, Scotland’s Framework for
Volunteering, Policy and Procedures on Volunteers,
strongly recommends that organisations who work
with volunteers develop formal policy and procedures
to cover all aspects of their recruitment, training and
management. It sees this as important in order to
highlight and acknowledge the value of the contribution made by volunteers, reflect the values,
THE FRIENDS OF GLASGOW MUSEUMS
The Friends of Glasgow Museums was founded (as
the Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums Association GAGMA) in 1942 by Dr Tom Honeyman.With over
2,200 members it is the largest organisation of its
type in the country.The Friends contribute to the
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6 5 5 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
museum in a number of ways.They:• raise funds to purchase objects for the collection
A full-time member of staff dedicated to developing
volunteering within the Museum Service would
greatly improve the support offered to the Friends
and greatly enhance their contribution to the delivery
of services, both behind the scenes and to the public.
• sponsor the annual children’s Art Competition and
allocate funds from two bequests for children’s
activities
• provide Volunteer Guides for Kelvingrove, the
Burrell Collection, the Gallery of Modern Art and
the Museum of Transport. Many visitors comment
on the enthusiasm and skill of the guides, who are
greatly appreciated
6 6
• contribute funds to museum projects, including
exhibitions, publications and conservation. In
financial year 1999/2000 the Friends contributed
£28,000 to museum projects.
RETAIL, CATERING,VENUE HIRE AND
SPONSORSHIP
6 6 1 POLICY FRAMEWORK
Glasgow City Council’s current position is for retail
and catering services to be provided in-house by
Cultural and Leisure Services and Direct and Care
Services respectively.
SERVICES TO MEMBERS
One of the priorities voted on by the People’s Panel
is the desire to see facilities such as catering in
Museums and Galleries improved.
As well as providing direct services to museum users
through the guides, and supporting other projects
through funding, the Friends provide a significant
number of benefits to their members.The Voluntary
Committee organises a range of activities, including
daytime and evening lectures, and visits to museums
and similar heritage attractions.The Friends
contribute £5,000 annually to the cost of Preview, the
quarterly museum newsletter, which is mailed to all
members and also serves as a general marketing
publication for the service.
There is also a need, highlighted throughout this
report, to improve income generation without
charging for access.
The Core Group recommends the following policy
objective on retail and catering provision, and other
sources of income generation in Glasgow Museums.
The Friends have been consulted in depth about the
plans to modernise Kelvingrove, and over 300
attended a series of meetings about the project, while
others responded to a written questionnaire.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 15
To provide high-quality retail and catering in
Glasgow Museums sympathetic to the unique
experience in each venue and to maximise
income from all potential sources without
breaching the principle of free access.
6 5 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
This policy relates to four main areas of income
generation:-
Developing better volunteer placements for students
in formal education and those engaged in lifelong
learning will be made possible by the appointment of
the Education and Access officers.The Friends are an
extremely supportive organisation and staff and
volunteers work closely on a variety of projects.The
opportunities for developing volunteering in a more
systematic way would require significant additional
staff input, which is difficult to arrange within current
resources.
• Retail
• Catering
• Venue Hire and Corporate Hospitality
• Sponsorship and Voluntary Donations
6 6 2
The Core Group proposes that a more detailed
report on volunteering is developed in consultation
with The Friends of Glasgow Museums and is brought
to Cultural and Leisure Services Committee.
STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
Consultants ‘The Retail Group’ were jointly commissioned by Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and Glasgow
City Council Cultural and Leisure Services in May
2000 to identify the retail potential, develop a
strategic plan and set out the retail vision for
Glasgow Museum shops in the light of the retail
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opportunity and the optimum management model;
and to provide a clear, reasoned, qualitative and
quantitative case for the future direction of, and
appropriate investment in, the Glasgow Museum
shops.The review reported back to the Core Group
in November 2000 and advised on future
management models for this part of the service,
appropriate standards of provision and management
models for each venue along with net income targets,
and different means for procuring services.
The Consultant’s Report highlights a number of
factors which indicate the potential for Glasgow
Museum shops to trade at a higher level. Glasgow is
an established leisure destination, securing over 83
million trips per year, resulting in circa £1,500 million
of expenditure.This is in addition to the many trips
made by the resident Glasgow population. However,
Glasgow Museums are capturing less than 1% of the
spend on gifts and souvenirs from tourists and
visitors. It found that the museums are consistently
converting fewer visitors to shop purchases than
many of the benchmark operators surveyed as part
of the review. In addition, Glasgow Museums’ average
spend per visitor is only 20-35% of that achieved at
other major attractions.
A separate review of Glasgow Museum catering
operations was carried out by the Moffat Centre,
Glasgow Caledonian University.The review reported
back to the Core Group in November 2000. It
reviewed the current range, quality and effectiveness
of catering provision, and the current demand and
current catering management operations.
6 7 2 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
In doing so, it advised on the most appropriate and
effective future management structure and operation,
and the appropriate standards for delivery of an
improved catering service at each venue.
Extensive Market Research has identified that for the
visitor, museum shops and catering are intrinsic parts
of the museum experience and as such their
presence should complement and enhance their visit.
It should also be noted that the Scottish Tourist
Board operates a Quality Assurance inspection
scheme for Visitor Attractions.There are specific
criteria relating to Museums and Galleries which
include quality standards for catering and retail.These
cover areas such as: food presentation and quality;
attitude, efficiency and appearance of staff; cleanliness;
merchandise, and décor and maintenance.
6 7
The aim is for the retail facilities to be more
responsive to the needs of Glasgow’s local
communities, and of national and international
visitors, and to support access to the Museum
collections by promoting shopping as an intrinsic
part of the Glasgow Museums experience. Glasgow
Museums also need to improve the profitability of
these operations.
GLASGOW MUSEUM RETAIL
An initial audit of Glasgow Museum retailing has
shown that many fundamental operational issues are
impeding current performance and the potential to
further develop the retail service, enhance the visitor
experience and generate additional income, a
situation which requires immediate attention.
6 7 1 CURRENT PROVISION
A retail service is provided in all Glasgow Museums.
Benchmarking information shows that visitors to
Glasgow Museums spend on average a total of £0.69
per head, the 2nd lowest spend per visitor amongst
the benchmarking partners; this includes an average
retail spend of £0.36 per visitor, about average of all
benchmarking partners but significantly less than the
£0.82 retail spend per visitor achieved by the
National Gallery of Scotland.
This was reinforced by the Consultant’s Report
which identified the principal areas for improvement
in Glasgow Museum shops.These include the
following key operational issues at shop level and at
the central function level:• Provision of a focused independent management
resource, including systems and procedures, for
both retail operations and buying/stock
control functions
Information on the performance of Glasgow Museum
Retail for 1999/2000 (Actuals) indicates that it failed
to meet its budgeted expenditure/income target and
made a substantial loss of over £250,000. In
calculating this loss, retail expenditure has been taken
to include employee costs as well as cost of sales and
stock write-off.The budget for 2000/2001 has been
adjusted to reflect a decrease in turnover and the net
budget can only be achieved with a substantial
increase in turnover and net income.
• Improve external visibility and the impact
of the shops
• Improve retail systems
• Refocus and rationalise the range of stock
• Increase the number of bespoke lines available
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6 7 4 RECOMMENDATIONS
• Implement and develop a sales management
information system
The Consultant’s review recommends that Option 2 New Model for City Council Operation - has
potentially the greatest rewards, and specifically in
terms of asset development, brand development and
potential financial rewards.
• Develop a cohesive marketing strategy for the
museums and shops
• Invest in a training programme for staff
• Develop a focused and motivated management
team and staffing structure (including a product
development officer and retail operations manager).
The Consultant recommends that the City Council
operate and control the Glasgow Museum retail
activity and invest in the systems, staff, product and
support to make it the success it is capable of being.
The Consultant’s Report clearly indicates that
significant improvements can be made both to the
quality of service provided for customers and to the
economic efficiency of operating the retail outlets in
Glasgow Museums. An evaluation of the options
presented by the Retail Group indicate the clear
benefits of selecting the option which will retain the
management of the shops in-house.
6 8
GLASGOW MUSEUM COPYRIGHT
AND LICENSING
6 8 1 CURRENT PROVISION
Glasgow’s collections contain many objects and
images for which there is a market in reproductions.
One clerical assistant and one photographic
technician at present manage the museum’s photo
library, and there is no investment in extending the
range of images, cataloguing or marketing
its resources.
6 7 3 FUTURE MANAGEMENT MODEL
The Consultant’s Report defines three
broad options:Option 1 - The Current Model
The current operating and management model
could not satisfy any of the criteria and is not a
valid option.
6 8 2 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
Option 2 - New Model for City Council
Operation
Given the complexity of, and the rapidly changing
legislation relating to, copyright and the need to
manage systematic publications of the collection, one
of the key posts identified by the Core Group is a
Copyright and Publications Officer, who could manage
the photo library, develop links with publishers and
generate income (see Chapter 8, paragraph 8.7).The
dissemination of images is also an important means of
promoting the service and providing a world-wide
service to non-visitors and virtual visitors.
This is a viable option that will bring real benefits to
the city, both for the residents of and visitors to
Glasgow.This option enables the City Council to
manage and control the retail offer to complement
and enhance the Museum experience for the visitor.
It also provides the opportunity to benefit from any
expansion of the retail offer beyond the Museum
shops. However, it will require additional revenue and
capital investment by the Council of circa £400,000
which includes staff, product development and
marketing budget, and some investment in signage
and physical layout.
6 8 3 GLASGOW MUSEUM CATERING:
CURRENT PROVISION
Option 3 - Third Party Operator
A catering service is provided in the following
Glasgow Museums:-
This is a viable option, albeit one that possibly has
less advantage for the Council. One anticipated
difficulty is finding a third party operator who is
interested in signing a management agreement for all
the sites. Also any third party operator’s objective will
be to maximise profit, which may not be in line with
the service development of the museums. In addition,
income generation for the City Council will be
limited to “rent agreement” or commission.
a) Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
b) The Burrell Collection
c) Gallery of Modern Art
d) Museum of Transport
e) St Mungo’s Museum of Religious Life
f) People’s Palace
g) Scotland Street School Museum (vending machines)
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awareness, the costs for investment in design to be
incurred by the catering contractor.
Catering refers to two main forms across the service:
Served Meals and Self Service Snacks/Light
Refreshments. Banqueting is addressed under the
section “Venue Hire/Corporate Hospitality”. Glasgow
City Council Direct and Care Services provide the
catering for visitors.
• Identify menu guidelines for café and functions to
introduce greater range of fresh, quality, healthy
foods with utilisation of Scottish produce.
• Develop complaints procedure and independent
quality assurance.
6 8 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
• Agreement of a programme of investment for
fixtures and fittings within each venue
The consultation process and in particular the
People’s Panel raised concerns regarding the quality
of catering provision and its cost for low-income
families. Both are the subject of frequent comments
from visitors along with concerns about the quality of
service and poor design of café and catering facilities.
Option 3 - Alternative Procurement
This option would introduce greater administration
input in the set-up period. However, it is likely to
achieve the greatest commerical returns and
investment potential for Cultural and Leisure Services
and Museums Service.
The Review of catering by the Moffat Centre outlines
three options for catering.
The five contracts for museum catering at each of
these venues would elicit signficant interest from the
commercial market.
Option 1 - Do Nothing
This option would continue the current arrangement,
including the system of ad hoc decision making, and
not address the strategic aims of the museums’ best
value review.The consequences of this would be:
Option 4
A fourth option, which is a hybrid of Options 2 and
3, is however recommended by the Core Group.This
would retain the catering service with Direct and
Care Services but put out to tender the contract for
the catering in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
This option is particularly relevant where substantial
capital investment is required and could be secured
by tendering the catering to an external supplier.This
would enable additional capital investment to be
levered towards the refurbishment proposals for
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
• Café sales are likely to continue to decrease
• Investment for equipment maintenance,
refurbishment and redesign would be required.
• Catering would continue to impact negatively on
overall visitor experience
• Continued low average catering spend.
Option 2 - Retain and Revise Current Contract
with Direct and Care Services
As part of Cultural and Leisure Services’ planned
capital improvement programme, resources would be
sought to improve retail and catering provision within
Glasgow Museums.
This option would review the existing contractual
agreement and in consultation with Direct and Care
Services agree on a revised contract for each
museum venue.
6 9
This option would incorporate:
• The establishment of a post of Commercial
Development Coordinator within Cultural and
Leisure Services.This would have a strategic role of
coordinating all elements of catering contract,
management and quality assurance. It would have a
monitoring role.This should ensure that clear
quality standards are established and maintained for
the future.
GLASGOW MUSEUM VENUE
HIRE/CORPORATE HOSPITALITY
6 9 1 CURRENT PROVISION
Venue hire in Glasgow Museums began around
1990/1992, with the aim of generating additional
revenue for the Service. Historically, the Service
offers a range of sixteen conferencing facilities
(rooms) and reception and dining areas for hire, from
the banqueting hall at Kelvingrove to the popular
Kelvin Street at the Museum of Transport. Generally
their unique setting and the quality of experience
make most spaces attractive for both large and smallscale events, banqueting and corporate hospitality.The
high value and fragility of the works on display
• Development of brand theming and service style for
each venue agreed by a small working group with
representatives from curatorial staff, venue
management and DCS
• Possible development of strategic alliances with
high-street franchises to strengthen brand
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requires special sensitivity in the way this
service is provided.
Two of the main clients are the Greater Glasgow and
Clyde Valley Tourist Board and Glasgow Convention
Bureau who utilise these spaces and act on behalf of
travel agents, large organisations and international
corporations in packaging conferences which will
attract business to Glasgow.
Venue Hire/Corporate Hospitality formed part of the
consultancy study undertaken by the Moffat Centre.
It highlighted that management, supervisory, staffing
and catering arrangements are split between Cultural
and Leisure Services and Direct and Care Services.
The split structure is a key issue impacting on the
service offered to customers and requires to be
reviewed along with the detailed staffing, administration, information management, sales and
marketing arrangements.
The consultancy study recommended that the split
structure be urgently addressed, either by franchising
the service to an external operator or by bringing
the booking and administrative functions together
with the catering services to form one management
function under Direct and Care Services.
6 9 2 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
Since early 2001,Venue Hire and Corporate
Hospitality have been transferred to Direct and Care
Services.This provides:• improved and more co-ordinated booking, administration, management and catering arrangements for
venue hire
• a more corporate and improved approach to the
promotion of venue hire/corporate hospitality
across the full range of Cultural and Leisure
Services facilities and venues
• an increase in net income to the service.
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INTRODUCTION
beginning of this strategic shift. Just as the city’s
earliest museum was set up in response to a major
bequest (by Sir Archibald McLellan, in 1857), the
Burrell Collection was also the result of a major gift
to the city, by Sir William and Lady Burrell.The city
has benefited from a large number of benefactions
and it has been the Council’s policy to foster and
welcome this great tradition.The city of course has
also collected actively itself and established new
museums to house new collections, most significantly
the Gallery of Modern Art in 1996. Other
developments, such as St Mungo’s Museum of
Religious Life and Art, were ad hoc solutions to
specific problems (for example the funding problems
of the Cathedral Visitor Centre), but were carried
out in terms of Council aims and objectives.
Glasgow City Council owns and manages nine
museums and galleries. It also leases Pollok House to
the National Trust to manage, and McLellan Galleries
to the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) for a
short period while the CCA building undergoes
refurbishment. Martyrs’ School houses conservation
studios and is open to the public.
Seven of these eleven buildings are listed, mostly
Category A.The buildings with by far the greatest
property and maintenance costs are the Burrell
Collection and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
The displays in some have recently been renewed and
meet modern standards of accessibility, and are
relevant to existing audiences. Others are in need of
major renewal.
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The rest of this report is about the policies and
development aims of the city to which museums can
contribute.This chapter deals with how these policies
impact on the individual venues, and their short- and
medium-term development, in terms of the principal
building, display and property management issues.To
ensure that these matters receive proper attention,
the Core Group recommends the following
statement of policy:
VENUE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
7 2 1 POLICY FRAMEWORK
The basis upon which Glasgow Corporation began
the operation of museums was the 1843 Libraries
and Museums Act.This was enabling legislation, and
while Libraries have become a statutory service,
museums are discretionary. However, the current
legislation under which the City Council operates
museums is the Local Government and Planning Act
(1982). Since the 19th century Glasgow has consistently used museums and art galleries as an
instrument of policy. Both the People’s Palace (1898)
and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (1902)
were associated with major industrial exhibitions
which were explicitly designed to give Glasgow an
advantage in competition with its industrial and
commercial rivals in the UK and abroad.These and
other early museums also had very strong social and
educational purposes reflecting the Victorian
commitment to social reform and civic government.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 16
To establish a capital funding plan and
property maintenance and management
strategy that safeguard the future of the City
Council’s museum buildings and galleries and
provide for the physical development of
improved visitor services, displays and
exhibitions.
7 2 2 STANDARDS AND
FUTURE PROVISION
All the museums and galleries run by the city require
upgrading to meet modern standards of access for all,
health and safety, and energy efficiency. More needs
to be invested in routine maintenance and upgrading
of the appearance of public areas, renewal of
interpretative displays, and visitor services such as
shops, cafés, signage and toilets. Driving up standards
in these areas requires more focused management as
well as capital investment, and Chapter 8 on Staffing
recommends that each venue be managed by one
individual with overall responsibility for public
programme and service quality.The aim of the City
Council should be for all its museums to achieve 5star grading in the Scottish Tourist Board Visitor
Attractions Scheme (see Chapter 6, paragraph 6.2.4
for details).The main priorities for major capital
The interpretation of “adequate cultural provision”
would need to take into account the regional significance of Glasgow Museums, 40% (1.2 million) of
whose visitors come from the rest of Scotland.The
structures of local government in Scotland, especially
since the abolition of Strathclyde Regional Council,
do not take into account the funding of major
infrastructural institutions such as Glasgow Museums.
Since the 1980s Glasgow’s Museums have made
major contributions to the city’s economic
development strategy, as part of the rebranding as a
City of Culture, and the change from a manufacturing
to a service and creative industrial city.The opening
of the Burrell Collection in 1983 was the real
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the Pollok House collection, tasks which would also
stay with Glasgow Museums if the Burrell Collection
were to be transferred.
investment over the next five years for the City
Council’s museum and gallery venues are Kelvingrove
Art Gallery and Museum, the Burrell Collection, and
the Museum of Transport. Investment is also required
at Scotland Street Museum and Provands Lordship.
These priorities will pose funding pressures on the
City Council’s scarce capital resources and key
funding partners such as the European Regional
Development Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The impact of recent and future reductions in
revenue on the service have been set out elsewhere
in the report.The Core Group has concluded that
there is no real alternative to the city running at least
the core of major museums (though ideally with
support from central government funds).
This core comprises:
The Core Group believes these options have to be
considered with great care and rigour, but it is far
from being a foregone conclusion that thorough
examination will show that they ought to be
implemented.
7 3
KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY
AND MUSEUM
7 3 1 INTRODUCTION
Kelvingrove is Glasgow’s best-loved museum and art
gallery. Opened in 1901 for the International
Exhibition, and in 1902 as a civic art gallery and
museum, Kelvingrove is the greatest achievement in
the UK of the Victorian municipal museum
movement. It is a Category A listed building, in a
parkland setting, and an invaluable amenity for the
city.With over 1,000,000 visits annually, it is the most
popular museum and art gallery in the United
Kingdom, outside London.
• Kelvingrove
• Museum of Transport
• Gallery of Modern Art
• People’s Palace
• Scotland Street School Museum
Without (or even with) central government funds, it
may not be possible to sustain and develop all
museums currently operated by Glasgow Museums.
This report therefore explores options for disposal
or management by other organisations of
the following:
Kelvingrove displays international quality collections,
which are encyclopedic in scope. Highlights include:• Old Master Paintings
• French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist
paintings
• Burrell Collection
• St Mungo’s Museum of Religious Life and Art
• Late 19th and early 20th century Scottish fine and
decorative art
• Provands Lordship
• Martyrs’ School
• Scottish and Glasgow history
These four venues are recommended for consideration primarily because there are potential partners
who may be interested in running them, or potential
alternative uses if disposal is considered.
• West of Scotland archaeology
• West of Scotland natural history
• Late 19th and early 20th century ethnography
In considering the options, the Council will wish to
weigh up the potential advantages of releasing funds
for investment elsewhere in the museums service
against the disadvantages of change. For example, one
of the advantages of transferring management to a
charitable body is that it relieves the Council of the
cost of commercial rates. On the other hand, this
advantage could be lost if there were to be a change
in rating law.The Council may also wish to examine
carefully its experience of closures and transfers to
date. For example, the transfer of management of
Pollok House to the National Trust has saved the
Council £140,000 per annum; but it also entailed a
considerable increase in work for Glasgow Museums
staff in the first two years, and they retain a
continuing responsibility for key tasks in respect of
• Arms and armour
7 3 2
CURRENT PROVISION
The building has been maintained to a high standard
by the City Council, with a long-term programme of
roof renewal being undertaken since the 1980s.
However, services which require intrusive work, i.e.
renewal of electrical services, have been deferred to
the point where they are urgent. Since 1901, a
significant number of additions have been made to
the interior, interfering with the flow of visitors, and
marring the appearance of the building.
Research makes it clear that while people love the
exhibits on display and the building itself, the overall
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use redundant light wells and have a minimum
impact on the appearance of the building.
impression is of a run-down service, which gives
visitors little support in finding their way round the
building or in learning about the collection. Internal
access is poor, to the extent that as many as 70% of
visitors do not go upstairs, where the main art
collection is on display.
• Creation of a two-storey shop at basement and
ground floor levels and close to the public
entrances at the north end of the building.
With regard to the building infrastructure, it should
be noted that whilst the project will comprehensively
address the buildings’ electrical and environmental
services, it only involves partial roof renewal and the
remaining original roof structure will require a
continuing maintenance and renewal programme.The
same applies to repairs to the metal windows.
7 3 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is the subject of
a £25 million major refurbishment and redisplay
project with major funding bids currently being made
to GCC’s capital programme, the Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) and the West of Scotland European
Funding Programme which started in 2000. Stage 1
approval has been secured for a Heritage Lottery
Fund grant of £8.6 million towards the Kelvingrove
New Century Project. Assuming the total funding
package is secured, the works should commence in
2002 and be complete for re-opening at the end of
2002 or early 2003. It is anticipated that the project
will increase the number of visitors by 23% (258,000
in total), the amount of display space by 35% and the
number of objects on display by 50%.The project will
also secure a significant improvement to visitor
services such as cafés, shops, toilets and educational
learning facilities.
7 3 5 THE DISPLAYS
The objective is to create new displays using a
flexible intellectual framework and display system
which will increase the number of objects and be able
to evolve with changing public interests, reducing the
need for future capital investment.
This will be achieved by:• Building on the museum’s tradition as a social place,
owned by the people of Glasgow
• Working with the strengths of the collection and
staff expertise to communicate across time and
cultural diversity to inspire people of all ages to
learn and understand more about themselves and
the world we live in
7 3 4 THE BUILDING
• Connecting to the lives of the city’s multi-cultural
audience by being flexible and inclusive to create a
genuinely visitor-centred museum
Modernising the heating and air-handling system is
another key feature.The other main elements of the
building strategy are concerned with restoring the
interior to as near its 1901 condition as possible,
increasing the amount of display space, rationalising
the location of displays vis-à-vis other visitor services,
and improving internal access to 21st century
standards. Specifically this involves:
• Restoring the building to as near its original
condition as possible and introducing new displays
in ways which respect the architecture
• Reducing the proportion of the building devoted to
functions which can be carried out elsewhere and
maximising the space devoted to access
• Removing offices and other accretions added since
1901. Moving non-display functions, including the
café, the education room and the conference room,
to the basement
7 3 6 THE PARK
The proposals will enhance the park landscape in the
immediate vicinity of the building and relocate the
existing car park, thus removing the conflict between
pedestrian and vehicular access and creating a civic
space at the north entrance.These proposals are
being developed in collaboration with Land Services
and take into account the wider proposals for the
refurbishment of Kelvingrove Park and the pedestrian
bridge across the river Kelvin to the University.
• Removing all barriers to circulation on the ground
and first floor
• Introducing a new public entrance to the
“basement”, which is at ground level at the Park
side of the building
• Introducing a new gallery and other visitor facilities
to the basement
• Introducing new lifts from the basement to the
ground floor, at the new entrance, and from the
basement to the ground and first floor, in the
corners of the east and west wings.The latter will
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MUSEUM OF TRANSPORT
produced the technology on display, and which in
turn is related to the great design achievements of
Glasgow, from marine engines to Mackintosh chairs,
from locomotives to Greek Thomson.The extremely
poor environmental conditions in this museum make
it a major investment priority for the service, particularly if taken in conjunction with the requirements of
Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena.
7 4 1 INTRODUCTION
The Museum of Transport was established in the
obsolete tramway workshops in Albert Drive in 1963,
and moved to its current site in Kelvin Hall in 1988. It
houses collections of national importance in a
number of areas, including shipbuilding, steam
locomotives, trams, Scottish motor cars, bicycles
and motorcycles.
A feasibility study has recently been completed by the
City Council Building Services’ architects in
conjunction with Cultural and Leisure Services and
Development and Regeneration Services to assess
the options and costs for meeting Glasgow’s and
Scotland’s future requirements for staging major
indoor sporting events, and also the possible
consequences for the Museum of Transport.
It is the most visited museum of transport in the UK,
and the second most popular museum in Glasgow,
regularly attracting between 400,000 and 500,000
visitors per annum. It deals with the social and
technical history of transport in Scotland in general
and Glasgow in particular. For many local people the
museum provides touchstones of reminiscence and
identity.The Museum of Transport has great untapped
potential for appealing to many tourists for whom art
is not their prime or only interest.
7 4 2
This study, along with opportunities that might
emerge from Glasgow Harbour Limited’s mixed-use
development proposals for the north side of the
River Clyde from Kelvinhaugh to Whiteinch, would
together appear to present the following options for
the Museum of Transport:• The relocation of the Museum of Transport to
Glasgow Harbour.
CURRENT PROVISION
The building provides limited and cramped space for
the collection, which is not seen to best advantage.
The heating system is shared with Kelvin Hall
International Sports Arena, and its restricted controls
over temperature and humidity is resulting in damage
to the collection, especially to the wooden parts of
trams and early Scottish cars.
• The refurbishment of Kelvin Hall to house both an
improved International Indoor Sports Arena and the
Museum of Transport at a possible cost of £20
million, but with constraints on both the scale and
effectiveness of both the Arena and the
Museum of Transport.
• The expansion of the Museum of Transport within
the Kelvin Hall building and the relocation of the
sporting uses, including the indoor athletics track, to
a purpose-built building elsewhere, possibly the
Glasgow Harbour development.
A wide variety of visitors reflects the diverse visitor
experience on offer, while the percentage of visitors
from groups C2, D and E is the highest of any
museum in the city. Successful events programmes
and new displays have led to substantial increases in
visitor numbers in the past two years. Piecemeal
improvements in displays have improved interpretation for some collections and successfully increased
visits from families with young children. Other
collections remain, in effect, in open storage,
accessible only to visitors with specialist knowledge.
The front entrance to the Museum is not highly
visible from Dumbarton Road and car parking space
can be limited.The addition of a lift to the front
façade has considerably improved access for people
with disabilities, but signage is poor.
• An expansion of the Museum of Transport on either
the Kelvin Hall or Harbour site would provide an
opportunity to rethink the museum and create a
visitor attraction unique in Britain, which could
portray the industrial culture of the period c.1830
to c.1960 in its full richness.While transport would
be strongly featured, it would be in a context
provided by the design, decorative arts and costume
objects of which Glasgow has internationally
important collections. The City Council favours the
option of relocation to Glasgow Harbour, subject to
further investigation.
These options require to be investigated further in
conjunction with Development and Regeneration
Services, Glasgow Harbour Limited, sportscotland
and the Heritage Lottery Fund, with an assessment of
likely levels of commercial-sector, European and
Lottery funding.
7 4 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
This museum needs a complete overhaul to reach
modern standards of interpretation, display and
preservation of its collection. Glasgow was a world
centre of the Victorian industrial society which
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THE GALLERY OF MODERN ART
7 5 1
INTRODUCTION
7 5 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
The Collection, in terms of purchases by the City, of
loans of specific works of art, and of temporary
exhibitions, could show a broader range of contemporary art, especially in relation to recent
developments in Glasgow and Scotland. Interpretation
of the works on display, through labels and graphics,
could also be improved.
The building, comprising an 18th Century Mansion to
which a 19th century exchange hall has been added,
is one of the most important in Glasgow. From 1949
to 1994, it housed the Stirling Library which
relocated to premises in Miller Street in.The two
year conversion programme to create the Gallery of
Modern Art (GoMA) included the substantial
refurbishment of the building structure and services,
funded by Glasgow City Council, the European
Regional Development Fund and the Scottish
Arts Council.
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7 5 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The restoration of the full income amount from the
Contemporary Art Fund (from the current level of
c.£100,000 per annum, to c.£200,000 per annum)
would enable GoMA to achieve its objective of
sustaining an international profile. Linked to collection
policy, GoMA will display art in all categories the City
acquires. Active acquisition is needed to enable more
frequent changes to long-term displays. Additional
revenue for temporary exhibitions would enable
GoMA to mount shows which would attract national
and international audiences as well as local and
regional visitors.
CURRENT PROVISION
The Gallery of Modern Art houses an international
collection of challenging but accessible art owned by
the city, in a Category A listed building in the heart of
the city centre. GoMA’s main aim is to encourage
interest in and enjoyment of visual art for all sectors
of the community, but particularly young people and
people perceived as being outside or who do not feel
at home in the world of contemporary fine art.
More specific objectives are:-
The creation of an integrated Cultural and Leisure
Services has brought the opportunity to re-examine
the range of services and target audiences in GoMA.
This has led to the development of proposals for the
sensitive integration of a visual art learning and
information centre and community lending library
service in the building. As well as providing additional
services in a convenient location for general visitors
and targeting art and art history students at all levels,
this will provide learning support for members of the
public who are inspired to find out more about the
works on display. In physical terms, and in the light of
what has been learned from 5 years’ experience of
running the art gallery, this may mean a reconfiguration of other support services such as catering
and retail.
• To display and interpret a wide range of the best
contemporary art, particularly that owned by the
City, to local, national and international audiences.
• To provide access to contemporary art, particularly
for socially excluded groups.
• To provide an international-quality visitor attraction
which contributes to Glasgow’s reputation as a city
of culture, promoting tourism and inward
investment.
• To provide an international platform for contemporary artists working in Glasgow.
GoMA has established itself as a centre for contemporary art which provides access for local, national
and international audiences and a platform for
contemporary artists working in Glasgow.
Proposals developed for Royal Exchange Square by
the City Council, City Centre Partnership, Scottish
Enterprise Glasgow and Strathclyde Police to address
issues of graffiti, safety and cleanliness and provide
opportunities for the display of public art were
presented to the Cultural and Leisure Services
Committee in December 2000.
It houses a diverse collection of mostly representational works from the past 20 years, focusing on
Scottish art in particular, but also work from as far
afield as Russia, Australia and Irian Jaya.
Most visitors find it stimulating and enjoy the variety
of work on show - even if they don’t like everything
on display.Though much of the work may not be
technically challenging, it can be emotionally
demanding. Unusually unintimidating for a modern art
gallery, GoMA attracts a wide range of visitors with
overall visitor numbers of over 500,000 a year.
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WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
THE PEOPLE’S PALACE AND
WINTER GARDENS
The structure of the displays is thematic and can
therefore evolve with changes in public interest. From
2003, one theme should be changed every two years.
This would cost approximately £50,000 per change.
7 6 1 INTRODUCTION
This is Glasgow’s local social history museum, a
Category A listed building, set in the historic Glasgow
Green. Originally housing a gallery for temporary
exhibitions and a reading room, it gradually evolved
into the city’s local history museum.The combination
of the museum and the Winter Gardens gives it a
very special character, which enables it to attract an
average of over 400,000 visitors a year. Its social
history collections of Glasgow, including Women’s
Suffrage and Labour History (especially Trades Union
Banners), are of national importance.
7 7
SCOTLAND STREET SCHOOL
MUSEUM
7 7 1 INTRODUCTION
Scotland Street School Museum has two identities.
Visitors come to see both a museum and an architecturally significant building. Scotland Street is the only
museum showing the history of education in Scotland
and as such has the potential to become a national
focus for this subject. It could also tell the story of
the many industries of world importance in the
Tradeston and Kinning Park area, and of the
communities that grew up around them. It is a
Category A listed school building, designed by
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which means it is placed
firmly on the route of architectural and Mackintosh
trails around the city.
The major regeneration of Glasgow Green, a
£10 million parkland renewal project supported by an
£8 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant, will have a
significant impact on the People’s Palace and Winter
Gardens. Proposals for the immediate surroundings
include a major outdoor events area, a more
developed formal landscape, the relocation of the
Doulton Fountain to the front of the People’s Palace
and improved vehicular and pedestrian access. The
quality of amenities in the area, combined with the
museum and Winter Gardens being within 15
minutes’ walk of the main shopping centre, suggests
that the People’s Palace should be treated as on
the edge of the city centre, as well as being an
East End facility.
7 7 2 CURRENT PROVISION
The current audience profile is already changing
following increased investment in temporary displays.
In 1999, the Museum received over 98,000 visitors.
Currently the building is very reliant on temporary
exhibitions to fill out the display areas.
7 6 2 CURRENT PROVISION
The People’s Palace was substantially refurbished in
1995 and 1998 with the support of Heritage Lottery
Funding, European Regional Development Funding
(ERDF), the Wolfson Foundation and STB.The
associated Winter Gardens has just completed a
comprehensive refurbishment following a recent fire,
with new catering facilities and upgraded event space
and horticultural planting areas. Both facilities come
under the overall responsibility of Cultural and
Leisure Services with the horticultural areas of the
Winter Gardens managed by Land Services.This new
management arrangement should provide the
opportunity for a more integrated approach to the
programming of events and exhibitions and the
development and promotion of retail and
catering opportunities.
Facilities for visitors are somewhat sparse, with only
two rooms devoted to permanent displays and four
period classrooms used largely for teaching purposes.
There is no interpretation of the building or of the
restored classrooms. One of the biggest visitor
complaints is the lack of rooms open to the public.
The Museum is poorly signposted from the local
road system and local car parking provision needs
upgrading to function properly in support of
the venue.
7 7 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
The museum houses part of the City’s Education
Collection, with support material from this collection
furnishing the restored period classrooms.There is
potential for far more of the Education collection to
go out on display.
Recently refurbished to a high standard, the displays
explore themes from the last 250 years of Glasgow’s
history.The ground and first floors are designed to be
child and family friendly; the 3rd floor is more indepth displays, though it also includes a variety
of interactives.
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of the historic park in which it is situated, and is one
of the most important 20th century buildings in
Scotland. It was erected at a cost of £22 million
(funded 50% by the City and 50% by the
Scottish Office).
New displays currently under development will
interpret the building itself in terms of its
architectural design, its local history and its local
educational history and thus integrate the two
aspects of the venue’s identity. Further investment is
needed, however, in new displays, interpretation of
the collection, and in developing new interactivities.
Further investment is also required for the adaptation
of the historical interiors to allow good environmental display of the collection, and a more
comfortable environment, in both summer and
winter, as a visitor experience.
7 8 2 CURRENT PROVISION
The Burrell Collection houses internationally
important collections of: Medieval art, including
polychrome wood sculpture, tapestries, alabasters,
stained glass and English oak furniture; European
paintings, including masterworks by Cranach, Bellini
and a major holding of Impressionist and postImpressionist works; art from Ancient China, Egypt,
Greece, and Rome; Near and Middle Eastern textiles
and ceramics; modern sculpture including works by
Epstein and Rodin. It is a very traditional art gallery,
with minimal interpretation and educational
provision. However, the relationship of objects with
the building and with the park outside is one of the
highlights of museum experiences in the UK.The
Burrell has not until recently had any relationship
with its local communities, and for those dependent
on public transport, access can be a difficulty; the
Land Services bus from the park entrance provides
only a partial solution.
Many aspects of the main building, the courtyard,
along with its visitor services, provision for disabled
people, car parking arrangements, and quality of
display and interpretation material require significant
improvement and investment. Funding from Glasgow
City Council matched by European Regional
Development Funding will lead to improvements to
access for disabled people, the reception and retail
area, and two of the principal display areas. Repairs to
the building infrastructure, especially the roof and
windows, and service issues will, however, remain
largely outstanding. A Conservation Plan needs to be
developed to guide the future improvement strategy
for the building.
7 8 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The building has a unique asset to the rear: the
playground, which in itself could offer potential for
the development and provision of a unique visitor
experience. Increasing visitor numbers may enable
catering provision to be increased from vending
machines to an appropriate café.
The displays need a complete rethink, and a more
varied approach in order to work for more diverse
audiences.This process has begun and will develop in
the same way as for Kelvingrove, i.e. involving
extensive consultation with existing users to ensure
that their loyalty is retained, that the quality of their
experience is improved, while at the same time nonusers will be involved in developing presentation
approaches that give them access to the meaning of
the objects on display. A complete redisplay would
cost in the region of £2 million.
Scotland Street School Museum has the potential to
become a museum that represents the forefront of
interpretation, display and activity learning of a wide
range of subjects for the young, whilst providing
displays that provide an enjoyable, educational and
reflective visit for all ages.
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THE BURRELL COLLECTION
7 8 4 THE BUILDING
The building infrastructure and services at the Burrell
Collection are in urgent need of attention.The
primary concern is water ingress through the flat
roof areas which comprise approximately 60% of the
roof area.The cost of replacing these roof areas is
estimated at £1.75 million. Solutions are presently
being evaluated by Building Services, with the
favoured option being the construction of a low pitch
warm ventilated roof behind the existing parapet.
7 8 1 INTRODUCTION
The Burrell Collection opened in 1983 to house the
Collection donated to the City by Sir William and
Lady Burrell in 1944.The Burrell Collection is one of
the world’s great private collections now in public
ownership. It has a strong Glasgow identity, as the gift
of Sir William Burrell to his native city.
The Collection is housed in a purpose-designed
building which sets the objects against striking vistas
Other major building issues that require to be
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urgently addressed include the replacement of the
building management system (BMS) whose life
expectancy has long since expired but which is
nevertheless crucial to maintaining the stringent
security, alarm and environmental conditions and
keeping the high energy costs of the building to
manageable levels.
in 1993. It was built in a Scottish Baronial revival
style, designed to echo that of the original Bishop’s
Palace, part of whose site it now occupies. Originally
intended to function as a visitor centre for the
Cathedral, the fundraising programme faltered and
the City stepped in with a £2.4 million rescue
package.This involved conversion of most of the
building to a museum, with a large part of the
basement area allocated for use free of charge by the
Society of Friends of Glasgow Cathedral. Office space
is provided also free of charge for the Scottish Inter
Faith Council, an inter-faith agency which includes
within its membership all the major faiths and most
of the local inter-faith associations and inter-faith
institutions in Scotland.
The third major area of concern is the glazing and
the failure of the mechanical blind system since the
opening of the building, resulting in excessive heat
build-up which is a particular problem for visitors
using the café and restaurant area.The introduction
of better UV protection along, possibly, with a more
localised blind system for that part of the building
should improve the situation considerably.
The approximate combined cost of addressing the
above issues along with items of strategic plant
replacement, upgrading visitor services, particularly in
respect of disabled provision and the foyer and retail
areas, and strategic improvements to display and
exhibition areas is likely to be in the region of £4
to £5 million.
7 8 5
7 9 2 CURRENT PROVISION
The collections are drawn from the entire range of
Glasgow’s fine and decorative art, Scottish and
Glasgow history, ancient civilisations and ethnographic
collections.Visitor comments are overwhelmingly
positive and the museum attracts over 150,000
visitors per year.
OPTIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE
MANAGEMENT
7 9 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
It may be possible to establish a partnership
arrangement for the future management of the
Burrell Collection with The National Trust for
Scotland, on the basis of a service level agreement
which ensured that Council objectives were met.The
main benefit, apart from developing partnership
arrangements which would benefit marketing, would
be savings on non-domestic rates.
The location on a busy road junction makes access by
car and pedestrians difficult, and directional signage
from the City Centre is needed. Co-ordinated
promotion of the whole of the Cathedral Precinct as
a visitor destination, including the Cathedral, the
Necropolis, the Barony Hall, Provands Lordship as
well as St Mungo’s, would realise the potential of this
area to contribute to tourism and the economic
regeneration of the city.
The future management options for the Burrell
Collection will be considered as part of a major Best
Value Review of Pollok Estate and Pollok Park which
is being lead by Development and
Regeneration Services.
7 9
7 9 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The Scottish Gallery needs to redisplayed, as this has
proved least satisfactory.The periodic changes in the
themes shown in the Life Gallery would provide
variety for repeat visitors.
ST MUNGO’S MUSEUM OF
RELIGIOUS LIFE AND ART
7 9 1 INTRODUCTION
7 9 5 ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT
ARRANGEMENTS
This is a unique venue which explores the religions of
the world and Scotland through displays which are of
the highest aesthetic quality, as well as providing
interpretation of the meaning of the wide range of
objects. In line with the City Council’s key objectives
of creating a vibrant multicultural city, it aims to
promote understanding between people of different
faiths and none.The building is relatively new, opening
Discussions with Historic Scotland are ongoing to
investigate alternative options for management/
partnerships for St Mungo’s, in conjunction with
Provands Lordship and the Cathedral.This proposal
would be in line with the responses emerging from
the public consultation exercise where there has
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This would not exclude developing the interpretation
as outlined in the paragraph above.
been significant representation from a range of
religious groups and ethnic-minority community
groups to retain St Mungo’s Museum.
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POLLOK HOUSE
PROVANDS LORDSHIP
7 11 1 INTRODUCTION
7 10 1 INTRODUCTION
Built between 1748 and 1752, this Palladian mansion
was extended in the early 20th century. It was the
home of the Maxwells of Pollok until it was
presented to the City in 1966. As a result of
reductions in the City Council’s budget the House
was leased to the National Trust in 1998. It houses
one of the earliest and most important collections of
Spanish paintings in the UK, formed in the mid 19th
century by Sir William Stirling Maxwell, along with
furniture, ceramics, glass and silver, as well as other
paintings, including important works by William Blake.
This Category A listed dwelling house dating from
1471 is one of the most important medieval buildings
in the west of Scotland. It was originally built as part
of St Nicholas’ Hospital by Bishop Andrew Muirhead
and was later acquired by the prebendary of
Barlanark and used as a manse.The building has been
closed since March 1998 due to structural problems.
These are currently being addressed through
Glasgow City Council’s capital programme involving
stabilisation works to the south-west gable wall of
the building.The collections acquired with Provands
Lordship were mainly material relating to Early
Glasgow and early Scottish furniture.
The management agreement involved an annual
revenue payment to the National Trust of approximately £140k to support their management costs on
the understanding that this payment is phased out
over a period of time. Glasgow City Council (GCC)
is currently negotiating with the National Trust to
withdraw that payment and finalise a 25-year lease
with the Trust.
7 10 2 CURRENT PROVISION
When the museum was open, the displays provided a
very atmospheric experience of a medieval interior
but interpretation of the building and its relationship
with the Cathedral was basic.The building
nonetheless attracted around 100,000 visits a year.
7 11 2 CURRENT PROVISION
The National Trust have developed the interior to
convey how the building would have looked in the
1920s, attempting to recreate the feeling of a lived-in
house rather than a picture gallery.The National Trust
have introduced entrance charges during the peak
summer period but entry remains free during the
remaining months of the year.
In 1997, it had a medicinal garden added, in which
grotesque heads from the 18th century Tontine hotel
have been displayed. It was named the St Nicholas
Garden after the patron saint of the Hospital of
which Provands Lordship was originally a part.
7 10 3 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The lease makes GCC responsible for the repair,
maintenance and capital improvements to the
building.The National Trust have secured a funding
package including a capital contribution of £73,000
from GCC to carry out essential building and
disabled access improvements to the House.
Further funding will be required once the current
works are complete, for the development of a
Conservation Plan for the building and for its redisplay. Provands Lordship is the appropriate venue to
tell the story of Glasgow from earliest times to
c.1750, when the People’s Palace takes over. A
complete redisplay would cost in the region of
£250,000.The city has extensive archaeological
collections which complement the building.
7 11 3 WHAT COULD BE ACHIEVED WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The adjacent buildings, including an A listed courtyard
and a very well preserved sawmill, also A listed, are in
a poor state of repair and will require substantial
investment if they are to survive.
7 10 4 ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT
ARRANGEMENT
Pollok House will be considered as part of a major
Best Value Review of Pollok Estate and Pollok Park
which is being lead by Development and
Regeneration Services.
Provands Lordship is one of the most important
medieval buildings in the West of Scotland, and
Historic Scotland may be interested in managing it.
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7 12 2 OPTIONS
THE MCLELLAN GALLERIES
Following the termination of the CCA’s short-term
tenure in 2001, the McLellan Galleries could provide
an exhibition space for key paintings from Kelvingrove
during its period of refurbishment and modernisation,
although this would incur a significant cost. In terms
of its longer-term future, it is recommended that an
appraisal of all possible options be undertaken,
including possible partnerships with the National
Galleries of Scotland and more commerciallyorientated alternative uses.
7 12 1 INTRODUCTION
The McLellan Galleries re-opened in 1990 following a
£3 million restoration, changing it from a general
temporary exhibition space housing everything from
trade shows to model railway exhibitions, to what
was then the largest high-quality, air-conditioned,
temporary exhibition space outside of London.The
interior of the building is Category A listed. A flagship
project of the Year of Culture, the Galleries were
intended to be a high-profile venue that would attract
international touring art exhibitions. Between 1990
and 1997 the Galleries were programmed by
Glasgow Museums with a mixture of touring and
internally produced exhibitions. Successive cuts in
revenue budgets and staffing levels have meant that it
has not been possible to sustain this, and since 1998
the Galleries have been let to external exhibition
organisers, including the Centre for Contemporary
Arts (CCA) and the 1999 Festival of Architecture and
Design.The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Art has
traditionally held its annual exhibition in the
McLellan Galleries.
7 13
MARTYRS’ SCHOOL
7 13 1 INTRODUCTION
The Mackintosh-designed building was taken over
in 1997 by the then Museums and Galleries
Department, with the intention of using it to house
conservation studios and the Open Museum. Cuts in
conservation staff and the location of the Open
Museum in Scotland Street School have meant that
only one floor of the building is now occupied
by Museums.
There is substantial evidence that the Mackintosh
exhibition had a significant impact on overseas
visitors to the city.This also demonstrated that only
in the case of exhibitions with an exceptionally wide
appeal and substantial marketing resources
(Mackintosh was marketed as the centrepiece of the
Year of the Visual Arts) can the gallery overcome the
low profile of the entrance and the unwelcoming
corridor, and the impressive but to many daunting
staircases to the first-floor galleries. Specialist
exhibitions without the budgets for television and
international marketing promotion achieved very
low audiences.
7 13 2 OPTIONS
The area of the City in which Martyrs’ School is
situated, close to the City Centre and M8, the
Cathedral, St Mungo’s Museum and Provands
Lordship, has been identified as an important area for
regeneration and development. Martyrs’ School is
potentially a valuable building and the remaining two
vacant floors could be let for sympathetic purposes.
In the medium term, assuming the completion of
Phase II of the Heritage Collections Centre including
conservation studios, the building could be fully
released for sympathetic commercial purposes.
The basic costs of keeping the building open (rates,
services and customer care staff) is c.£200,000 a year.
Glasgow has failed to secure a place on the international circuit for blockbuster art exhibitions, and
the costs of in-house production are substantial; the
six most visited exhibitions since 1990 cost over
£300,000 on average to produce, with the two top
performers (Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Home
of the Brave) costing an average of £690,000.These
are cash costs and do not take into account
substantial investment of curatorial, conservation and
other staff time. It seems extremely unlikely, even if
the McLellan could play a significant role in the City’s
Exhibition strategy, that such sums could be secured
on a sustainable basis.
7 14
MAINTENANCE STRATEGY
7 14 1 MAINTENANCE POLICY
FRAMEWORK
The policy framework for the management and
maintenance of the venues run by the City includes
the regulations relating to Listed Buildings, Building
Control, Health and Safety, and the Disability
Discrimination Act.
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7 14 2 STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
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A rolling programme of internal repainting will
recommence with the initial priorities being GoMA,
the Burrell Collection and St Mungo’s.The most
crucial areas requiring repainting during the next few
years will be identified for each of these facilities.
Cultural and Leisure Services have introduced the
following approach to maintenance for the service:• The integration of museums and other merging
departments’ budgets into a single budget.
A major priority for the maintenance budget will be
the need to meet statutory requirements for
electrical, heating and ventilation installations.
• The transfer of overall budget responsibility to
Cultural and Leisure Services (Service Support,
Buildings Development and Projects).
7 14 4 WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER
WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCES
• The harmonisation of the way day-to-day repairs
are requested, authorised and implemented across
the service.
The current level of maintenance budgets available to
CLS for museums (£375,000 per annum) is not
sufficient to fully address on a planned basis the
replacement of major plant and the renewal of
building fabric.When these issues arise, the service is
usually reliant on a decreasing non-housing capital
programme to secure the necessary funding.
• Greater harmonisation of Building Management
Systems (BMS), an on-going programme for their
replacement with more efficient systems, and
greater use of existing in-house BMS expertise
which was previously dedicated to the Leisure part
of the Service only.This should in the long-term
reduce energy costs.
7 14 5 WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• The setting up of systems of financial checks and
balances to improve monitoring and accountability
along with on-site progress monitoring by Cultural
and Leisure Services Technical Support Officers.
The maintenance of safe, accessible, energy-efficient
buildings and the quality of presentation of public
areas required to meet 5-star Tourist Board grading
would require an additional spend of approximately
£300,000 per annum.
• Holding regular meetings between Cultural and
Leisure Services and other Council Services
including Building Services, Development and
Regeneration Services and Financial Services to
deal with:- Progress of the work
- Costs of repairs
- Standards of workmanship
- Insurance Matters
- Ongoing management of Cultural and Leisure
Services’ buildings portfolio.
• The setting up of a cross-service Cultural and
Leisure Services Core Property Group.
• Cultural and Leisure Services Forward Planning has
a new dedicated group of technical staff, who deal
with buildings from their inception, through their
construction, and finally their continuing
maintenance requirements, while they are in use by
Cultural and Leisure Services.
7 14 3 PLANNED MAINTENANCE AND
STATUTORY INSPECTIONS
The presentation of buildings and the need to satisfy
statutory regulations are two key maintenance issues.
A programme of external repainting, along with
gutter cleaning, drain cleaning and roof inspections
for museum properties, is to be introduced.
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8 1
Group reported its key findings to the Best Value
Core Group.These were:
INTRODUCTION
This chapter sets out what the Core Group believes
is the overwhelming case for additional staff for
Glasgow Museums. The service expanded the range
of its facilities significantly during the 1990s, opening a
new Museum of Religion (1993) and a Gallery of
Modern Art (1996), with an increase of only 3
curatorial and no conservation or technical staff. In
financial years 1996/97 and 1997/98 the Museums and
Galleries Service took budget cuts totalling
£2,652,700, and the loss of over 100 staff.The major
areas of job loss were as follows:
Museum Assistants
6
Curatorial
9
Conservators
8
Other Conservation and Registration Staff
2
Design Department
Total
• the museums are seriously understaffed in key areas
required to deliver Council objectives
• the overall structure needs to be revised to
improve planning, integration and communication.
Acknowledging the difficulties in retaining Registered
Status and in obtaining recognition for Glasgow’s case
for the national status of its collections and museum
services, and in the light, furthermore, of both the
benchmarking with comparible organisations and the
views of the Open Space workshop, the Core Group
supported the Museum Management’s assessment of
the numbers and specialisms of staff which would
be required to achieve minimum sustainable
service levels.
61.5
Other Corporate Services
The City Council key objective to provide quality
services and its commitment to corporate working
provide clear principles on which museum
management should be organised:
18
104.5
i) Clear lines of accountability and responsibility for
delivering targets in line with Council priorities so
that there is identifiable leadership for each venue.
This reduction in the number of Museum Assistants
was achieved by out-sourcing cleaning (at a cost of
£390,000 per annum), and changing the rota pattern
in a way which has made staff training in the vital area
of customer care very difficult and expensive to
organise.
ii) Clear lines of internal communication and
alignment of all functions with Council and
Cultural and Leisure Services objectives.
iii) A clear point of contact for the public and
external agencies for specialisms, especially in
areas identified as priorities in the Review
(Exhibitions, Collections Care and Management,
Art, Local History, Natural History and
Technology).
Separately, the Education Department, which funds
the Museum Education Service, reduced the number
of professional and technical staff from 14 to 1 post.
Despite these cuts, Glasgow Museums remains in
staffing, as well as in other terms, the largest
municipal museums service in the UK.
8 2
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The Core Group therefore recommends the
following policies:
POLICY FRAMEWORK
There is no national or local policy on the
appropriate level of staffing or which determines the
structure of museums in general or local authority
museums in particular.The Registration Scheme
administered by the former Museums and Galleries
Commission defines minimum standards, especially
for collections care.Though Glasgow has sustained its
Registered Status, with current staffing levels it has
done so with considerable difficulty. It is also clear
that the importance of the collection requires
achieving more than minimum standards.
Benchmarking with comparable institutions gives
some indication of current best practice (see Current
Provision below). Staffing issues were addressed in
terms of Best Value through a Staffing Task Group
which invited submissions in writing and orally from
all staff. Most staff sections, including Museum
Management, made submissions.The Staffing Task
POLICY OBJECTIVE 17
To increase staff strength and develop roles in
the following key areas: Education and Access;
Curatorial; Conservation; Public Programming.
POLICY OBJECTIVE 18
To focus staff roles on achieving Council
policies, and to organise the structure so that
responsibility for achieving City Council
objectives is clear.
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8 3 3 CUSTOMER CARE AND SECURITY
STANDARDS AND FUTURE
PROVISION
As a percentage of staff numbers, Glasgow’s front-ofhouse staff, at 65% of the staff total, is substantially
higher than any of the other partners, and well above
the overall average of 44.5%, and the Local Authority
average of 46%.This is partly due to the scale of
Glasgow Museums, but it is also due to the rota
system, which means that the Service deploys only
50% of front-of-house staff at any given time;
benchmarking partners deploy up to 66%.The rota is
also inefficient and inflexible in dealing with cover for
holidays and absence due to sickness. Security of the
collection is of paramount importance, and to ensure
that any changes in operational practices conform
with Best Practice, advice is being taken from the
Museums, Libraries and Archives Commission and the
Scottish Museums Council.
This section sets out Cultural and Leisure Services’
management analysis of the existing staff
arrangements and the changes which are required.
The Core Group recommends that this analysis
should be the basis of a report to the Cultural and
Leisure Services Committee, processed through the
standard consultative procedures of the City Council.
8 3 1 CONSERVATION
Glasgow spends 4.5% of its staffing budget on
Conservation staff, slightly above the local authority
average of 3.8%, though substantially less than the
Nationals’ average of 7.4%. Furthermore, National
Museums and Galleries also benefit from having
dedicated art/object handling teams, specialist
buildings and service managers, and dedicated
administrative support, functions which in Glasgow
Museums require considerable input from the
Conservation section. Major capital developments
(e.g. Kelvingrove, the Heritage Collections Centre and
the refurbishment of the Burrell Collection) require
very substantial contributions from Conservation in
order to ensure that the buildings and services
deliver appropriate environmental and lighting
conditions. Given the national importance of
Glasgow’s collections, this suggests under-investment
by about 50% in preserving the city’s heritage assets.
Reinvestment in Conservation was identified as
crucial by the Open Space workshop on
Collections Care.
Front-of-house staff are the only museum staff that
most members of the public meet, and they have a
vital role in ensuring that visitors have enjoyable and
fruitful visits. Studies of visitors to museums and
other attractions in the US show that the number
and quality of encounters with staff can greatly
enhance or spoil a visit.The Open Space workshop
on Access, Social Inclusion and Lifelong Learning
identified the development of the Learning Assistant
role as a key priority, and the public consultation
through the People’s Panel reinforced the importance
of friendly staff supporting visitor learning.
8 3 4 MANAGING THE COLLECTION AND
RELATED INFORMATION
Traditionally, local authority museums have put more
emphasis on public programming than inventory,
cataloguing and publishing. In Glasgow there is a
100-year backlog of inventory and cataloguing, and
only very partial publication of the collection.
8 3 2 EDUCATION
The UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport
(DCMS) report on “Excellence in Nationally Funded
Museums and Galleries in England” suggests that 4.5%
of a museum’s budget should be spent on Education.
Even if this was applied to the staffing budget alone, it
would mean an expenditure of c.£300,000 on
education staff, i.e. an additional 12 staff approximately, which would bring the Museum Education
Service back up to the level prior to budget cuts and
closer in line with the spend on Education by its
benchmarking partners. Given the potential of
museums to contribute to education both in formal
settings and to lifelong learning, this has to be a
priority for reinvestment. It was identified as essential
by the Open Space workshop on Access: Education
and Lifelong Learning.
This imbalance needs to be redressed, and knowledge
about the collection built up and made accessible.
This is especially important given the greater
recognition of the national importance of the
collections, and of the ways information technology
can facilitate information handling on a vast scale,
delivering access to interested people anywhere in
the world, and 24 hours a day. The inventory is a
requirement of Registration and of Audit, and the
provision of a catalogue is a fundamental prerequisite
for access: unless information is organised it cannot
be made available. A curatorial resource with the
expertise relating to important areas of the collection
needs to be established.The Open Space workshops
on Collections Care identified a city-wide audit of
collections as a key priority.
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8 3 5 CURATORS
Curators who have specialist knowledge of aspects of
the collection and the skills to research its
background are essential. Benchmarking suggests that
Glasgow has about 50% of the curators it requires.
For example, Glasgow has less that half the number
of curatorial staff employed by the National Museums
and Galleries on Merseyside, which is probably the
most similar institution, though with a less diverse
collection than Glasgow’s.
8 3 6 STAFF DEVELOPMENT
In order to meet City Council objectives, all museum
staff need to become ever more responsive to citizen
and visitor needs, and to work in partnership with
other departments and with external organisations.
Staff are also involved in major capital projects, most
notably the refurbishment of Kelvingrove. All of these
require continuous staff development.
8 3 7 ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANT AID
The Core Group cannot give enough emphasis to the
over-riding importance of the City Council funding
the resources needed to increase staffing levels.
Glasgow Museums are perceived by the professional
and technical advisory bodies to the Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) to fall below the minimum staffing levels
of a museum service, in particular one which is
committed to undertaking a £25 million capital
project.The HLF has therefore made the £8.6 million
grant for Kelvingrove conditional upon staffing levels
being increased by a total of 21 posts in the following
key areas: Education and Access; Curatorial;
Conservation, and Public Programming. If the Council
cannot achieve that level of increase, not only will the
Kelvingrove project fail, but the future of Glasgow
Museums as a museums service of acknowledged
national significance will be in doubt.
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CURRENT PROVISION:
STAFFING AND STRUCTURE
The current structure of the Museums and Galleries Services comprises
328 staff who are organised into the following functional departments:
8 4 1 CURATORIAL (ART, HISTORY, SCIENCE AND OUTREACH CURATORS)
Staff
Key Functions
1 Senior Curator, Communication and Research
1 Senior Curator, Open Museum
8.5 Grade 3 Curators
14 Grade 1/2 Curators
Acquisition
Administration
Budget control
Cataloguing
Community leadership & liaison
Education
Events
Fundraising
Inventory
Long-term displays
Outreach (from venues and through Open Museum)
Project leadership
Public inquiries
Publications
Temporary exhibitions
Training
Volunteer management
Total: 24.5
The Open Museum has two Outreach Assistants who
manage the loan, delivery and collection of travelling
exhibitions and handling kits - over 1,000 loans a year.
2 Outreach Assistants
8 4 2 CREATIVE SERVICES
Staff
Key Functions
1 Senior Curator, Creative Services (unfilled vacancy)
1 Senior CS Officer
8 x CS Officers
12 CS Technicians (VBT)
2 CST’s (Central projects)
1 CST (H&V)
1 CST (Photo printer)
1 Photo library administrator
Design and produce 2- and 3-D elements of permanent
displays and temporary exhibits (including Open Museum)
Technical support for events and exhibitions in Venues
Management of exhibition installation and deinstallation
Maintain displays and exhibitions
Exhibition and collection
Photography
Model-making and taxidermy
Manage exhibition budgets
Specify and procure design and material contracts
Maintain Audio Visual and ICT elements of displays and
exhibitions
Total 27
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8 4 3 CONSERVATION AND COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT
Staff Key
Functions
1 Manager, Conservation and Collections Management
Overall co-ordination of Conservation and Collections
Management, especially input to major capital projects;
Registration
Conservation
Managing the section conservators and technicians.
Operational responsibility for Paintings conservation.
1 Grade 3 Conservator
Care of collections in store, on display, and in transit;
quality/authenticity of object presentation; documentation
of object condition and recording of all treatments.
5 Grade 2 Conservators (Paper,Textiles, Organics,
Inorganics, preventive conservation)
Judgements of object condition with respect to preventive
conservation, presentation, stability and authenticity. Carry
out treatments, recommend storage and display methods,
assess the safety of transportation of objects and specify
packing and transportation methods. Assessing object
condition for overseas loans.
Developing and maintaining disaster response plans for
all sites.
Engage contractors, and manage all attendant workshop
and health and safety matters.
7 Conservation Technicians
Conservation Technicians provide assistance throughout
the museums to maintain displays, operate and maintain
vehicles in the transport collection, assist with picture
frame repairs, picture hanging, specialist mount making,
cleaning and preparation of objects, and provide assistance
to conservation staff as required.
Collections Management
Key functions: registration of collections, documentation
standards, inventory control, legal and insurance issues,
inward and outward loans administration.
1 Senior Collections Manager
1 Assistant Collections Manager (documentation) AP4
2 Collections Officers (inventory) AP2
1 Collections Officer (documentation) AP2
3 Documentation Assistants GS3
Manage all aspects of collections documentation, insurance,
object movement, locations in store, display inventory,
inward and outward loans, legal issues, import and export.
Compliance with Council auditing and national guidelines
for collections management.
1 Assistant Collections Officer (Loans) AP4
1 Collections Officer (loans) AP2
1 Clerical Assistant (loans) GS3
Development of a computerised collections management
system to provide staff and the public with information
about the collection.
Addressing the 100-year backlog of object accessioning and
the reconciliation and labelling of objects and object files.
1 Stores and Transport Manager AP5
6 Stores Technicians TD1
Stores and Transport Manager: responsible for six Stores
Technicians, providing public access to collections in store
and transport service for the museum. Essential
maintenance of stores, object handling. Packing and stores
maintenance is undertaken at four sites containing around
1 million objects.
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8 4 4 HOUSE MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Staff
Key Functions
Resource Manager
Management of all front-of-house and admin. staff
Building maintenance liaison
Security
1 Resource Co-ordinator
Typing, filing, copying, minute taking, mail,
Telephones - operational and customer care
Petty cash, cost control
12 Museum Officers
39 Shift workers
129 day Museum Assistants on 5 over 7 rota
6 Janitors
(25 Shop)
4 shop supervisors
Opening and closing building
Welcoming and providing information for the public
Reception
Security during opening hours
Security during closed hours
Some portering
Some work with school groups/events
1 Resource Co-ordinator
Typing, filing, copying, minute taking, mail,
5 Admin. Officers
Telephones - operational and customer care
9 Admin. Assistants
Petty cash, cost control
8 4 5 EDUCATION
Staff
Key Functions
1 Museum Education Officer (funded by
Education Services)
Resources for Schools, for pre-and post-visit work
1 Admin. Assistant (GS1)
Booking service for school visits (c.70,000 children
per annum)
In-service training for teachers
Advice on making exhibitions educationally relevant
8 5
8 4 6 RETAIL, MARKETING AND
VENUE HIRE
GLASGOW MUSEUMS: CURRENT
DEPARTMENTAL ORGANISATION
Despite the difficulties of changing working practices
during a period of cuts, staff have continued to
deliver a service on existing commitments. Although
staff dedication results in very high standards being
achieved in specific projects, overall the quality of
service is inevitably deteriorating, and the capacity to
manage capital redevelopments, such as Kelvingrove
New Century Project, is not at a sustainable level.
Every aspect of museum functioning is affected, from
care of the collections to display maintenance, from
the capacity to respond to public inquiries to
provision for school groups - in an environment
when public expectations are steadily increasing.
Staff costs for retail are included in the overall staffing
budget for museums, but they have not been included
in the retail balance sheets, i.e. retail has been seen as
a service which generates some income rather than
as a commercial operation. Best Value principles of
transparency and accountability dictate that staff
costs should be factored into the retail accounts,
which turns them from profitable into
loss-making operations.
Marketing was centralised as part of the creation of
Cultural and Leisure Services.The Venue Hire and
Corporate Hospitality functions were transferred to
Direct and Care Services early in 2001.
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Despite Glasgow investing £15.87 million net annually
in its museums, the current strained position of the
Service reflects the scale of the city’s inheritance of
collections and buildings, as well as the recent
creation of new museums. Glasgow’s cost per visitor
is so much lower than that of its benchmarking
partners, and than the Group for Large Local
Authority Museums, being 23% and 28% lower
respectively, which suggests under-investment rather
than value for money.The net result is that Glasgow has
the highest number of visitors per staff member of
any large municipal or national museum service in the UK.
Head of Public Programming will represent the venue
in appropriate city forums, and lead a team which
includes:
• Curator(s) (one or more, depending on the scale of
the venue): responsible for exhibitions, events,
outreach, community liaison, public enquiries.
• Museum Officers/Supervisors (one per venue):
responsible for managing Customer Care and the
building, Health and Safety and Security, deployment
of Museum Assistants and Learning Assistants.The
latter will have the skills to lead workshops, deliver
events and manage groups.
As well as the serious shortages of staff, the presentations of staff to the Staffing Task Group made clear
a number of structural problems which impeded
internal communication and team working. In
particular, a need for better integration of
Conservation and the Venue Based Teams with other
sections of the museums service was identified as a
priority. Externally Glasgow Museums have a national
reputation for innovative access projects and services
(for example the Open Museum, Kidspace, and the
temporary exhibition Out of Sight Out of Mind,
which have all won Gulbenkian Awards). However,
lack of resources, and structures which failed to
integrate internal and visitor-focused services, have
meant that these could have contributed more to a
long-term audience and service development agenda.
A new structure should be created which is more
integrated and which will address and contribute to
audience and service development.
8 6
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• Education and Access Officer: responsible for
forging links with educational and community
organisations, and target audiences, to shape the
public programme and the long-term displays to
meet their needs. Also responsible for directing the
work of the Learning Assistants.There will be one
Education and Access Officer based in each venue,
though they are all likely to have specialist skills and
expertise which will be used across the service (e.g.
in providing services for people with Special
Educational Needs, Ethnic Minorities,
5-14 pupils etc.).
• Public Programme Technicians: responsible for
providing technical support for all aspects of the
public programme, especially workshops, events,
exhibitions in the venue and community displays.
• The Open Museum could be considerably more
effective with the addition of three outreach
assistants, enabling it to provide a 7-day service, and
respond more effectively to community demands.
WHAT COULD BE DONE BETTER BY
DIVERTING EXISTING RESOURCES
• The creation of approximately 40 posts of Learning
Assistant who will facilitate learning in the galleries,
especially by groups and families.
Restructuring within Cultural and Leisure Services’
Management Team has enabled the appointment of a
new Museum Management Team comprising a Visitor
Services Manager, a Specialist Services Manager and
an Education and Access Manager.This management
team will carry out a reorganisation of the service to
achieve the priorities agreed by the Best Value
Review Core Group.These priorities are
detailed below.
8 6 2 RESEARCH AND PROJECTS
DEPARTMENT
This curatorial section would be responsible for:• Researching for major temporary exhibitions and
gallery and museum redisplays
• Curatorial contributions to inventory
8 6 1 PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
• Encouraging external scholars to work on, and
generate knowledge about, the collection
Public programming is an all-embracing term and
refers to all aspects of the visitor experience,
including displays, exhibitions, events, catering, shops
etc.The management, co-ordination and quality
control of this in individual venues should be
strengthened, by appointing one person to be in
charge of that venue, to ensure that services and
amenities meet agreed standards and targets.The
• Providing leadership in Art, Natural History, History,
Technology and heritage sectors in the city.
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8 6 3 EXHIBITION MAINTENANCE AND
PRODUCTION
THE CASE FOR
ADDITIONAL STAFFING
Museum Management, strongly supported by the
Core Group, propose that the following additional
staff are the minimum required to achieve a
sustainable service which meets Council quality,
educational and social inclusion agendas.
This section would be responsible for:• Maintaining long-term displays and temporary
exhibitions in the venues.This work will be given
priority over changing exhibitions, in order to
achieve and sustain a high-quality public service.
The Core Group supports Cultural and
Leisure Services’ management view that the
additional staffing outlined above is needed. It
recognises that it is for the Council to decide how
this necessary increase in staffing should be funded. It
recommends Cultural and Leisure Services’
management should continue to investigate a
combination of efficiency savings, staff re-training and
transfers, and changes in staff pay and conditions, to
secure the reinvestment required to establish the
additional 21 key posts. Further discussions involving
the Director of Personnel and Administration
Services and appropriate trade unions will need to
take place in line with standard Council procedures.
• Managing the production, whether by in-house staff
or external contractors, of temporary exhibitions
and major redisplays.
8 6 4 CONSERVATION AND COLLECTION
MANAGEMENT
The responsibility of this section would be to make
the collection and information related to it safely
accessible, through exhibitions, loans, and access to
stores and databases related to the objects.
Strengthening the preventive conservation function is
especially important to ensure overall care
of the collection.
Section
Additional Staff: Priority 1
Outputs
Education and
Access
7 Officers with specialisms in:
5 - 14 curriculum
Special Educational Needs
Ethnic Minorities
Lifelong Learning
One based in each venue, developing access and
community networks.
Managing projects with community groups.
Developing Learning Assistants.
Providing support across the service in his/her
specialism.
Curatorial
4 FTEs including 2 specialising in:
Arms and Armour
Transport
Costume and Textiles
Environmental Sciences/Oriental
Collections (2 x 0.5 posts)
Leadership of relevant Art, History, Natural
History sectors in the city/community liaison.
Project Management of Exhibitions and Events.
Collections catalogues for print, web and
educational resources in specialist areas.
Publications and Copyright Officer
Publications of collections in paper and
electronic form. Liaison with education to ensure
all museum content available to schools. Contracts
with publishers and authors. Liaison with Glasgow
University and other partners.
Public Programme
5 Technicians
Technical support for events and exhibitions
within each venue.
Conservation
4 Staff specialising in:
General Objects
Transport and Technology
Paintings
Preventive Conservation Manager
Improved storage conditions for collections,
especially:
Social history
Transport and technology
Paintings
More objects prepared for display.
Administrative support: Once the details of the above structure have been agreed, the administrative staff needed to
support it will be assessed and staff redeployed and increased if required. At least 4 additional administrative staff, at
a cost of approximately £32,000, will be required.
Total Cost:
£600,000
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8 8 4 MARKETING AND FUNDRAISING
In addition it is proposed to create from existing
resources a minimum of two marketing posts
dedicated to and placed within the
Museums Service.
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The capacity of the museums to deliver effective
public programmes to citizens (especially those at
risk of social exclusion) and to tourists and inward
investors is greatly dependent on its product being
effectively marketed. A dedicated marketing resource
comprising a minimum of two posts would greatly
improve the effectiveness of this service.
WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The Core Group believes that the potential of
Glasgow Museums to deliver national museum and
gallery services of international quality could be
realised only by the addition of approximately 30
staff, at a cost of approximately £750,000. Additional
revenue on this scale would require partnership with
the Scottish Executive which would specify the
services and hence the staff required.
The capacity of the museums to generate
sponsorship and grants is virtually untapped and
could be greatly increased with additional staff,
especially if there were an appropriate Foundation
which would provide a tax-efficient vehicle for
donations and transparency in dedicating donations
to agreed purposes. A full-time dedicated fundraiser
would make strategic exploitation of the opportunities much more effective.Total number of posts: 3.
The services the additional staff could deliver are
detailed below.
8 8 5 CONSERVATION AND COLLECTIONS
MANAGEMENT
8 8 1 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND
EFFECTIVENESS
The committed, planned and possible capital
developments over the next ten years (e.g. in
Kelvingrove, the Burrell Collection, the Museum of
Transport) all require extensive conservation input,
to ensure that no aspect of the project, from the
heating and ventilation system, to the kind of
materials from which cases are made, damages the
objects on display or in store. Staffing at middle
management/project management level therefore
needs to be strengthened. In addition there is a need
for further specialist conservators (e.g. paintings,
furniture/wood) and technicians (e.g. paintings/frames).
Total number of posts: 6.
The measurement of the effectiveness of museum
displays, exhibitions and events is essential to ensure
best value.This is a complex field in which dedicated
expertise is required and the first priority for any
additional resource would be a Visitor Studies Officer
who would devise measures to ensure that objectives
were being met in line with Council policies.The
amount of information to be managed within the
museum is vast and there is also an immediate
requirement for 2 information services officers who
can manage the paper-based and digitised information
in the various systems.Total number of posts: 3.
8 8 2 CURATORIAL
8 8 6 CREATIVE SERVICES
The range of the collection which is not covered or
is covered inadequately at present is still extensive,
and additional staff are required for the following
areas: Scottish History, Scottish Archaeology, NonEuropean Ethnography, Glasgow History, Natural
History.Total number of posts: 6.
Given the increasing public expectation for computerised interactives and audio-visuals, and the proven
effectiveness of these devices in helping visitors of all
kinds to learn, additional ICT/AV expertise is a very
high priority. Specialist three-dimensional design of
the kind required for exhibitions is relatively scarce in
the marketplace and the service would benefit greatly
from having a third member of staff with these skills.
Total number of posts: 3.
8 8 3 EDUCATION AND ACCESS
The 4 larger venues should have 2 education and
access officers, while there is an urgent need for an
expert in the educational use of Information and
Communication Technologies.Total number of
posts: 5.
8 8 7 OPEN MUSEUM
The addition of a designer would enable the Open
Museum to produce more exhibitions. There is
virtually unlimited demand for the outreach service
provided by the Open Museum, and expansion could
easily involve doubling its current staff complement.
Total number of posts: 4.
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8 8 8 VOLUNTEERS
A full-time staff member dedicated to developing the
contributions of volunteers to the museum service
would enable the museum to provide a better
service, as well as personal development opportunities for the individuals involved.Total number of
posts: 1.
8 9
KELVINGROVE NEW CENTURY
PROJECT
The massive scale of this project is such that it will
dominate the entire service for the next 3 years. The
additional Conservation, Education and Access, and
Curatorial staff are essential to make this feasible,
though in addition a substantial number of temporary
project staff, funded by the grants devoted to the
project, need to be recruited.The introduction of
extensive new technologies and the commitment to
change the displays systematically and regularly over
time will require an additional 10 staff approximately
and materials/consumables costing a total of
£300,000 per annum. It may be possible to make
some compensatory savings through the introduction
of energy-efficient heating and ventilation systems as
part of the project.Total number of posts: 10.
8 10
HERITAGE COLLECTIONS CENTRE
The provision of public access to the collection as
part of Phase II of this development will require an
additional 5 staff, as well as running costs (rates,
heating, electricity etc.), costing a total of c.£250,000
per annum.Total number of posts: 5.
8 11
BURRELL REDEVELOPMENT
The urgency of the building problems means that this
cannot be deferred indefinitely. Despite other
commitments, the redevelopment of the displays
must be done in tandem with the building redevelopment, to benefit from the opportunities to make
improvements. Curatorial, conservation, educational
and design resources for this will be difficult to
allocate while Kelvingrove is being redeveloped,
and a substantial element of these may need to
be out-sourced.
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9 1
9 2
INTRODUCTION
Cultural and Leisure Services manages, cares for and
provides access to Glasgow’s great inheritance of
world-class collections and magnificent museum
buildings. It does this through a complex set of
functions which include:-
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THE REDIRECTION OF
EXISTING RESOURCES
The first crucial step is the creation of the additional
21 posts identified as a priority by this Review, which
is a condition of the Heritage Lottery funding for the
Kelvingrove New Century Project. This could be
achieved by the redirection of existing resources
within the service of about £600k as part of
efficiency savings across Cultural and Leisure
Services, including the Staffing Review recommended
in Chapter 8.These additional posts are crucial to the
continuance of the service and the development of
any form of education, lifelong learning, and social
inclusion programme.The Core Group recommends
that the Council initiates consultative procedures on
the changes to the staffing structure proposed by the
Review. However, the Core Group is strongly of the
view that this first step alone will not safeguard and
sustain Glasgow Museums and its collections for the
future, or provide the quality of service and access
expected in modern-day society.
• Management of 11 buildings, many of them
Category A listed
• Providing safe access to 8 buildings for 3 million
visitors, through 361 days of the year
• Storage and information management for
1.2 million objects
• Active and Preventive Conservation for
1.2 million objects
• Educational Programmes for over 70,000
school children
• Events and activities
• Long-term displays covering a vast range of
historical, artistic and scientific subjects
• Outreach to communities outside the city centre,
making over 1,000 loans of exhibitions and handling
kits each year
• Temporary exhibitions, both produced in-house
based on the city’s collections and brought to the
city from outside Scotland
• Providing a major element in the cultural and social
life of the city which attracts tourists and business
travellers, generating approximately £38 million in
revenue for Glasgow and Scotland
Revenue savings made in 1996/97 and 1997/98 have
stretched the resources available to carry out these
tasks to the extent that the quality of service is not
adequate and the organisation is not capable of
realising its potential to meet Council targets for
education, lifelong learning, social inclusion and
economic regeneration. Forecasts of the foreseeable
future of local government finance suggest that the
City Council will continue to be under stringent
financial constraints.
The Best Value Core Group has worked on the
assumption that the city wishes to continue to
provide a museum service, both as the custodian of
nationally important collections, and as a contributor
to achieving a wide range of quality-of-life objectives
within the city. This report makes a strong case for
sustaining and adding to the investment in museums
precisely because of their capacity to address these
objectives. Whatever resources are made available to
Glasgow Museums however, they must be matched to
a level of service quality which is sustainable in the
medium to long term.
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9 3
IMPROVEMENTS TO SERVICE REQUIRING ADDITIONAL REVENUE RESOURCES
The costed action plan recommended by this Best Value Review for improving the service beyond the resources
presently available would require an additional revenue investment of around £2.2 million. This level of investment
would enable the service to achieve the following:Improvements Requiring Revenue
Additional Revenue Costs
Bring curatorial, conservation, technical, access and education, and
marketing staff numbers up to the level required to provide a service
equivalent to national museum/gallery service. Glasgow Museums staff
could offer leadership within the city and west of Scotland for collaborative working in the areas of Collections Care and Management, Art,
History, Natural History and History exhibitions and events.
£750,000
Operate refurbished Kelvingrove as dynamic visitor-centred museum.
£300,000
Operate Heritage Collections Centre as an educational resource with
open access.
£250,000
Touring Glasgow’s collections overseas, including set-up costs.
(£150,000) for two years.
Self financing after this.
Building maintenance budget
£325,000
Marketing budget
£150,000
Collecting funds
£200,000
Reallocation of donations to collecting
£50,000
Operational budget for access and education staff
£175,000
Major exhibitions budget
£300,000
TOTAL (excluding touring set-up costs)
£2.5 million
Note: A number of museums within the city responded to these calculations saying that the sums outlined for major
exhibitions and for education and access programmes are very modest.The £125,000 specified would provide seed
funding for one major exhibition annually.This is the minimum requirement if Glasgow is to sustain an international
cultural profile. It would require a considerable fundraising effort to build on this investment.
9 4
CAPITAL INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS
The following five-year Capital Investment Plan has been drawn up, based on the capital priorities identified for
Glasgow Museums in Chapter 7,Venue Development Strategy.
Capital Investment Priorities 2001-2005
Estimated Cost
Year
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - New Century Project
£25 million
2001-2003
Heritage Collections Centre - Phase I
£5 million
2001-2002
Scotland Street Museum - Phase II
£1 million
2003-2004
The Burrell Collection - Refurbishment and redisplay
£5 million
2004-2005
This plan amounts to £36m of capital investment over the next 5 years at present-day prices, with a reasonable
expectation that 50% of this funding requirement could come from external partners, including the Heritage Lottery
Fund, Historic Scotland and the European Regional Development Fund.The cost of Phase II of the Heritage Collections
Centre is yet to be determined.
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obligations set down by the Council whilst at the
same time planning and implementing major capital
investment. Without such investment, the annual
maintenance demands will increase significantly, which
will result in on-going major revenue consequences.
There will also be limited opportunities to increase
income generation through retail, catering and venue
hire. More specifically, under this option the service
will be unable to make the level of investment in
staffing required to meet the conditions of grant from
the Heritage Lottery Fund, which would jeopardise
both the Kelvingrove New Century Project and the
Heritage Collections Centre. It will also result in the
Service failing to achieve its objectives to develop and
promote the role of Museums in addressing social
inclusion and lifelong learning. This option will also
result in a failure to achieve the Council’s 4%
revenue saving target.
In addition to this, the future of the Museum of
Transport along with the Kelvin Hall International
Sports Arena needs to be considered (possibly as a
Public Private Partnership or a joint venture
development involving the partners associated with
The Glasgow Harbour development proposals).
9 5
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KPMG COMMISSION
The key question facing the City Council will be how
to secure the additional revenue and capital
resources necessary to sustain and develop the
service in line with the policy direction set out in the
Review, if that is what the Council decides to do.
The consultants KPMG were appointed in November
1999 by the City Council in parallel with this Best
Value Review to undertake a study to examine the
range of options available to the Council for the
future management, development and funding of its
cultural and leisure facilities of “metropolitan status”,
including Glasgow Museums, and to recommend a
strategic way ahead. The consultants were specifically
tasked to examine the following issues:-
In conclusion, the “status quo” option will result in a
further deterioration of the quality of both service
provision and building maintenance, a position which
is non-sustainable in the longer term.
9 5 2 OPTION TWO
• How the Council might develop a strategy, where
suitable, for the transfer of management
arrangements to other appropriate public, nonprofit-making bodies
The second option focuses largely on the
development of a new Foundation structure for the
management of the City Council’s principle museums
and galleries with the perceived advantages of fundraising from sponsors/donors and other third parties,
and potential national non-domestic rates savings of
operating the facilities within a charitable foundation.
It was also considered to be a vehicle through which
central government could channel funding if it
accepted Glasgow’s case for national designated
status. Issues requiring further investigation in
respect of the Foundation include the degree and
extent to which Council management and control
can be retained, the degree to which the assets
(buildings) need to be transferred, and the ability to
demonstrate to the Financial Intermediaries Claims
Office (FICO) the “independence” of the charitable
organisation. Option II also proposed a Public Private
Partnership arrangement to secure the capital
investment required for the Mitchell Library, Kelvin
Hall International Sports Arena and Museum of
Transport, and the transfer and disposal of some
cultural facilities which in respect of this Review
included Martyrs’ School and McLellan Galleries.
• Whether the Council could develop options to
manage facilities through non-profit-making bodies
• Evaluating opportunities to develop Public Private
Partnerships, including opportunities for property
development for facilities requiring significant capital
investment
• Considering and making recommendations on the
interim arrangements whilst longer-term options
are put in place
• Assessing how the above strategies might assist or
otherwise the Council’s case for a national funding
partnership with Government in respect of the
City’s museums.
Cultural and Leisure Services Directorate have
reported to the Core Group that KPMG have
reported that there are three principal strategic
options which the City Council could adopt.
9 5 1 OPTION ONE - STATUS QUO
The first option, the “status quo”, assumes that all the
major cultural and leisure facilities remain under the
direct operation and resourcing of the City Council.
Within this option, Glasgow Museums would
continue to operate within the existing revenue
budget and meet any annual revenue-saving
9 5 3 OPTION THREE
The third option focuses on most of the Council’s
principle cultural and museum facilities continuing to
be directly operated by the City Council but with an
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expanded set of proposals for the transfer and
disposal of other facilities. It also proposes the
establishment of a Foundation structure based on
services as opposed to venues, the benefits being
fundraising from trusts and foundations and the
provision of a vehicle through which central
government funds could be directed for servicing the
nationally important aspects of the collection, for
example research, conservation, publications and
acquisitions.The Glasgow Art Foundation could also
serve as the vehicle for the purchase of works and
incorporate the Contemporary Art Fund and the
Purchase Fund.The final aspect of this option is a
repeat of the Public Private Partnership proposals
mentioned within KPMG’s second option.
originally intended, as a visitor centre for the
Cathedral and potentially Provands Lordship
e) McLellan Galleries - retain, or following an
options appraisal for the Council, either
relinquish the venue for alternative use or
maintain as an exhibition venue under
different management.
A number of these facilities received grants from the
European Regional Development Fund, the Scottish
Tourist Board and other funding bodies. Any change
in their status would need to take the conditions of
these grants into account.
9 6
ADDITIONAL REVENUE RESOURCES
The following outlines what the Core Group believes
might realistically be achieved from within City
Council resources and third-party donations,
sponsorship and commercial income.
9 5 4 CORE GROUP’S VIEW OF
KPMG OPTIONS
It is not within the Core Group’s remit to give a
detailed view on the recommendations in the KPMG
report. It is in any case more appropriate for the full
KPMG report proposals to be debated more widely,
along with other views for final assessment and
decision by the Council. However, the Core Group
does offer the following general considerations:-
9 6 1 CITY COUNCIL
In view of the present financial climate, the Core
Group anticipates that the City Council will be
restricted in its ability to find additional revenue
resources for Glasgow Museums.The proposals set
out in KPMG’s third option and outlined specifically
in 9.5.4 above could, however, if implemented in full,
yield over 2 years a revenue saving of about £1m; but
clearly there are a number of issues to be
investigated.The City Council will need to decide the
extent to which the options for transfer and release
can be pursued and how much of the consequent
revenue savings can be made available for
reinvestment in the Museums Service.
i) The Core Group concurs with KPMG’s view that
the present arrangements for Glasgow Museums
are unsustainable in the medium term.
ii) The second option, which amounts to transferring
Glasgow Museums to an independent body,
presents enormous risks and is full of uncertainty.
The Council should not contemplate it unless all
other solutions have been explored exhaustively.
ii) The third option is in line with the Core Group’s
own thinking, which is that the Council faces a
number of different problems in turning round
Glasgow Museums and each of them requires a
pragmatic solution. It is the Core Group’s view
that the following proposals should be explored by
the Council to assess their costs and benefits:
9 6 2 THIRD-PARTY DONATIONS,
SPONSORSHIP AND
COMMERCIAL INCOME
The proposal for a non-facility-based foundation
would provide a vehicle for third-party donations and
sponsorship to support the purchase of works and
the development of services. It is impossible,
however, to predict what impact this new proposed
vehicle would have on the level of third-party financial
contributions for the development of the service. It is
therefore difficult at this stage to use this as any basis
for future financial planning as such funding tends to
be project-based and not consistent revenue.
a) Provands Lordship - retain, or transfer to
Historic Scotland
b) Burrell Collection - retain, or transfer
management to the Burrell Trustees, or to the
National Trust, which currently manages
Pollok House
c) Martyrs’ School - retain, or following
development of Heritage Collections Centre,
release for commercial use
With regards to income from retail, catering and
venue hire, and banqueting, it is clear from Chapter 6
on Visitor Services that the service is underperforming. In respect of retail, when staffing costs
d) St Mungo’s - retain, or close museum and
transfer the building to the Friends of Glasgow
Cathedral who would develop the building as
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are taken into account, the service made a net loss of
£250k in 1999/2000.The budget for 2000/2001, even
with a budget adjustment to a realistic level of
turnover, assumes a significant improvement in
performance. In the short term, without more radical
change to the way in which retail and catering
services are provided, not much more can be
expected in terms of improvement in the net
expenditure position other than to bring actual
performance in line with the new budget position.
The conclusions and recommendations of the current
consultancy studies regarding retail and catering were
presented as part of the final Review report to
Council following the consultation period.
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following a review of national funding arrangements
arising from the recommendations of the National
Cultural Strategy, published in 2000. It is the Core
Group’s recommendation that the City Council
discuss with the Scottish Executive interim funding
arrangements to bridge this crucial period and ensure
against short-term but irreversible changes brought
about by revenue shortfalls.
A NATIONAL FUNDING
FRAMEWORK
A fundamental issue for Scotland over the next
decade is the future of cultural provision.The
principles of the Partnership Agreement between
Labour and the Liberal Democrats, which appears to
have attracted cross-party support, include the
proposition that “arts and culture have a central role
in shaping a sense of community and civic pride in the
new Scotland.”
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The Partnership Agreement also contained a clear
commitment that the coalition would “invest in
Scotland’s diverse cultural life and heritage, and would
develop a National Cultural Strategy”.
NATIONAL FUNDING FOR MUSEUMS
National collections in western democracies are
traditionally run by the state, as part of national
cultural life. Typically, they are the central collections
of Fine Art, Modern Art, Decorative Art, Archaeology,
Natural History, Science and Technology, and Military
History, and established by Act of Parliament. In
England these are funded by the DCMS. However,
DCMS also funds museums for which responsibility
has been transferred from local to national
government, as a result of ad hoc arrangements in
response to difficulties arising from various local
government reorganisations. Major examples include
the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside
(£13 million p.a.), the Manchester Museum of Science
and Industry, and Tyne and Wear Museums. Of the
total of £220,530,000 spent by DCMS on direct
revenue support for museums, £29,118,000 or 13.2%
goes to museums resulting from major bequests and
for regional museums of national significance. In
Scotland, 96% of central government funding goes to
the National Museums and National Galleries of
Scotland. None goes direct to local museums.
Elsewhere in Europe the local/national distinction is
less rigidly drawn. In Denmark, for example, central
government provides 100% funding for National
Museums as described above, but also matches local
government funding of museums 42% to 58%.
At the same time as Glasgow City Council has been
addressing the Best Value Review, the Scottish
Executive has been consulting on the content of a
National Cultural Strategy.The overwhelming
majority of responses have highlighted anomalies and
the lack of a strategic approach to museum provision
in Scotland. Respondents have urged a fundamental
review of the unsustainable status quo. In particular,
respondents have highlighted the need to address
structural anomalies and the imbalance of current
funding arrangements.
Within a new national framework, the Scottish
Museums Council in particular has argued for a
managed restructuring which aims:• “to secure the future of nationally important
collections which are not currently the responsibility of the National Museums or
National Galleries.
• to ensure a stable revenue funding base for a
network of museums, including non-national
museums as well as the National Museums and
National Galleries.”
A range of other bodies, including COSLA, have
argued that there is a need to address fundamental
anomalies and to devise new funding arrangements.
Many of the respondents to the National Cultural
Strategy recognised the importance of the Glasgow
Museums collection. Against this background, the
Core Group is of the view that the City Council can
and should advance a strong case for a new
relationship with the Scottish Executive, including a
new national funding partnership which would go
towards meeting the revenue requirements necessary
to secure the long-term preservation, and the
associated responsibilities, of this nationally
important collection.
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GLASGOW MUSEUMS AND
DESIGNATION CRITERIA
IN ENGLAND
Recognising that many museums other than those
funded directly by central government held
collections of national importance, DCMS instituted a
scheme formally to designate such collections.
Subsequently a challenge Fund of £15 million over
three years was allocated to preserve and interpret
these collections.There are now 56 Designated
Collections, selected according to the criteria of
Quality and Significance, judged by a panel of experts
established by the Museums and Galleries
Commission.The importance of Glasgow’s collections
and the need to recognise this in terms of funding is
widely recognised:-
It is quite likely that there could be an interim period
between the completion of the City Council’s Best
Value Review of Glasgow Museums and any decision
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“It goes without saying that the collections held by
the Glasgow Museums are of a very high standard
reflecting a vibrant, articulate city. Kelvingrove Art
Gallery contains many world class pictures in its
collection from the Renaissance to the present day.
It satisfies both a municipal need and attracts scores
of visitors from elsewhere including the seasoned
international tourists.The Glasgow Museums are not
just municipal galleries but galleries of international
standing and which should be interpreted at a
national level.
history. So, all of the collections of the Potteries
Museums and Galleries in Stoke-on-Trent were
Designated because together their collections give a
powerful picture of the region’s role in the history
of ceramics, industrially, socially and in design and
craft terms.The collections at York City Museums
and the Museum of London were designated on a
similar basis.We can see that a similarly strong case
could be made for ‘Designation’ of all of the
collections of Glasgow Museums on the basis of
their superb coverage of the outstandingly
important social, industrial and political history of
Glasgow and the Clyde.
There needs to be a framework in which the
museums operate, reporting to the Scottish
Executive with designated national funding.The long
term care of works of art of this quality is immense
and in addition there is the curation and interpretation of the collections, the provision of special
exhibitions, and the supporting departments.
Without national backing, they are dogged by lack of
resources to provide the high level of excellence
their collections warrant.”
If each of Glasgow’s collecting or subject areas was
considered in turn, a similarly strong case could be
made for many of the subject areas covered by the
collections.”
In the absence of a Designation Scheme in Scotland,
Valerie Bott, as Deputy Director of the Museums and
Galleries Commission, provided this informal
assessment of Glasgow’s collection.
While the Designation Scheme in England can deliver
capital to improve conditions in which collections are
stored, cataloguing and so on, it does not address the
issue of sustainability, which is based on revenue
funding. It is the Core Group’s view that a different
approach is required for Scotland, focusing on the
issue of sustainability.
Dr Neil MacGregor, Director,
The National Gallery, London
“I have no doubt that the Glasgow collections are of
national and, indeed, international importance. Both
Kelvingrove and the Burrell (not to mention the
other smaller satellites) contain objects of the
greatest significance, but it is the overall richness of
the collections which gives them their real value.
There are not more than half a dozen cities in the
UK which can genuinely claim to have museum
collections of a wealth and depth that makes them
nationally significant.The Glasgow collections are
certainly in that category. I very much hope that you
can convince the Scottish Executive that Glasgow
possesses a unique asset in its museums and
galleries. I have no doubt that proper investment in
them will yield rich rewards for the community
and nation.”
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PROPOSED SCOTTISH CRITERIA
FOR SELECTION
The Scottish Museums Council’s proposed National
Audit of collections in Scotland is intended to
produce criteria of quality and significance which
would enable an objective assessment of Glasgow’s
collections in the Scottish context.The Scottish
Executive has agreed to give priority within the
National Audit to the status of Glasgow’s Collection.
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Dr Alan Borg, Director,
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
PRECEDENTS FOR GLASGOW AND
FOR SCOTLAND
The closest precedent for Glasgow is the National
Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, which, after
Glasgow, is the greatest museum service outside of
London, with those of Manchester and Birmingham
its closest rivals. The collection comprises 1.2 million
objects - approximately the same number as Glasgow
- and covers a wide range of fine and decorative art,
ethnography, archaeology, natural history, and
Liverpool history. The funding of the collection as a
whole reflects the importance of treating both the
display highlights and the background reference
“One of the key things about Designation is that we
have genuinely managed to recognise every type of
museum collection.We have also tried to make sure
that Designation isn’t just about collections under
‘subject’ area, using the traditional curatorial classifications. Several collections or groups of collections
have been Designated because they give an
extremely rich picture of a city or region with an
outstanding place in British, European or world
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collections as a single intellectual and cultural
resource.
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importance of Glasgow Museums’ collections and the
nationally important service which they can and
should provide.The Core Group strongly
recommends that the City Council should formally
present a case to the Scottish Executive for national
funding to be made available to resource the longterm preservation of the collections and the
improvement of all related services.
GLASGOW AND LIVERPOOL
COLLECTIONS
Local variations aside, Glasgow and Liverpool have
very different strengths. Liverpool has superb African
and other ethnographic collections, while Glasgow’s
Old Masters, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist
works are pre-eminent. Glasgow’s Arms and Armour
collection is unrivalled outside the Royal Armouries.
There is no Liverpool equivalent of the Charles
Rennie Mackintosh and other Glasgow Style
collections. Like Glasgow, Liverpool had an internationally important shipbuilding industry, though
Glasgow’s dominance of the world market was
complete in the last quarter of the 19th century. To
this must be added Glasgow’s major locomotive and
machine tool industries which rivalled those of both
Manchester and Birmingham.
To all of this would need to be added the Burrell
Collection, which is equivalent in quality to, and far
broader in its range than, the Wallace Collection.
Significantly, 50% of the capital costs of building the
Burrell building were borne by the then Scottish
Office, recognising its national importance, and
Strathclyde Regional Council contributed £300,000 to
its revenue costs in recognition of its regional
significance.
As a nationally funded institution, National Museums
and Galleries on Merseyside (NMGM) has resources
several orders of magnitude greater than those
available to Glasgow.
Liverpool
Glasgow
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CONCLUSION
There are a range of models which the Scottish
Executive might develop in order to invest in
museums other than the National Museums and
National Galleries. COSLA has recommended a
model based on regional networks.The English model
relies on a mix of direct funding and funding via the
Museums and Galleries Commission as intermediary.
Whichever model is adopted, there is a strong case
for the Scottish Executive to recognise the national
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