Cabinet set to consider new model for provision of museums
04 Oct 2024 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
The Council is set to consider proposals to take museums services in-house and ask to join a local authority partnership managed by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM).
Woodhorn Charitable Trust, known as Museums Northumberland, currently operates sites across the county, including the Woodhorn Museum in Ashington, Hexham’s Old Gaol, the Moot Hall, House of Correction, Morpeth’s Chantry Bagpipe Museum and Berwick Museum and Art Gallery.
It’s an independent charity which was established to run the County Council’s museums service and leases buildings owned by the Council (and others) and maintains and displays collections which in the main are under the Council’s stewardship.
Museums Northumberland has been supporting the County Council with a Delivery Model Assessment to identify the preferred model for future museums service delivery in Northumberland.
Cabinet is being recommended, to progress a preferred option for the delivery of museum services in Northumberland - which would involve joining a partnership with Tyneside Local Authorities through the existing Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums partnership.
The inclusion of Northumberland County Council’s museums and collections within the TWAM partnership is mutually beneficial and would add value and expand the regional museums offer, reaching and providing broader opportunities for engagement for both Northumberland and North East residents and visitors.
In addition, the proposed expansion of the TWAM partnership will provide economies of scale and increase organisational resilience through partnership, enabling the delivery of a sustainable museum service in Northumberland.
If agreed by Cabinet, officers will enter into negotiations in relation to the expansion of the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums partnership.
The report adds: “The sizeable and diverse offer of the museums and collections under NCC’s stewardship provide a deep understanding of Northumberland, its culture and traditions which are very much an integral part of the broader North East story and cultural offering.”
Meanwhile, museum provision in Berwick will be delivered through a partnership approach between English Heritage, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB), the Maltings (Berwick) and NCC through the Living Barracks project. This was endorsed by the Council's Cabinet in May 2023.