Agenda item

ORDERED that Executive:

 

1.    Approve the exploration of a new museum with external partners that could replace the CCBM within Stewart Park in the longer term;

2.    Approve the continued operation of the CCBM in 2024/25 on the basis that the required saving of £0.100m for 2024/25 had been met by a permanent reduction in staffing and that this saving was ongoing;

3.    Approve the continued operation of the CCBM in 2025/26 and 2026/27 subject to securing external revenue support of £0.150m per annum. Failure to secure this funding would result in closure of the CCBM and the transfer of some or all of the collection to the Dorman Museum; and

4.    Approves a reduction in the required saving from the CCBM from £0.345m to £0.303m in 2025/26 and 2026/27 on condition that the remainder of the saving £0.042m will be found within the Regeneration budget via a senior management review.

 

The Executive Member for Development submitted a report for Executive consideration.

 

The purpose of the report was fourfold:

 

1.    To bring Executive’s attention to the exploration of a new museum with external partners that could replace the CCBM within Stewart Park in the longer term;

2.    To advise Executive that the continued operation of the CCBM in 2024/25 on the basis that the required saving of £0.100m for 2024/25 had been met by a permanent reduction in staffing and that this saving was ongoing;

3.    To advice Executive that the continued operation of the CCBM in 2025/26 and 2026/27 was subject to securing external revenue support of £0.150m per annum. Failure to secure this funding would have resulted in the closure of the CCBM and the transfer of some or all of the collection to the Dorman Museum;

4.    To seek approval for a reduction in the required saving from the CCBM from £0.345m to £0.303m in 2025/26 and 2026/27 on condition that the remainder of the saving £0.042m will be found within the Regeneration budget via a senior management review.

 

Up to 2024, the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum was previously open for 7 months of the year (April – October) but was only open to the public during school holidays in the same period.  A paid-for museum, it welcomed approximately 5,500 visitors a year, with an additional 35,500 people visiting the café and shop housed in the same building. The Cook Museum hosted a café tenant ‘Cook’s Café’ currently on a rolling lease. Any potential closure or change of operator of the building would impact upon this.

 

The Dorman Museum was open 6 days a week (Tuesday to Sunday) throughout the year and welcomed around 80,000 visitors per annum. 

 

School workshops took place at both venues across the year during term time with 3,500 visits in 23/24. The museums featured permanent exhibits, alongside a programme of changing exhibitions and special events, including those aimed at key audiences e.g. families.

 

As an Accredited Museum Service, and a member of the Tees Valley Museums Group (National Portfolio Organisation), the service had a commitment to care for its 250,000-strong collection in line with industry standards and to make these collections accessible to the public.

 

There was a single staffing structure which operated both museums. This structure was reviewed in 2023, but some positions had never been advertised due to the savings requirement.  The current structure included a Museums Manager, Visitor Operations Manager, Collections Officer, Visitor Experience Coordinator (vacant), Visitor Experience Assistants (x 4), Cultural Support Officer, Senior Learning & Engagement Officer, and Learning & Engagement Officer.  The permanent team were supported by casual staff where required. The following two posts on the staffing establishment had been held vacant in order to support the saving requirement:

 

·         Senior Collections Officer – Full time, Grade I

·         Creative Programmes Manager – Full time, Grade K

 

During the 2024/25 budget setting process, in response to the financial challenges facing the Council, a proposal was put out to public consultation to close the CCBM and consolidate the offer at the Dorman. The proposal was met with significant public opposition with over 8,000 people signing a petition to keep the museum open, launched by members of the Captain Cook Birthplace Trust. In response, the Council agreed to defer a decision on the CCBM to allow an options appraisal on its future to be undertaken. 

 

The options appraisal was required to look at ways to generate a £0.345m saving from the Museum Service (£0.100m in 2024/25 and £0.245m in 2025/26). The savings had been calculated on the following basis:

·         £0.169m Staff

·         £0.146m Property

·         £0.030m Additional Income (from the Dorman)

 

With regards to the options appraisal, with financial support from Tees Valley Museums Group, a specialist consultant – Counterculture – was commissioned to support the options appraisal work.  With £0.100m of the target already identified through salary savings made from holding vacant posts, Counterculture was tasked with assessing the viability of different options for the remaining £0.245m. 

 

Through this process three main options were identified:

·         Option 1: Keep the CCBM open and secure investment from an external partner. Saving to be delivered: £0.303m

·         Option 2: Close the CCBM and make savings from the building costs. Saving delivered: £0.277m

·         Option 3: Transfer the CCMB to a third-party operator and make savings from the building costs.  Saving delivered: £0.277m.

 

Detailed breakdowns of each option were detailed in the report.

 

A Member of the public commented that the offer at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum was potentially under publicised and underpriced. As a former member of the management team at the Captain Cook experience at Whitby, he invited the Mayor and the Executive Member for Development to attend that facility to compare the two sites. 

 

The Mayor welcomed the invitation. 

 

ORDERED that Executive:

 

That the Executive

 

1.    Approve the exploration of a new museum with external partners that could replace the CCBM within Stewart Park in the longer term;

2.    Approve the continued operation of the CCBM in 2024/25 on the basis that the required saving of £0.100m for 2024/25 had been met by a permanent reduction in staffing and that this saving was ongoing;

3.    Approve the continued operation of the CCBM in 2025/26 and 2026/27 subject to securing external revenue support of £0.150m per annum. Failure to secure this funding would result in closure of the CCBM and the transfer of some or all of the collection to the Dorman Museum; and

4.    Approves a reduction in the required saving from the CCBM from £0.345m to £0.303m in 2025/26 and 2026/27 on condition that the remainder of the saving £0.042m will be found within the Regeneration budget via a senior management review.

 

OPTIONS

 

Closing the Cook Museum and making a saving of £0.277m was only being recommended as a Plan B should the investment from the external partner not be realised, as it carried the following risks:

 

·         Savings target was not fully achieved.

·         Negative public reaction to closing the museum.

·         Lack of a Cook attraction at Stewart Park (at least short-medium term).

·         Reduction in activities, e.g. school workshops, due to less space.

·         Investment required to move/redisplay Cook collection – Min. £0.050m plus storage costs for remainder of Cook collection and management of the empty building.

·         Removed opportunity for short-term investment from the external partner and potentially any long-term support.

 

Handing over the Cook building to a third-party operator and making a saving of £0.277m was not recommended as it carried the following risks:

 

·         Savings target was not fully achieved.

·         Negative public reaction to closing the museum / reducing the offer.

·         Reduction in activities, e.g. school workshops, due to less space.

·         Investment required to move/redisplay Cook collection – Min. £0.050m plus storage costs for remainder of Cook collection.

·         Lessened opportunity for short-term investment from the external partner and potentially any long-term support.

·         Reliance on finding a suitable operator for the building who was willing to take on the full costs.

 

A number of additional mitigations to reduce this gap had been reviewed, in collaboration with Counterculture, and were detailed in the table at paragraph 5.3 of the report.

 

REASONS

 

Middlesbrough Museum Service currently operated two museums: The Dorman Museum and the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum.  Both museums were Accredited and partners in the Tees Valley Museums Group (TVMG), an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation which brought investment for activities aligned to the TVMG aims and objectives. Between the two museums, the service managed a joint collection of circa 250,000 objects (majority housed at the Dorman) and welcomed 85,500 annual visitors (80,000 to the Dorman) and a further 3,500 children on school visits. The recommended option provided an opportunity to keep both facilities open, maintaining public access to the joint collection, whilst exploring plans for a more attractive and sustainable museum for the Cook collection.

 

During undertaking the options appraisal, an external partner, with whom the council had worked on other projects, had offered to support the CCBM by providing revenue of £0.150m a year to maintain its current opening arrangements on an interim basis, whilst jointly exploring the potential of a new museum facility to house the Cook collection and potentially other local collections. The intention would be for the external partner to support the existing facility until the new museum was opened. Subject to securing the £0.150m per annum, this option got closest to the £0.345m savings target with a £0.303m outturn.

 

The recommended option also provided an opportunity to secure further external investment into the Museum Service through having a longer-term plan for its future.  One such opportunity was likely to present itself via Tees Valley Combined Authority, who had commissioned a feasibility study into the heritage offer within the Tees Valley. The final report from this was due in December and was likely to be followed by an investment programme to support the new Tees Valley Heritage Strategy. The Council would be looking to work with TVCA to secure investment into the new museum facility and wider service.

 

The successful delivery of the recommended option directly and indirectly supported the Council’s priorities set out in the Strategic Plan 2024-27, including:

 

·         A successful and ambitious town;

·         Safe and resilient communities; and

·         Delivering best value

 

The options of closing the CCBM or handing over the building to a third-party operator would have resulted in a lesser saving of £0.277m and would have removed or put at significant risk the proposed investment from the external partner.  Both options would also risk a negative public reaction to any closure or reduction of the service i.e. moving collections to the Dorman, which was evidenced during the budget consultation earlier this year. Both options would have resulted in a reduced offer to visitors and reduced engagement activities, e.g. school visits due to space restrictions, diminishing the positive outcomes delivered by the Museum Service around learning, wellbeing and community cohesion.

 

The main risk around the recommended option was a failure to secure the financial support offered from the external partner.  The conditions of this support and mitigations were detailed in the report.