Our core aim is to maximise the contribution from the museums and galleries sector to our four strategic priorities (children and young people; communities; the economy; delivery), as well as to other Government Departments' priorities on education, social inclusion, regeneration and community cohesion.
We aim to:
- Broaden access for all to all museums and galleries, including through free access to our sponsored museums and galleries
- Ensure that our sponsored museums and galleries continue to retain their reputation as world class institutions in terms of research and collections care
- Develop and promote the educational potential of all museums and galleries, including those we do not fund directly, working in partnership with the Department for Education and Skills
- Improve standards of training and encourage diversity in the museums workforce
- Ensure an adequate skills supply for the museum and gallery sector
- Promote best practice in the museum and gallery sector in all areas
In a consultation paper published in January 2005, "Understanding the future: museums and 21st century life" (PDF 377kb), we invited views on these issues, including plans to encourage museums to make better use of their collections, including by sharing them with other institutions, to modernise the museums' workforce, and to join up the sector to work more effectively. Replies to the consultation were strongly in favour of a national strategy that embraced the whole sector.
A small collaborative Working Group has been formed to consider the purpose, content and potential goals of such a strategy. The most current minutes of the working group are available at the following link: Minutes of the Collaborative Working Group April 2006.
