Hampshire Cultural Trust Q&A: ‘Trust collections will be much more available for the many, not just the few’

HOW MANY JOBS NEED TO BE CUT?

We cannot confirm this at present as the process is not final. We can however confirm that in an effort to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies, a number of staff members have decided to leave the trust on voluntary terms.

WHAT POSTS WILL BE CUT AND WHERE ARE THEY BASED?

We are changing the way we deliver our offer, so we are more effective and focus on our charitable business priorities – developing the Winchester, Milestones and Basing House offer for visitors; improving the way we support community interests in our community museums and arts centres; and actively participating in local ambitions to develop cultural hubs in places like Gosport and Basingstoke.

This involves introducing a number of new posts and reducing a number of current posts. These changes affect posts that manage our venues as well as our central exhibitions, better life chances and collections teams.

A NUMBER OF PROFESSORS HAVE SAID THEY CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IN YOUR STATEMENT DUE TO THE ‘CORPORATE LANGUAGE’ AND ARE FEARFUL OF THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY.

We have no intention of being unclear. To explain further; this restructure is about ensuring all our resources are focused most efficiently on delivering great and engaging cultural experiences for a wide range of people. This is what we mean by ‘outcome-driven’. This includes bringing our collections to life and making their stories accessible.

This is why we are bringing curatorial and exhibition development responsibility together; locating these posts within teams that are focused on Winchester, Milestones and Basing House, Community Museums and developing Culture Hub facilities in Basingstoke and Gosport.

It is about expanding our community links and re-enforcing our roots in local communities, helping to make a difference to people’s lives through inspirational arts and museums experiences. This is what we mean by ‘social impact’; supporting wider social agendas, such as the education of young people or supporting the wellbeing of older residents using our collections.

It is also about ensuring we are in the best position to support plans for local development and regeneration plans (‘local economic imperatives’) that will re-energise town and city centre locations.

HCT is an independent charity that relies on a planned declining level of grant funding from local authorities. We therefore need to become more financially sustainable through both earned income and philanthropic support.

The modernisation of the organisation’s structure to focus on visitor experience and social impact will set the trust up to achieve future financial resilience and growth.

We have embarked on a detailed and intensive consultation process with staff, and have listened and acted on feedback. We are confident that our final structure will provide a strong base to grow, develop and safeguard the future of our cultural offer, including collections, in Hampshire.

“WE WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STEWARDSHIP OF OUR COLLECTIONS AND ADOPT A DYNAMIC APPROACH TO CURATION AND COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT THAT EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF BRINGING TO LIFE THESE OBJECTS AND THEIR STORIES TO INSPIRE GREAT EXPERIENCES.”

By this we mean that collections should not become static and should be in developed and managed in such a way that they are an active part of public exhibitions and events. Our current structure has central curators who are not dedicated to particular venues or public programmes.

As a result, we miss opportunities to use collections for wide public benefit. The new approach has curatorship embedded in teams responsible for delivering local programmes across Hampshire. Collections will be much more available for the many, not just the few.

“We are replacing our current arrangement of central specialist subject curators and exhibition officers with cultural experience roles.” – Will these be paid roles?

Yes, these are posts that require specialist skills and are key to the way we are modernising our approach to providing access to our collections and the stories they contain.

“THEY WILL BE SUPPORTED BY A TECHNICAL COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT, CO-ORDINATION AND CARE TEAM.” – IT HAS BEEN ARGUED THAT THERE IS ALREADY, EFFECTIVELY, A COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT TEAM. WILL THOSE MEMBERS OF STAFF BE RETAINED, AND IF NOT HOW WILL IT DIFFER TO THE CURRENT ARRANGEMENT?

We are replacing our current arrangement of specialist subject curators and exhibition officers based with ‘cultural experience’ roles within each work stream that merge these functions and centre on placing the collections and their stories at the heart of cultural experience. These roles will be supported by a technical collections management and care team.

The technical team will include a full-time collection manager, a curatorial liaison manager, three full-time conservators, an exhibition designer, and technical and assistant support.

“IT WILL ENSURE THAT ACTIVITY WILL BE MORE FOCUSED AND WILL LEAD TO RICH AND ENGAGING EXPERIENCES FOR OUR CUSTOMERS.” – HOW WILL IT?

We are moving more of our resources and expertise to roles that directly support delivery in our venues. For example, we will have more community managers in our local museums, all of whom will be trained museum professionals.

Andover, Basingstoke and Aldershot currently share a venue manager. After the reorganisation, each of these museums will have their own manager, with a remit to bring great cultural experiences to local communities.

WILL ANY VOLUNTEER ROLES BE LOST?

No, our volunteers play a crucial role in the running of our venues and we appreciate the exceptional contribution that they make.

WILL ANY EXTRA RESPONSIBILITIES THAT WERE DEALT WITH BY PAID-FOR STAFF BE PLACED UPON VOLUNTEERS?

Paid-for staff will continue to undertake work central to business needs. Volunteers will continue to play an important role in supporting these staff, as they do now.

WHY WAS THERE AN UNEXPECTED SHORTFALL – WAS THIS THROUGH A REDUCTION IN COUNCIL FUNDING, OR A FAILURE TO SECURE EXTERNAL GRANTS THAT WERE EXPECTED?

The grant reduction concerned is a planned reduction and is not unexpected. It has been planned since the inception of the trust by both the local authorities and the trust.

WILL THERE BE A LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE REDUCTION?

As with any organisation there is always a risk that knowledge is lost when a staff member leaves. This will be managed through the transfer of knowledge in the handover process.

CAN YOU CONFIRM THAT THE CHANGES WILL NOT NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE ASSETS UNDER TRUST MANAGEMENT, AND THEY WILL BE TREATED WITH THE SAME RIGOUR AND PROFESSIONALISM AS THEY ARE CURRENTLY?

On the contrary, the changes will have a positive affect with improved focus on collection management and stewardship, and the ability to better present our collections in an engaging way with a wide range of audiences.

Please could you confirm whether the local authority grant funding reduction is £436,000 in the financial year 2018/19 – I understand there is a reduction over five years, what is this total?

HCT was established as the best opportunity to ensure financial resilience of Hampshire’s cultural offer in the long-term, in an environment of significant and ongoing reduction in available local government funding. Planned reductions in local authority grants were agreed when HCT was established, and our funding for 2018/19 onwards will reduce by approximately £450,000. The five-year reduction was agreed as 2%, 2%, 2%, 10%, 2% from the trust’s launch in 2014.