Cuts force more museums to close - a headline on the BBC website said today. Galleries and museums across the UK are shutting down or reducing their opening
hours because of ongoing budget cuts, according to a new survey.
Will someone now understand that insisting that museums meet spurious targets is not a sensible move and that ensuring their survival is. Sorry to be gloomy but whatever the figures in this report, things are worse than it says.
Most museums are constrained by their present cost base and unable to make cuts: closing a gallery saves no money. Cutting staff is not the answer; it simply damages the long term prospects and leads to shorter opening hours. Shorter opening hours and lower service levels lead to a drop in income. A drop in income leads to ...
Most museums are hanging in there, desperately trying to hold the line with their present activities, prepared to go under with their pride intact rather than being salami-sliced to oblivion.
The foolhardy will be off chasing chimeras: responding to the wishes of the single-issue enthusiasts and grant-aiding bodies. Can you see any more specially disadvantaged, hard to reach people on low incomes out there who desperately need our 'services' ...
Oh, and by the way, we are not 'running a service'. We are running a charity in a business-like way. and charge for admission. We provide services to our customers by providing them with what they want which is what we thought a charity was about; not to our paymasters for what they want which is not.
