Out of the silo

There are significant opportunities for museums, libraries and archives arising from the current cross-party commitment to efficiency in local and regional government. The Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) believes that by clearly demonstrating the contribution our work makes to local authority priorities and wider social outcomes, culture and heritage can build a strong platform to participate in the new strategic commissioning processes, and potentially access funding to deliver on local priorities. In 2008, in response to the DCLG/DCMS paper ‘A Passion for Excellence: An improvement strategy for culture and sport’, the MLA developed an Outcomes Framework for Museums, Libraries and Archives. This enables organisations to monitor and provide evidence of the impact of their work through the collection of Generic Social and Learning Outcomes (GSOs and GLOs).
There is also a wealth of regional activity currently taking place. Through the London Cultural Improvement Programme, the London Cultural Improvement Group (a partnership of Capital Ambition, MLA, Arts Council England and other agencies) has worked with local authority culture teams to develop a GSO-derived approach to measurement of outcomes that is recognised by local government and which can be easily adopted by culture, arts and sport organisations. As a result of the Find Your Talent pathfinder in London, the group is also working with local authority children’s services to create new opportunities for participation in culture. In Nottingham, the National Centre for Citizenship and the Law (the Galleries of Justice Museum’s learning service provider), receives 40% of its funding through local authority commissioning processes, much of this in relation to youth justice.