COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Jobs could be axed at two of Coventry's most popular museums after the organisation which runs them confirmed £100,000 budget cuts.



The Telegraph has also learnt that costs of the ongoing £7.7million refurbishment work at the Transport Museum have spiralled higher than expected – although bosses insist the two issues are not connected.

Culture Coventry, the charitable trust which runs the Coventry Transport Museum and Herbert Art Gallery as well as the Lunt Roman Fort and the Priory Visitor Centre, said it needs to make the savings to “strengthen its financial position”.

Bosses said the £100,000 savings would need to be made on top of money saved from the cancellation of the Transport Museum’s annual Festival of Motoring – a move which followed the withdrawal of £20,000 of grant support by Coventry City Council.

The latest cuts would also be in addition to an estimated £100,000 annual saving the council says the planned closure of Priory Visitors Centre will bring.

Culture Coventry employs 87 people, with a further 85 volunteers. Job losses have not been ruled out, or the potential to change opening hours at any of the attractions.

Every member of staff at four of Coventry’s most popular visitor attractions has been offered terms for voluntary redundancy.



Culture Coventry, the charitable trust which runs Coventry Transport Museum, Herbert Art Gallery, Lunt Roman Fort and Priory Visitor Centre, has made the offer to all of its staff after axing £100,000 from its annual budget.

The organisation employs 87 people, with a further 85 volunteers, and has not ruled out further job losses on top of those who leave voluntarily.

In a bid to make further savings, the charity has amended contracts of all employees to scrap ‘flexitime’ and remove extra pay for weekend shifts.

Culture Coventry gave employees until May 5 to accept the new terms or leave – but the organisation said nobody had left as a result of the changes.

But Dave Nellist, of TUSC, said: “Many workers face a £3,000 a year loss. This is yet another example of people who have absolutely no responsibility for the recession and economic crisis being asked to pay for it.

“Most staff at are so frightened of losing their jobs, and being unable to pay their mortgage, that they are keeping their heads down and taking it.”

Gary Hall, chief executive of Culture Coventry, said it was “unfortunate” that savings had to be made but added staff who had a genuine need for flexible working would still be able to request it.

He said: “From the outset, we have sought to minimise job reductions but the only way we could achieve this was by changing some terms and conditions.

“In today’s society there are many jobs that require weekend working as part of a person’s normal shift pattern and no additional payment is made for the weekend days that are worked.

“By aligning ourselves to the market place and other similar organisations locally, and by making this change we will reduce our costs. If we did not introduce this change, there would be significantly more job losses.

“These changes will not generate sufficient savings so there will be a small number of job losses.

“Voluntary redundancy has been offered to all staff and some people have come forward so we are currently assessing those requests against the future skills needs of the organisation.”

Herbert Art Gallery faces permanent closure in wake of council cuts



The Herbert Art Gallery could be forced to close as the organisation responsible for it battles an estimated £250,000 of council cuts.

Gary Hall, chief executive of Culture Coventry, has warned that the level of cuts being imposed could see the city centre art gallery and museum shut permanently.

Closure would be a massive blow for Coventry as it prepares a bid for the 2021 UK City of Culture title.

Mr Hall said charging visitors to its sites would now be explored, but insisted that was not necessarily the solution.

Speaking during a council scrutiny meeting on Wednesday, he said: “We will try to attract the funding we need to address any shortfall, but it that is not forthcoming the only way we will be able to make the savings we need will be to close The Herbert.”

He added: “It’s a well known fact that if you charge for something that used to be free visitor numbers drop by a third. That would take museum visitors down to about 100,000 a year. If it’s savings that need to be made, The Herbert will need to close.”

He suggested the current layout of The Herbert was unsuitable and that an estimated £4million to £5m of investment was required to make it more visitor friendly and bump footfall up to 500,000 a year.

He also suggested permanent exhibitions such as the History of Coventry did not attract enough visitors and could be under threat if the museum had to attract more income.

Mr Hall added that cutting more staff was not the answer, citing 20 job losses, along with organisational changes which have already saved about £600,000 in the past two years.

He said: “To put it into context, Warwick Castle attracts 800,000 visitors a year and employs over 150 staff at one site. We attract 800,000 people over five sites that are manned by just 78 staff.”

Council leader Ann Lucas said: “We are having our budget cut by 50 per cent.

“As troubling as these conversations are, we will be having them with many more organisations.

“We’ll try to make the very best decisions we can for residents. The reality is we can no longer provide some services or leisure facilities.”

The Priory Visitor Centre, another Culture Coventry operated site, will close its doors next year in a bid to save £100,000 annually.

Council won't back down over £250k funding cut

Coventry City Council says it will work with management at the Herbert Art Gallery to avoid any threat of closure, but will not reverse plans to axe £250,000 of the museum’s funding.

But Coun Faye Abbott, the council’s representative on the UK City of Culture Bid, said the council would work with management to seek alternatives to closure.

Coun Abbott said: “The cultural assets in The Herbert, which is managed by Culture Coventry, belong to the people of Coventry.

“The Herbert is one of the jewels in our heritage crown and will play an important part in our bid to be city of culture.

“We’ve been working closely with Culture Coventry as it faces big challenges to meet the long term savings needed across all the organisations we grant fund as a result of spending cuts that have been imposed on us by the government.

“We’ve been very clear with Culture Coventry that it needs to look closely at its running and management costs across the entire organisation including the Transport Museum and Lunt Roman Fort. Any proposal to do anything as drastic as closing The Herbert would not be supported by councillors.

“We’re happy to work with the chief executive and his management team to identify savings that could help them face the challenges ahead and avoid any threat to this much loved asset.”

Coun Ann Lucas, leader of the council said: “I’m sorry the chief executive of Culture Coventry feels he can’t guarantee the future of one of our best loved assets – we’re clear as a council that closure is not an option we want to see.

“The council is happy to work with the organisation to help it identify a way forward and will make sure Culture Coventry explores all the options available.”

Closure of Herbert Art Gallery is 'no longer an option' says city culture chief



The boss of The Herbert Art Gallery has said there is no intention to close the attraction - just weeks after telling a public meeting it could be forced to shut.

Gary Hall, chief executive of Culture Coventry, warned Coventry City Council’s scrutiny committee that a £250,000 cut to its funding from the authority could see the city centre art gallery and museum shut permanently.

The cut is part of £5000,000 of total grant savings that must be made by Culture Coventry and the Belgrade Theatre as the council tries to get to grips with millions of pounds in cuts to its own funding from the government under the austerity programme.

On October 22, Mr Hall said: “We will try to attract the funding we need to address any shortfall, but it that is not forthcoming the only way we will be able to make the savings we need will be to close The Herbert.

"If it’s savings that need to be made, The Herbert will need to close.”

But Mr Hall has now released a statement to “reassure everyone” that is not the case.

His statement, published on the attraction’s website, follows similar recent statements from council leader Ann Lucas and other senior councillors.

Mr Hall said in his statement: “As chief executive of Culture Coventry, I’d like to reassure everyone that there is no intention of closing the Herbert and councillors on Coventry City Council have made it clear to me that they would not support any proposal that could lead to the Herbert’s closure.

“While we’re all facing big financial challenges as a result of government spending cuts we’re committed to working together across the city to make sure we put in a great bid for City of Culture in 2021 that celebrates the many jewels in our cultural town - including the Herbert.

“It’s great to see so many people feel passionately about the Herbert so I am sorry that the remarks I made at a meeting have resulted in people thinking that there is a proposal to close the Herbert - and that’s not the council’s fault.

"Nothing could be further from the truth so I hope that this reassures you all.”

Coventry's museums seek council taxpayers' loan support amid financial woes

COVENTRY’S museums are to be given an emergency taxpayer loan from councillors to stem financial problems – with no certainty over their long-term future.

It comes after years of funding cuts and job losses, as the UK City of Culture bid gains momentum.

Culture Coventry Trust, which runs the Coventry Transport Museum, the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum and the Lunt Roman Fort, says it has cash flow problems, after investing in a transport museum extension and other projects.

In an era of greater revenue-raising powers for arms-length trusts, council grant has been cut, which councillors blame on ongoing heavy government funding cuts.

The Trust says it has already been forced to raid its cash reserves – and needs to bridge losses this year while it looks to build a long-term plan.

The Trust wants council taxpayers to prop it up on three fronts

In addition to the short-term loan, which it says will help facilitate a restructure, councillors are also being recommended by officers to approve a one-year delay of repayments on a loan which it says was previously taken out for the Transport Museum extension – and to help with redundancy costs of a management restructure.

Martin Yardley, Coventry City Council’s deputy chief executive, said: “We are very proud of our museums in Coventry and they are a vital part of our bid to be UK City of Culture 2021.

“As a result of recent work to prepare the sites for the future, the Trust has found it is in need of a little financial help and we are looking at what we can do as a council to give it the breathing space it needs so it can continue to run top-class venues for the people of Coventry and our visitors in the years ahead.

“The three museums attract around 800,000 visitors a year and tell the story of our wonderful city from Roman times to the birth of the motor car and beyond. They are home to wonderful exhibitions, support local artists and are an important part of our city’s life.

“During the coming months, we will work with the Trust and help it to develop a plan that will make sure people can continue to enjoy these fantastic venues and that they are in a strong position as we continue our bid to be UK City of Culture 2021.

“That bid is so important for our city’s future and an opportunity to do something very special that will benefit Coventry and its people not just now, but in the years ahead.”

Roger Medwell, Chair of Culture Coventry, said: “We’d like to reassure people that we have exciting development plans in place for all of the attractions we manage to ensure they continue to provide innovative and diverse programming, and are recognised as vibrant destinations for local people and visitors.

“The Trust also has long term plans to improve the visitor offer at the Lunt Roman Fort and will shortly be offering wedding bookings at the Old Grammar School.

“We are also working actively alongside the City of Culture team to support Coventry’s bid to become City of Culture in 2021. During the past 12 months we have developed key relationships with national museums like the V&A, the Courtauld Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery enabling us to create an on-going programme of nationally important works exhibited in the city.

“These joint partnerships will continue to grow in the coming years as more exhibitions are planned to take place so we have exciting plans that will support Coventry’s bid.”