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CPA: Developing the Culture Block for Museums and Archives - update on work by MLA This note is to update you on a meeting MLA held in June with museum and archive stakeholders to discuss the place of these two domains within Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) . Following this meeting, a smaller steering group was identified to take forward the development of performance indicators. This steering group met on 16 September, and included : * The MLA Partnership * Audit Commission * The Association of Chief Archivists in Local Government * The National Archives * The Public Sector Quality Group (archives) * The Group of Large Local Authority Museums * The Group of Small Local Authority Museums Attendees discussed potential indicators around those areas that had been identified at the June meeting, and set out who would be responsible for undertaking the necessary work. 1. Volunteering * Volunteering opportunities are a significant offer by museum and archive services to local communities, creating social capital as well as supporting the delivery of services. * The indicator will measure the numbers of volunteers as a proportion of the total population of a local authority's area. * MLA will lead the development of this indicator, defining what is meant by volunteering on the basis of those definitions that are already in use. PSQG will contribute to the process of definition. 2. Learning * Museums and archives make a significant contribution to supporting learning. To develop a robust indicator in the time available, it has been decided to focus upon the support provided to formal school learning. * The indicator will measure the number of schools that are engaged with a museums and archives as a proportion of the schools within a local authority's area. * MLA will lead on the development of this indicator, building on existing experience through the Renaissance in the Regions programme to define engagement. 3. Participation * Increasing participation, particularly from priority groups and through innovation and new technology, has been identified as a priority for museums and archives. Two indicators will be developed to reflect this. * MLA will lead the development of an indicator looking at participation by priority groups. This will assess how representative users of museums and archives are of the population of a local authority's area. The indicator will focus on particular priority groups, and the intention is for the definitions of these groups to be drawn from existing definitions that are already in use to measure the sector's impact, in particular, from Renaissance in the Regions. Due to the timescales involved, it is likely that the indicator will deal only with particular priority groups. It is expected that it will be possible to develop an indicator for museums more easily than for archives, because museums already have a number of datasets and data collection mechanisms that can be utilised - e.g. Renaissance and the IPF Museums User Survey Evaluation (MUSE). The practicability of collecting similar data for archives will be explored in 2006 by a pilot survey undertaken by PSQG. * MLA will lead the development of an indicator measuring virtual visits to institutions within an authority, to assess online participation. This will be based on the monitoring of the £50m EnrichUK.net programme. 4. Value for money * MLA will lead on the development of performance indicators for museums and archives' value for money. * The indicator will look at how cost per use and a cost per visit can be arrived at, making use of CIPFA budget and expenditure statistics. MLA will also seek to define use and visit on the basis of existing definitions. Next Steps The timescale to develop indicators for inclusion within CPA is extremely tight. Indicators have to be worked up well enough so that pilot collection can begin in April 2006, allowing formal collection for CPA purposes (if appropriate) from April 2007. Development of indicators will get underway immediately. It may prove to be the case that some indicators, following piloting, cannot be included within the Culture Block at this stage. However, MLA and the stakeholders on the steering group believe that the proposed indicators are practical and relevant, and will continue to refine and develop them so that a robust suite of indicators for museums and archives can take its place within the developing local government performance management framework in subsequent years. Paul Bristow Regional Policy Adviser (Regional Affairs) The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) 16 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AA tel: 020 7273 8286 fax: 020 7273 1404 [log in to unmask] www.mla.gov.uk <http://www.mla.gov.uk/> ______________________________________________________________________ Unless stated otherwise the information contained in this e-mail and any attachments is confidential. If you have received it in error, you are on notice of its status. It is intended solely for the addressee. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. 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