As part of the ‘Best Value’ framework for assessing service delivery at the local government level, single tier and county councils report visits to/usage of museums per thousand of the population. The definitions used in Best Value Performance Indicator 170 (BV170) can be downloaded from the website of the Department for Communities and Local Government at:
<http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1136118>
and the data provided by local authorities in any given year can be downloaded from the Audit Commission’s website at:
<http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/performance/dataprovision.asp>
Museums are a discretionary local authority service and their core funding is a matter for Lancashire county council and the 12 district councils in Lancashire.
Excluding lottery funding, the Department through the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has provided the following sums to museums within the Lancashire county council geographical area that are responsible for collections of nationally significant cultural items (designated collections):
£000 2005-06 36.1 2004-05 36.1 2003-04 35.0 2002-03 35.0 2001-02 95.0
The Department also sponsors the National Football Museum in Preston and has provided them with the following annual sums:
£000 2005-06 100 2004-05 100 2003-04 100 2002-03 1n/a 2001-02 1n/a 1 The museum was not sponsored by DCMS prior to 2003-04.
The Harris Museum and Art Gallery is also one of five partner institutions in the North-West Hub of the Renaissance Programme for regional museums. In total, this North-West Renaissance Hub has received the following funding:
£000 2005-06 1,402 2004-05 820 2003-04 220 2002-03 10 2001-02 1n/a 1 Prior to the renaissance programme.