Purpose

The Museum Renewal Fund is a one-off pot of
money from Dept for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) being
distributed by Arts Council England. It is specifically for local
authority led / associated museums with budget deficits that put
them at risk of reduced public provision, reduced staffing or
closure. It is intended to preserve public access to collections
and sites, maintain staffing levels and improve financial
resilience. The funding application window was short and did not
allow time to go through the decision pathway in the usual
way.
On 14 August 2025 the Bristol Museums team were notified that our
application was successful, and that Bristol Museums will be
awarded up to £495,320 to cover budget deficits and undertake
additional activity to improve financial resilience, including at
the Historic Houses which are subject to £142k proposed
budget savings from April 2026. The additional activity includes
consultation and work on commercialisation, additional programming
and marketing, and a temporary boost to staffing levels to support
this.
This will enable us to increase footfall and engagement, and to
mitigate the museums service’s pressure currently forecast on
the BCC General fund for 2025-26.

Content

The Exec Director, Growth and Regeneration
agreed to accept the funding of up to £495,320 offered by
Arts Council England to Bristol Museums through the Museum Renewal
Fund.
The Exec Director, Growth and Regeneration delegated to the Head of
Service, Culture and Creative Industries permission to spend the
awarded funding during the 2025-26 financial year.

Alternative options considered

The only other option in this case would have
been to not apply for the funding, which would have meant no
mitigation of the pressure on the General Fund in the current
financial year. It would also have meant that our ability to
increase footfall and income at the Historic Houses this year would
have been limited to the efforts made from April – August, of
modest increased activity such as trails and family fun days. These
have proved to make a difference to numbers and income, but nowhere
near enough to find the required savings.
Therefore the most logical decision was to apply for the funding
and seek an ODN if funding was awarded.