Agenda item

JOINT COMMITTEE FOR THE NORTH OF ENGLAND

OPEN-AIR MUSEUM

 

At a Meeting of the Joint Committee for the North of England Open-Air Museum held in the Collections Study Room, Regional Resource Centre, Beamish Museum on Friday 26 April 2013 at 10.00 a.m.

 

PRESENT:

 

Councillor R Bell in the Chair

 

Members of the Joint Committee

Councillors J Bell, Carr, Davidson, C Marshall, Morgan, Shuttleworth and Todd (Durham County Council), Goldsworthy, Green and Wallace (Gateshead MBC), Mortimer (North Tyneside MBC), Cunningham and Maxwell (South Tyneside MBC) and Fletcher, Kelly, Richardson, Scott, Trueman and Walker (Sunderland City Council)

 

Co-opted Members (Non-Voting)

 

Friends – Mr M Dix

 

Beamish Development Trust – Mrs E Hunter MBE

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Blakey, Iveson, Naylor, Wilkinson and Wright (Durham County Council), Mr Ashburner (Friends) and Mrs Stewart (Trust)

 

The Chairman welcomed Nicola Burden from the Arts Council to the meeting.

 

1                  Minutes of the Meeting held on 15 March 2013

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2013 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

2      Museum Update

 

The Joint Committee received a report from the Museum Director that gave an update on Museum business (for copy see file of Minutes).

 

Performance – visitor numbers were pleasing at the start of the financial year despite the cold weather.  Early figures for April show the Museum ahead of budget and up on visitor numbers.  The transport festival held in April had seen the busiest day of the year so far with 5,200 visitors.  The fish and chip shop was still performing well and the team were carrying out a fantastic job.

ACE – the decision on the Creative People and Places Fund was expected shortly.  Partnership work with Bowes Museum, DLI Museum and Killhope Museum was going well.

Community Projects – Beamish were helping to launch a celebration event of the 200^th anniversary of Puffing Billy.  Following the successful Word War 1 project ran in Sunderland it was hoped to roll out across the region.

Hetton Band Hall – Members were shown a video of local band members and residents of Hetton sharing memories of the band hall and playing in the band.  The official opening was 11 May and many activities were planned for the day.

Collections Policy – a new system of accreditation was underway with a deadline of completion by next April.  More contemporary collecting would take place up to 1990.

Future Plan – a summary of work underway was listed in the report.  Energy consumption would be looked at and improvements could be made to the heating systems in the Resource Centre and energy conservation around the site.

 

Resolved:-

That the report be noted.

 

3      Revenue Budget 2013/2014 - Update

 

The Joint Committee received a joint report from the Museum Director and Treasurer giving an update on the Revenue Budget for 2013/2014 (for copy see file of Minutes).

 

The Treasurer confirmed that further to the report approved by the Joint Committee on 15 March 2013, Gateshead had now confirmed their contribution and this figure was now reflected in the budget.

 

Resolved:-

That the updated Revenue Budget for the Joint Committee for 2013/2014 as set out in Appendix A of the report, be approved.

 

4      Management of the Beamish Collections

 

The Joint Committee received a report from the Museum Director regarding management of the Beamish collections (for copy see file of Minutes).

 

Members were advised of items that were to be de-accessioned, transfer or disposed of from the collections. 

 

Resolved:-

That the de-accessioning and transfer or disposal of items, as detailed in the report, be approved.

 

5      Active Ageing

 

The Joint Committee received a detailed presentation from the Head of Community Participation, Helen Barker on behalf of Michelle Ball, Active Ageing Officer about Beamish’s work with older people including those living with dementia.

 

Helen explained the work carried out with memory boxes, developing and sharing skills, pit cottage sessions and rummage boxes – all designed to help older people feel at ease and comfortable to share experiences, stories and memories if they wanted to.  She informed Members about Beamish working in partnership with care homes, Age Concern, Dementia Awareness UK and the Alzheimer’s Society.  It was hoped that future work would involve developing relationships with Public Health/ NHS, hospitals and occupational therapy.  The team would continue to develop activities and provide resources for the community.  A Homes for Memory was earmarked in the future plan.

 

Members thanked Helen for her very detailed and touching presentation.  It was an area of work that the Joint Committee fully supported and showed the benefits, both personally and socially, that could be achieved.

 

The Chairman added that it was a useful tool to use and local authorities could learn from the skills used.

 

The Museum Director said that there was a hidden group of people suffering and being cared for at home and it was hoped to unlock this group and help these families have a non-clinical day out at Beamish that would hopefully be an enjoyable experience.

 

Resolved:-

That the presentation be noted.

 

6      Exclusion of the Public

 

Resolved:-

That under Section 100 A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the said Act.

 

7      Capital Project Update

 

The Joint Committee received a report from the Museum Director which provided an overview of completed, ongoing and planned capital projects (for copy see file of Minutes).

 

Resolved:-

That the report be noted.

 

8      Governance Review Update

 

The Joint Committee received an update from the Museum Director which about the ongoing Governance & Partnership review.

 

Resolved:-

That the report be noted.

 

The Chairman agreed that the following item of business was urgent to warrant consideration:-

 

9      Update of HSE Investigation

 

The Museum Director informed the Joint Committee that the Health and Safety Executive investigation was ongoing.