Issue - meetings

The Assistant Director – Corporate Services presented the Museum Fees and Charges report to Members.

In light of the recent appointment of a Learning and Outreach Officer, the Museum had decided to revise its fees and charges, specifically with regards to the new service of delivering taught learning sessions in schools, Loan Boxes and promotional events.

The taught sessions would be a new service by which the Learning and Outreach Officer would attend schools in the district with items from the education and handling collection. The rates charged would be competitive in comparison to similar services and there would be no change to the fee charged for sessions taught in the Museum.

There would also be a revised charge for the Schools ‘Loan Boxes’ scheme, which would include significant improvements to the contents, presentation and packaging.  This would be rolled out during the autumn of 2017.

To allow the Museum to determine its participation in promotional events, where the ticket pricing fell outside of published fees and charges, it would be necessary to approve the delegation of authority to the Section 151 Officer. By doing so the Museum could take advantage of promotional events to gain publicity and broaden the Museum’s audience, without having to gain approval from Cabinet on each occasion.

The Chairman said this was a good idea but asked if the MMWG would be consulted on one-off promotional events. The Assistant Director of Corporate Services said that this was possible.

Councillor Sell said being involved in promotional events would be positive for the Museum. The Essex Pass, whereby members paid an annual fee to gain access to various institutions in Essex, was a particularly good idea as it encouraged people to visit heritage sites across the district.

RESOLVED that the Museum Management Working Group recommends to Cabinet:

·         The fees for taught sessions in schools are set at £120 (£100 + £20 VAT) for a morning and £210 (£175 + £35 VAT) for a full day.

·         The revised loan box charge to be set at £18 (£15 + £3 VAT).

·         That delegated authority be given to the Section 151 Officer to approve variations to published entrance fees, in consultation with the Curator.