Trust in charge of museum treasures set for shake-up

The York Museums Trust, whose venues include the York Castle Museum, the Yorkshire Museum and the city’s Art Gallery, has been told to consider a major overhaul of its policies after concerns were raised over the audits carried out on its collections.

York Council set up a task group to look at whether the trust is adhering to the protocols which were agreed when it was launched a decade ago. The task group has found that audits of the collections are “insufficiently rigorous,” while the disposal of items deemed surplus to requirements needs to be more closely monitored.

Members of York Council’s cabinet committee will be asked to back a number of recommendations when they meet on January 8.

They include ensuring that continued improvement is made in collection management standards and is monitored annually and steps are taken to recruit more volunteers.

A draft report, earlier considered by the council’s learning and culture overview and scrutiny committee, has identified a lack of storage for collections that is impinging on the trust’s plans to develop its venues.

The committee’s chairwoman, Coun Ann Reid, told the Yorkshire Post at the time the extent of the collections, which include artefacts from the Roman, Viking and medieval eras charting the city’s 2,000-year history, had placed resources under growing pressure.

Highlights include the York Helmet, the most outstanding object of the Anglo-Saxon period to survive in Europe, and the Middleham Jewel, the finest piece of gothic jewellery found in Britain.

The museums trust has confirmed it will be looking to review its policies for acquiring and disposing of items in its collections. But a spokesman maintained every effort is made to ensure all items are properly catalogued and tracked whether they are on display or in storage. The trust was formed in 2002 in a partnership agreement with the council.