Recommendation 18

The Department told us that it provided support by developing a community of arm’s-length bodies, including museums and galleries, so that it can work on the common issues faced by museums and galleries together. It had already established a number of different forums at which these 38 C&AG’s report, paras 19, 2.9 and 3.26 39 Qq 2, 10, 12 and 14 40 Q 27 41 Q 26 14 bodies could share good practice.42 We asked the Department whether it should be a condition of its funding of museums and galleries that they co-operate and share in arrangements, such as the shared finance and HR system, that are likely to offer better value for money. It told us that it would not rule this out, but the Government’s expectation at the moment was that bodies be encouraged to co-operate and share services, rather than making it a requirement.43