Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Director of Regeneration and Economy.

The Board considered a briefing note from the Director of Regeneration and Economy that provided Members of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4) with the context and details of the latest request by Culture Coventry Trust to dispose of collections items, in line with relevant policies and Museum Accreditation standards.

The note provided Members of Scrutiny with information concerning the nature of each item proposed for disposal and the rationale behind each recommendation. Large municipal organisations such as Coventry City Council collected a wide range of historical and artistic artefacts over time, through a combination of statutory archiving, donations and gifts, bequests, loans, commissions, and purchases.

It was requirement of Arts Council England’s (ACE) Museum Accreditation scheme that Culture Coventry Trust (CCT) has a Collections Development Policy as part of the conditions laid down for granting Accredited Status to museums. Accreditation was a nationally recognised standard for Museums.

For one or more reasons, including the risk of contamination, a review of relevance and educational value of items to residents, or to free up space and resource to collect items of greater relevance to local people, the museum could have periodically reviewed arrangements and proposed to dispose of certain items from the collections in its care. It is important to note that ‘Disposal’ in this context was an asset management term, meaning deaccessioning/transfer out of the collection, rather than disposal in the waste/domestic sense.

The Collections Development Policy (shown in appendix 1 of the document pack) set out the principles that provided the governing bodies and workforce of the museums with a framework for responsible and ethical acquisition and disposal of collections. It provided clear procedures and decision-making processes common to Accredited Museums. The policy enabled museums to demonstrate the public benefit in their approach to collections development.

Members of Scrutiny Board were invited to an online workshop on 27th January 2026, ahead of the Scrutiny Board meeting, to consider in detail the items proposed for disposal. At the workshop Members responded to the full item list and supported the proposed disposals.

In considering the briefing note, the Board questioned officers, received responses, and discussed matters as summarised below:

• That there is a formal process CCT uses when identifying if items require disposal and as requirements change and new items came in, they reconsidered the need and value of items in their collection.
• Culture Coventry Trust has roughly 300,000 items, which if not displayed are kept in storage.
• If items are no longer needed, they are first offered to other accredited museums, before being offered to other collections; destruction is the final resort.
• Although the museum does not swap items with other museums, they do advertise items to other museums and can acquire items from other museums.
• If CCT is considering selling items that were gifted to them, they check there are no conditions attached or legal issues that could arise from the sale.
• Items are only destroyed in extreme cases like mould or chemical damage which could impact the rest of the collection.
• When repair is not reasonable or financially viable, it could be possible for the items to be given to accredited or non-accredited collections willing or able to repair the items.
• All proceeds from sales are used in the maintenance and management of collections.

The Board specifically thanked officers for their hard work and reiterated the importance and value of bringing reports covering the full list of items to the Boards attention and would welcome future input into decisions on disposals.

RESOLVED that the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4):

1)  Noted the contents of the presentation and report.

2)  Agreed with the outcome of the workshop to consider the full proposals, held on the 27th of January 2026.

3)  Supported the disposal process outlined in the briefing note and recommended that the Cabinet Member support the proposed list of collection items to be disposed by Culture Coventry Trust in accordance with their policy.