The city's Millennium Gallery
is one of the museums facing job losses as a result of funding cuts
Sheffield's museums face "large-scale redundancies"
after the Arts Council turned down a bid for £4.2m of funding, the city's
council leader has warned.
Museums Sheffield had applied for £1.4m per year for the next
three years from the Arts Council England.
Council leader Julie Dore said: "This is a huge
disappointment for the city.
"Large-scale staff redundancies, major reductions in
exhibition programmes, and scaled-down learning provision are all now
inevitable."
The council said its failure to gain funding from the
Renaissance Museum Development Fund would mean a "crushing" 30% cut
in its budget from 1 April.
The Arts Council said it had received 29 "eligible"
applications for a total of £116.4m in funding over three years.
Sixteen of the applicants were successful, including Leeds
Museums and Galleries and the York Museums Trust.
"One year's transitional funding will be available to
unsuccessful applicants who currently receive support... to help them adjust to
these changes," it said.
Museums Sheffield, which runs the city's Millennium Gallery,
Graves Gallery, Weston Park and Bishops' House, said it planned to appeal
against the Arts Council's decision.
'Grossly underfunded'
Chief executive Nick Dodd said: "We know we put together a
compelling case for continued funding under the new Arts Council grants
programme, which met all the published criteria.
"This decision will have a devastating impact and leaves
Sheffield, South Yorkshire and the East Midlands grossly underfunded by the Arts
Council in comparison with other parts of the country.
"We fully intend to appeal and will be questioning the Arts
Council's strategic and geographical distribution of this public money."
Museums Sheffield is still in negotiation with its principal
funder, Sheffield City Council, over its 2012/13 settlement.
Julie Dore, leader of Labour-run Sheffield City Council, said:
"We know Sheffield had a very strong bid and should have been recognised
for its cultural offer.
"I want to know why we were not successful and how we
compared to others. We want to stand up for Sheffield, support the appeal and
will await the decision with interest."
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