SLC has finalised the Heritage Change Programme Support Pack featuring guidance, toolkits and advice from the Heritage Change Programme on behalf of the London Cultural Improvement Programme (LCIP). The Heritage Change Programme (HCP) is part of the overall London Cultural Improvement Programme which is funded by Capital Ambition (London’s Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership) and other partners including MLA, English Heritage, London Museum’s Hub and Archives for London. It focuses exclusively on Local Authority Archives, Museums and Historic Environment.

The programme aims to engage all of London’s Local Authorities in preparing for change and developing new ways of working in the context of reducing public sector funding and local government transformation. Earlier in February and March, SLC ran a series of successful workshops on Options Appraisals and Future Management Models, supported by guest speakers including Maggie Appleton Chief Executive – Luton Culture, Dr Scott Cooper Director – Fulham Palace and Sarah Fosker, Marketing and Events Manager – Bexley Heritage Trust. These sessions provided Heritage Managers with an excellent balance of theory and practice on support for their Heritage Service transformation and to equip them for the current challenges being faced by their service. There are three key themes developed to support Boroughs within the Pack:

  1. New Ways of Working
  2. Future Services
  3. Key Competencies for the Future.

These have been developed following consultation and research with London Boroughs over the last 6 months. SLC is now working with three London Borough Pilot Projects: Camden & Islington, Haringey and Brent to support them in areas such as developing a virtual service, improving revenue generation and exploring merging using the HCP Support Pack material and our specialise consulting support. Case studies will be available later in the year. The HCP Support Pack is available here from the LCIP Website.

Duncan Wood-Allum said. “We’re absolutely delighted to have completed the main HCP programme and delivered some high quality support for London’s Heritage Sector. It’s been a privilege working with Sue Thiedeman and Tina Morton and the Steering Group and they have been a superb client to work with. Special thanks go to our Associates Elizabeth Oxborrow Cowan and Paddy McNulty for bringing their specialist expertise into the SLC team. SLC has demonstrated that it can tackle the most challenging briefs and deliver real value and quality outputs. This is something we are very proud of and we look forward to future opportunities to work with London’s Museums, Archives and the Historic Environment.”