Issue - meetings

Museum Policies

Meeting: 19/11/2025 - Community and Wellbeing Committee (Item 17)

The Museum Accreditation Scheme, overseen by Arts Council England, is the UK’s recognised standard for museums and galleries. It ensures institutions are resilient, well-managed, and meet national standards for care, access, and governance.

Bourne Hall Museum, operated by Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, is due for its accreditation review in early 2026. This is part of the Business as usual for the Museum irrespective of Local Government Reorganisation or the outcome of the options for the future of the museum which is due to come to committee in January 2026.

To support this review, four key policy documents and forward plan (listed in the appendices) must be formally approved by the Council. These documents are essential for maintaining accreditation and demonstrating strong governance and strategic planning.

Additional documents:

Decision:

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1) Approve the key policy documents for the Museum Service, as set out in the appendices to the report:

· Care and Conservation Policy

· Documentation Policy

· Access Policy

· Collections Development Policy

· Forward Plan 2025–2029

Minutes:

The Committee received a report seeking approval of four key policy documents and forward plan, essential for maintaining accreditation and demonstrating strong governance and strategic planning for the Museum Service.

The Committee considered the following matters:

a) Forward Plan. In response to a question from a Member, the Museum Curator stated that much of the forward plan was contingent on the successful acquisition of grant funding. She stated that the Covid pandemic had been significantly disruptive to the previous iteration of the forward plan.

b) Equality Impact Assessment. In response to a question from a Member, the Museum Curator confirmed that, should the Access Policy be approved, an equality impact assessment would be carried out.

c) Human Remains Policy. In response to a question from a Member, the Museum Curator explained that although section 10.1 of the proposed collections development policy set out that the museum doesn’t hold or intend to acquire any human remains, section 15.2 setting out the procedure for the disposal of human remains was included as a caveat for in the event of any human remains being discovered within the collection.

d) Partnerships with Educational Establishments. In response to a question from a Member, the Museum Curator explained that the museum has an Audience Development Plan which addresses the importance of forming partnerships with local schools and universities and making the museum and its collections available for student project and research work.

e) Successful Grants. In response to a question from a Member, the Museum Curator stated that the museum had recently been successful in applying for a £3000 grant to Surrey Museums Partnership for a new object documentation system, along with a grant for £4000 from Surrey Museum Development South-East for a new display case to display the museum’s roman coins collection for the first time.

f) Volunteers. In response to a comment from a Member, the Museum Curator highlighted the importance of the role that volunteers play in the success of the museum and stated that the museum was fortunate to have a very high-quality team of volunteers.

g) Modernisation. In response to a comment from a Member, the Museum curator stated that, following a successful grant application, a project would soon be underway with a view to redesigning and modernising the museum space.

h) Promotion. In response to a comment from a Member, the Museum Curator stated that the Bourne Hall team make use of social media and flyers to advertise and promote the museum and its events, along with the Surrey Museums Partnership also advertising for the museum.