Trust plan will protect city's '˜jewel in the crown'

The move is in a bid to save the assets from local authority cuts as government funding reduces each year. It will also open up potential funding opportunities, according to the council.

The new trust would include the Royal Pavilion, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Hove Museum and Art Gallery, the Booth Museum of Natural History and Preston Manor.

Next week councillors at Brighton and Hove City Council’s policy, resources and growth committee will decide on whether to establish a trust from April 2018, together with a 25-year funding agreement, to be reviewed every five years. It would mean management of all the city’s museums transferring into the charitable organisation with ownership of the buildings and the city’s collections staying with the council.

Councillor Warren Morgan, Labour leader of the council, said: “The Royal Pavilion is the jewel in our city’s heritage crown, the symbol of our city, the heart of our unique and diverse tourism offer. It is right that we do whatever we can to preserve and enhance it for future generations of residents and visitors.

“A new cultural trust with charitable status will open up many more opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy the city’s art, heritage and culture and provide a sustainable funding basis on which to grow, building on the success of Royal Pavilion & Museums (RPM) as a nationally significant museum service.

“This proposal is about making sure RPM can get funding to develop the service for years to come. A trust will open up greater freedom to generate new income. The council will still own the buildings and the collections and we will represent residents’ interests on the board of trustees.”

If agreed, staff working for the service would transfer to the new trust once it is established.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it would support the new trust in its first three years of business to allow it time to develop new sources of income.