§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he is taking on the Williams report on the national museums and galleries in Scotland.
§ Mr. YoungerSince my announcement that the national museum of antiquities of Scotland would be developed into a museum of Scotland and that the Royal Scottish museum would be transferred to an independent board of trustees, I have considered the views expressed by interested bodies and individuals on these and related matters. I sought their views in particular on the question whether there should be one trustee board or two for these museums.
In the light of these views., I have decided that the right course, to enable flexible and integrated planning, in the interests of the museums in the future, is to have a single board, served by one director with responsibility for both museums.
As recommended in the Williams report, I propose to appoint a museum advisory board to advise me further. Among the matters on which the board will advise me will be accommodation for the national museum of antiquities of Scotland and the name for the joint museum structure. The preparatory work undertaken by this board will enable progress to be made before legislation to set up a board of trustees, which will be introduced in due course.
The concept of a museum of Scotland is an exciting one and its elaboration will be central to the advisory hoard's work. The concept extends beyond the collections of the national museum of antiquities of Scotland to collections within other national and major museums and collections in local museums and galleries. It calls for a strong central core with close links with collections elsewhere in Scotland and will, I consider, be greatly facilitated within the unified structure I propose. Such a structure w ill also facilitate other national developments foreshadowed in the Williams report, particularly that of a museum of industry, on which I am seeking further advice.
The Williams committee laid particular stress on the inadequacy of the present accommodation of the national museum of antiquities of Scotland. As I said last July, I will be giving priority to the museum's building needs in the allocation of the resources available to me for the development of museums and galleries in Scotland, and as a step towards this my Department is undertaking a study of possible sites.
I have also decided that the provision of independent advice on museums and galleries matters in Scotland should continue to be provided by the Museums and Galleries Commission and that a separate body in Scotland is not required. I have invited the commission, as and when resources permit, to undertake a study, the need for which has been identified by those concerned with museums in Scotland, on the role, adequacy and needs of local museums and galleries throughout Scotland.