Jobs at risk at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery as WNC looks to save money

Jobs are at risk at the multi-million pound Northampton Museum and Art Gallery as the council looks to save money.

West Northants Council (WNC) has confirmed it could be making employees at the museum in Guildhall Road redundant.

Deputy leader at WNC, councillor Adam Brown said: “The council has been clear that it faces enormous pressure on its services with demand and inflation increasing and the grants and money we raise not meeting these needs in full.“So in line with good practice across the sector we have had to look at all services to ensure that we have realised the full benefit of them being brought together, that our income is being maximised and that we are efficient.“The public expects us to do this and it’s important when residents are faced with such cost of living challenges. We have reviewed all services in this way and in some cases will now be seeking to restructure where this makes sense.“We will always seek to minimise or remove any job losses and we will consult with staff and unions where this is the case. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this time until staff have been engaged.”

WNC was asked how many jobs are at risk but said it could not confirm that number at this time.

Andy Chapman, formerly an archaeologist in the town, wrote to the Chronicle and Echo, saying: “How ironic it is that on the day I receive my copy of the Chronicle and Echo, with the front page heralding WNC’s ‘Visions for the future…’ detailing the revised plans for the Chalk Lane Heritage Park, we should also hear about another one of their ‘Visions for the future…’, which entails making more than half of the specialist staff at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery redundant.

“One might suggest that at both national and local government levels, the millions of pounds that the Tories can allocate to certain projects are all about creating a smokescreen so that we fail to notice that, simultaneously, our basic public services are either becoming dysfunctional due to underfunding or disappearing entirely.

“What a comfort it is that while education, the health service, libraries, museums, and so much else are disappearing, we will still have a nice Market Square and a park to sit in.”

The museum underwent a £6.7 million refurbishment in 2021, which was funded by the controversial sale of an Egyptian statue.

As part of the renovation, the museum has doubled in size, has a new, dedicated shoe gallery, two art galleries, a huge temporary exhibition space, a central hall with a three-wall projection playing different films, a large and airy atrium, a new shop and selling gallery supporting local businesses, artists and makers, a cafe and an outside terrace.

The Guildhall Road museum won the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Award for the best non-residential extension in the East Midlands and was shortlisted for the National Building Excellence Awards in January 2022.