A new report from the English Civic Museums Network sets out the powerful, and often under-recognised, contribution that local authority museums make to national life. Drawing together the most robust research available, the report highlights civic museums as a “Distributed National Collection” of more than 500 institutions, collectively caring for millions of objects that tell England’s story through local places. It identifies impact across cultural value, education and skills, civic identity, economic growth, and health and wellbeing – demonstrating that museums are not simply heritage venues, but essential social infrastructure.

The report also underlines the scale of financial pressure facing the sector, with local authority museum funding having fallen by more than a third since 2011 – a real-terms loss of over £100 million a year. While many museums continue to innovate, hundreds remain at risk without long-term structural reform.

The Network welcomes recent support from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including the Museums Renewal Fund and the Museums Estates and Development Fund. The January 2026 commitment of more than £100 million over five years for maintenance and backlogs marks a significant milestone, expected to support up to 200 sites. The report argues that this investment must now be matched with long-term reform to secure a sustainable future for England’s civic museums.

You can download the report below.