Building on the work of the independent Review of Renaissance, the MLA developed a National Action Plan for Museums 'Leading Museums, A Vision and Strategic Action Plan for English Museums'.
This charted a future based on the museum sector working together towards three objectives - Supporting Excellence; Promoting Partnerships and Building Capacity.
Leading Museums envisaged a future where excellent regional and national museums developed their collections in ways that reach beyond their walls and put people first.
The Leading Museums group was formed in October 2009 under the chairmanship of Professor Tom Schuller to work on high level thinking on the current priorities for the sector, using Leading Museums as a starting point but paying particular attention to the risks and challenges of the current political and economic situation.
The 'Leading Museums 12 month review' reports on the progress of the group in the first year and reviews the continuing relevance of 'Leading Museums' in the changing economic and political climate.
Chair of the Group, Professor Tom Schuller, said: ”Museums are making a major contribution to the economy, to learning and to the wellbeing of individuals and communities, but their response to the unprecedented economic environment cannot be a purely defensive one.
“Strategic leadership is needed at national, regional and local level to allow services to prosper and become more self-supporting and sustainable for the long-term. We want to promote a constructive and imaginative debate on how this might be done."
MLA Chair Sir Andrew Motion said: “We are very grateful for Professor Schuller and his colleagues on the Leading Museums group for delivering an insightful, succinct and very timely report. Having discussed the report in depth, the MLA Board fully supports the trajectory of thinking."
To read Tom Schuller's letter outlining the group's findings, click here