Arts Council England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have started work on a Museums Plan for England, a strategic vision for the sector covering the coming decade, in what would be the first single government-backed national strategy for the country's museums. Details were set out at the Museums Association's annual conference in Birmingham, in a session led by Emmie Kell, Arts Council England's director of museums and cultural property, and Alice Dowswell, the Department's deputy director for creative places and libraries.

The plan is intended as a shared framework that aligns policy, investment and collective action across the sector, rather than a strategy for any single organisation or type of museum. An independent Museums Plan Taskforce, working with the sector, the Arts Council and the Department, will oversee the process, and five strategic inquiry groups will explore themes including public value and future audiences, collections, care and infrastructure, resilience and operating models, people, skills and leadership, and place, partnership and devolution.

The work follows a recommendation in the recent review of Arts Council England by Baroness Margaret Hodge, which called on the funding body to work with the Department and the sector to develop a strategic framework. Kell told delegates that England's museums have never had a single national strategy of this kind: the Mendoza Review of 2017 was the closest thing to a sector-wide assessment, but it was fundamentally a review with recommendations rather than a shared strategy for delivery.

The Arts Council aims to publish the plan in autumn or winter 2027, after a year of consultation and development, with workshops in person and online in early 2027. Preliminary consultation over the summer found severe financial pressures, workforce capacity problems and concerns about collections care, alongside a strong desire among museum leaders for transformation rather than incremental change. The plan will not be a spending review bid, but officials say it is expected to shape spending priorities.