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20th November 2008

Libraries body cuts 100 jobs

20.02.08 Benedicte Page

The majority of staff at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's nine regional bodies are to lose their jobs in a major restructure which will lead to around 100 job cuts.

The nine independent regional MLAs will be wound up over the next year and replaced by small teams reporting to a national structure. Staff levels for each team will be slashed from a typical 15 to no more than three to four.

The move follows the recent decision to cut back the central MLA council and move key operations from London to Birmingham.

The MLA said the restructure would enable it to improve the services and funding it provides, including the £4m sum allocated over three years to help museums, libraries and archives deliver the government's Cultural Offer.

Chairman Mark Wood said:"The Board has taken the decision that only radical reorganisation will sustain a stronger, more focused MLA working nationally and regionally, and making better use of public money."

The restructure comes ahead of a DCMS regional review, chaired by culture minister Margaret Hodge, aimed at streamlining regional agencies with responsibility for culture. Recommendations from that review are expected in March.

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