TORY FEARS OVER MUSEUM JOBS CUTS!
Bristol Tory leader Councillor Richard Eddy has called for controversial plans to cut up to a third of the City's specialist museum posts to be halted so that a new Council Select Committee can urgently examine the plans.
Trade Unions say that up to 9 of the 26 curator posts at the City's five museums could be for the chop as a result of the Museums Service Review Plan currently being carried out by the Labour-run Authority.
They also fear that a third of the Conservation Team (4 posts out of 13) will be axed as part of the controversial changes.
Now Conservative Culture spokesman and Leader Cllr Richard Eddy has stepped into the row and demanded that the Review's recommendations be put on hold until the newly-convened Museums and Archives Select Committee can scrutinise the plans.
Cllr Eddy, who is the Tory representative on the Select Committee which will look at the future development and funding of the Museums Service, has tabled written questions for Cllr Rosalie Walker, Cabinet Member for Culture & Healthy Communities, at tomorrow's meeting of the Full Council.
Cllr Eddy (Con, Bishopsworth) said: “Bristol has a superb reputation for the quality and excellence of our Museums and Archives Service, only a fraction of which is often seen by the general public.
“The new Museums & Archives Select Committee is anxious to look at how we can preserve and improve the service in the light of new demands and funding cut-backs by the Labour Government.
“I am very concerned that the current proposals will dumb-down and destroy the very heart of the Service, sacrificing specialist posts which will be impossible to recreate.
“I know that my fears are shared by many others and I am demanding that Cllr Walker puts this Review on hold until the new Select Committee has had a chance to examine her plans in detail.”
