Here's a briefing on the North East Museums Strategic Board meeting held on 15 September 2025. The board approved the financial statements for 2024-25, having considered the Kinnair Associates Audit Findings report, and received the Director's Report, which provided a summary of North East Museums strategic activity. The Board also agreed to exclude the press and public from the meeting to discuss confidential matters.

Approval of Financial Statements

The Strategic Board approved the Statement of Accounts 2024/25 and Letter of Representation, and delegated authority to Chris Mullin, Chair of the NEM Strategic Board, to sign them on behalf of the board. This decision followed a review of the Kinnair Associates Audit Findings report. The report concluded that the audit of North East Museums' (NEM) financial statements was substantially complete, and Kinnair Associates did not anticipate making any modifications to their report. The agreed audit fee was £12,640.

The key audit matters identified by Kinnair Associates were:

• Revenue recognition
• Management override
• Related party transactions
• Accounting estimates
• Classification of incoming resources
• Allocation of expenditure to funds
• Cut-off
• Cash balance
• Valuation of investment in TWAM Enterprises Ltd (TWAMe )

The auditors found no adjusted or unadjusted misstatements.

The Audit Findings Report included a letter of representation¹ to be signed by the board. The letter included the following statements:

We have fulfilled our responsibilities as members of the Strategic Board, as set out in the terms of your engagement letter dated 8 March 2023 for preparing financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view and for making accurate representations to you.

All the transactions undertaken by North East Museums have been properly reflected and recorded in the accounting records.

All the accounting records have been made available to you for the purpose of your audit. We have provided you with unrestricted access to all appropriate persons within North East Museums and with all other records and related information requested, including Agenda Packs and minutes of all Strategic Board and Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meetings.

The financial statements are free of material misstatements, including omissions.

Director's Report

The Board received the Director's Report, which provided a summary of North East Museums strategic activity. The report recognised the continuing strong achievement of North East Museums as one of the country's leading museum and archive services. The report incorporated the North East Museums Strategic Update and Regional Working summaries.

Key activities and developments highlighted in the Director's Report included:

• Laing Art Gallery: The With These Hands exhibition, exploring the representation of craft in paintings, drawings and prints, was highlighted, along with a craft programme focusing on workshops related to the exhibition. The Linking Project, Family Art Class, Little Artists sessions, and Make and Muse Crafting Tours were also noted as successful engagement activities.
• Shipley Art Gallery: Family Crafting sessions, Family Art Class sessions, and the DesignLab Nation project with the V&A² were highlighted. Community activities, including Recovery through Ceramics and English practice sessions for refugees and asylum seekers, were also noted.
• Hatton Gallery: The Fine Art 100: Study for a Painting exhibition and the Master of Fine Art Degree Show were featured. The Hatton's learning officer continues to run a highly active programme which engages with primary schools, secondary schools, further education colleges as well as a well-established home education offer.
• Discovery Museum: The Discovery Lates event, the Newcastle Airport Exhibition, and the Our Voice Exhibition were highlighted. The summer Learning Programme, Work Experience Weeks, and a summer school in partnership with Newcastle University were also noted.
• Great North Museum: Hancock: The Contested Desires: Constructive Dialogues exhibition, the Destroying Nature: Histories of People and Environments trail, the Shoal exhibition, and the Imitating Life: The Blaschka Glass exhibition were featured.
• Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort: The 'A Striking Sight': The pioneering 1875 excavation of Arbeia Roman Fort exhibition was highlighted, along with the events programme and the Making Waves Volunteering Partnership with Groundwork South & North Tyneside.
• South Shields Museum & Art Gallery: The Spirit of the North East – Richard Hobson, A Retrospective exhibition and The Art of Conservation exhibition were featured. The Women at Work project and the National Gallery Masterpieces Tour were also highlighted.
• Stephenson Steam Railway: The Woodland Walk Project and the Miniature Railway were highlighted. The donation of the Tyne and Wear Metro's first ever carriage, number 4001, was also noted.
• Segedunum Roman Fort: The Segedunum Transformation Project, the Streets Above exhibition, the Collecting the Past exhibition, and the Meet the Romans Augmented Reality Project were featured.
• Woodhorn Museum: The Woodhorn Museum Triathlon, the Woodhorn Vintage Car Rally, and the Pop Up Ashington Group Hut were highlighted. The Community Pass Scheme and the Museum Estates and Development Fund (MEND) Project were also noted.
• Hexham Old Gaol: Holiday Activities and Events, the HE Everyday Heritage People and Prisons Project, and the Hexham Old Gaol Reimagined Project were featured.
• Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum: Musical Acquisitions and Piping Events were highlighted.
• Archives: The Public Records Cataloguing Project and the Unlocking North East Jewish Heritage project were featured.
• Communications: Website performance and social media performance were noted.
• Development: Sponsorship, individual giving, and trusts and foundations were highlighted.
• Communities: Mental health and wellbeing work, older people work, other community work, museum of sanctuary work, Northumberland work, loans boxes and heritage resources, and volunteering were highlighted.
• Networking/Advocacy: Attendance at various events and meetings was noted.
• Museum Development North: The 2025/6 Delivery Plan is now well under way, and the work programme is on target with no significant issues or active risks identified.
• Regional Cultural Learning: The Cultural Match programme and the Imagine if....teaching across the North East was truly inclusive, creative and empowering 2025 Conference were highlighted.
• Portable Antiquities Scheme: Numbers, in line with national trends, remain high.
• North East Family Arts Network: We co-ordinate the North East Family Arts Network on behalf of 26 North East-based cultural organisations providing training, peer support and sharing best practice around family inclusion in the arts.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The Board resolved to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining agenda items, citing Section 1004 and Schedule 124 Local Government Act 1972, because exempt information was likely to be disclosed and the public interest test against disclosure was satisfied.