ABSTRACT
In 1945, after the war ended, the Museums Association (MA) belatedly presented its report to government recommending a centrally funded Museum and Arts Gallery Grants Board to replace CEMA's support for museums. Local government organisations had also refused support, fearing central government encroachment. By the late 1940s, Ministry of Education funding was again discussed, but regional museums once more turned their back on education services, declining to collaborate with libraries and even with national museums, and returned to their traditional preoccupation with collections. The timing of the MA's regional policy coincided with a shift from wartime ideology to post-war reality. The Rosse Report made a major break with the past in recommending future development through regional cooperation in the form of Area Museum Councils. The seriousness of the museum service's problems began to attract political attention. The Commons debate also considered developments in the regional museum service with concerns raised about how the new service would be financed.
