This statement sets out the functions carried out by Birmingham Museums Trust (‘BMT’) that are within BMT’s public task under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (the ‘2015 Regulations’).

Public sector information (PSI) is information produced by central and local government or any other public body.

Birmingham Museums Trust is a registered charity (charity number 1147014) incorporated under the Companies Acts with registered number 7737797 and having its registered office at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3DH (“BMT”). BMT is responsible for governing and managing the museum sites and collections owned by Birmingham City Council, including Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Thinktank (Birmingham's Science Museum), Aston Hall, Blakesley Hall, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Sarehole Mill, Soho House, Weoley Castle and the Museum Collection Centre.

BMT is subject to the requirements laid down in the Companies Act 2006, the Charity Commission, the Accreditation Standard set out by Arts Council England, the funding agreements with Arts Council England and Birmingham City Council (BCC), collections and services agreements with BCC, and relevant legislation regarding museums in the UK.

See the ‘Our Organisation’ section on BMT’s website for further information on our trustees, directors, our business plan, annual reports and policies.

Birmingham Museums Trust’s public task is:

To advance education by the operation, maintenance, development and promotion of museums, galleries and libraries in Birmingham, together with associated facilities and related programmes of outreach and research, fostering knowledge, understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the arts, history, science and technology by residents and visitors to the city of Birmingham.

Work BMT carries out under contract (e.g. for research purposes) through organisations paying for the hire of BMT’s accumulated staff expertise and information is outside our public task. Third party products derived from public task activities for re-sale in the commercial market are outside our public task. More information about the types of work available for re-use under the Public Sector Information Directive can be found on the next page of this document.

If you have any queries on this public task statement under the 2015 Regulations, you can submit them by email to: hello@birminghammuseums.org.uk. See the policy page for a link to our Complaints Policy and Feedback form.

Date of statement: May 2021. This statement is regularly reviewed and is due to be considered again in May 2022.

Types of work available for re-use

More information about the types of work available for re-use under the Public Sector Information Directive from Birmingham Museums Trust.

1. Generally available for free re-use

Factual data about works in the collection which has been intentionally published by Birmingham Museums Trust (‘BMT’).

Digital images of works in the collection up to 3Mb files, at no more than 300dpi, limited to copyright-expired works. See CC0 1.0 Universal for further details.

Works expressly produced for free and unrestricted public access by Birmingham Museums Trust.

Works available to the public under the Public Records Act 1958 or made available under Part I of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

2. Re-usable at a charge

High resolution images of copyright-expired works in the collection, whether as jpgs or tiff images. See the Picture Library for further details.

For approval, terms, and details of fees, please email PictureLibrary@birminghammuseums.org.uk

Staff texts and other substantial documents which are copyright of Birmingham Museums Trust.

3. Not available for re-use

Works not falling within points 1 or 2 above.

Any works where re-use would be against the public interest having regard to:

Birmingham Museums Trust’s (‘BMT’) published policies
The safety and security of the collection or BMT’s various premises;
The safety, security and privacy of any person;
In the case of cultural property generally, the principles set out in BMT’s Due Diligence Policy

Works in which the intellectual property rights belong to a third-party, such as a living artist or their heirs, and including audio and audio-visual recordings, films and other media content produced by third party TV broadcasters and film producers.

Works the re-use of which would be likely to cause prejudice to Birmingham Museum Trust’s reputation.

Works to which public interest exemptions in Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 apply. Where the public interest is balanced in favour of disclosure, documents will be available as if public records in point 1.

Documents commissioned from Birmingham Museums Trust by third parties for the third parties’ own purposes.

Images of works in which the intellectual property does not belong to Birmingham Museums Trust .

Any work which includes a trademark, logo, insignia or crest.