"There is clearly an imbalance in arts provision between the capital and much of the rest of the country.

"While there have been certainly been efforts over the years to redress this imbalance, such as the opening of Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, there is a need for a systematic approach to ensuring that national cultural institutions have real national reach. While travelling exhibitions may be helpful, I would like to see national institutions required to fully engage on a permanent basis with local institutions, providing support, infrastructure and loans to museums and galleries in under-served areas.

"It is worth emphasising that the focus should not be entirely on the objects in the collections, but rather on the broader range of skills and resources that national institutions are able to bring to bear to bolster the efforts of their colleagues labouring in obscurity far from the bright lights of London."

Dr Eric Jensen, Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer), Department of Sociology,

For further details please contact Nicola Jones, Media Relations Manager, University of Warwick 07920531221 or N.Jones.1@warwick.ac.uk