New statistics reveal a huge increase in the recording and reporting of both Treasure and archaeological finds over the last few years.

Through a generous grant by the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has helped secure the Cartwright Archive for the people of Northamptonshire and the nation.

HM Treasury's Pre-Budget Report, released yesterday, announced increased funding for the education and skills agenda, although the MLA questions the absence of any mention of the upcoming 2008 Cultural Olympiad.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) Council today released the results of the Museum Learning Survey 2006, the first review of education provision since 1999. The study indicates that museum education in England has made a significant step forward in terms of the quality and range of services provided; staffing; facilities; expenditure; consultation; evaluation and partnership working.

A report published today, Museums and Galleries in Britain: Economic, Social and Creative Impacts, by Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, finds that "the UK's museums and galleries could, with greater capacity to expand and improve, allow this country to be a world leader in creativity and scholarship."

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) welcomes the recent publication of the Gowers Review of Government policy on Intellectual property. This is a far-reaching review with significant recommendations for museums, libraries and archives, which include:

Two paintings of London by the great Venetian painter Canaletto, a rare and stunning Anglo-Saxon coin, a medieval bronze jug, a silver cup presented to naval hero Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke by the people of his native Suffolk and other significant objects valued at a total of £8.3 million have been saved for the nation. This is revealed in the 52nd annual report of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest published today.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) Accreditation Panel has removed Bury Art Gallery and Museum's Accredited status. This decision was taken as a result of the Bury Metropolitan Borough Council's decision to sell the painting A Riverbank by L.S. Lowry to plug a hole in the council's deficit. The painting was sold for £1.25m last month.

Culture Minister, David Lammy, has placed a temporary export bar on The Crucifixion, a painting by the Netherlandish artist Karel van Mander the Elder. This will provide a last chance to raise the money and save the painting, which is the only known work of this artist existing in the UK.