Following the government's review of what it calls 'arms length bodies' and the announcement of its intention to abolish the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), the Museums Association has said it will fight the move.

It wants to ensure that museums remain an integral part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), while programmes such as Renaissance and Accreditation survive.

Mark Taylor, director of the MA, said: "It is important that we have a strategic body with museums as one of its principal functions, rather than a minor department in another quango.

"We need to know before the Comprehensive Spending Review where the strategic museum function is going to be within the DCMS. The challenge now is to retain as much as possible from the good that the MLA does and make sure that museums have their rightful place in the DCMS structure."

Taylor is meeting with culture minister Ed Vaizey on 3 August to discuss the government's plans. The latter also include the possible abolition of the UK Film Council, the Advisory Council on Libraries and the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck sites, plus the declassification of the Theatres Trust and the Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships.