 The Society for Museum Archaeology is the subject specialist network for archaeology in the UK and, as such, has a coordinating and representative role to national organisations such as the Arts Council and the Archaeology Forum. Overall, the SMA welcomes the initiative taken by the Society of Antiquaries in attempting to identify and address the issues that beset the practice of archaeology in England today. At the same time, we recognise that their manifesto was written several governments ago, priorities have shifted and the situation is extremely unclear and confusing. In some ways, this makes a more emphatic case for archaeologists collectively to accept that those issues persist and recognise that change is required. From a museum perspective, there is an increasingly urgent need for positive change. A new period of so-called austerity beckons and museums frequently suffer very badly from cuts to public spending. Reductions in curatorial expertise as well as museum opening hours can be expected if indeed museums continue to function at all. Closures are likely. The manifesto, in line with organisations such as CIFA and FAME, makes much of the way archaeology in the planning process is a £200 million per year business. But how much of that is invested in the future? How many archaeological contractors or businesses willingly invest in the security of and the provision of continuing access to the archive material that represents a resource of such great potential benefit to future generations? What fraction of those millions has gone to the museums who are expected to curate all those project archives? The ALGAO report planning for archives showed that between 2013 and 2018 digital archives were deposited with ADS for only 424 of a potential 43,000 archaeology projects. This is hardly indicative of full recognition by contractors of their responsibilities towards future research. Many museums will be able to tell you that they too are waiting for archive depositions from projects ostensibly completed many years ago. All too frequently, it looks as if archaeology is governed by a short-term approach that values the next project more highly than those nearing completion. That's nothing new as those numerous unpublished backlogs from the 70s and 80s bear witness. But until the important role of archaeology collections and their curators is recognised, true progress in the ways we organise archaeological practice is unlikely to be universal. Although there isn't much about museums within it, the manifesto represents a step forward. In 0.33 there is recognition of the need for a national strategic approach to archive curation as a remedy for persistent reductions in museum budgets. Even so, the SMA would have liked to see mention of museums in 3-4 the role of local government. There has been success in achieving statutory status for HERs, but in order for local authorities properly to safeguard the archaeological resource in all its forms, museums should receive the same recognition. The SMA has long called for museums to be a statutory service, and that must be a logical next step, which we'd like to see included in the manifesto. That would surely help to promote the collaborative and innovative culture with research and public benefit at the forefront that the manifesto calls for. The manifesto promotes a regional approach as the best way of achieving that. The model of regional repositories with enhanced storage capacity that are centres of curatorial expertise and foci for research and advice is a feature of the Southport Report and has been discussed frequently for many years. But given the current political and economic situation, a network of regional repositories seems an even more distant prospect. All the same, the concept mirrors one promoted in the recent ACE and HE funded report options for sustainable archaeological archives. Apart from looking into the feasibility of developing local, regional or national archive repositories, this project also promotes the concept of a national collection of archaeological archives. This would use the existing network of museums in a collective effort to develop a universal approach to collection, curation and provision of access. In that sense, this recognises the issues raised in the society's manifesto and offers a similar solution based in existing structures and utilising the extensive expertise that already resides within our museums and repositories. The options appraisal was one project among several being promoted by Historic England's Future for Archaeological Archives programme. The SMA is represented in the programme board for that initiative and endorses the course it is currently following. From the options appraisal, the programme is promoting the development of a single national archaeological archive store. This would answer the immediate pressing need to provide a home for archives that currently have no repository to go to whilst also offering a sustainable resource for well into the future. Here we are reckoning that a single store is the most realistically achievable option in the medium term. The SMA fully supports this initiative and is working on several supporting projects including a survey of archive usage. We can see a synergy here with the aspirations of the manifesto. A single national repository built as a single element within a national collection, ideally based in statutory museum services, would be a framework that would complement and support a network of regional research hubs. Working together, the aim would be to promote archaeology as the research activity, supporting the progressive development of local heritage resources while also identifying the regional, national and international significance of the results of archaeological endeavour. It is possible at the moment to view much archaeological work as driven by a commercial imperative. There has been little benefit to museums from that approach and that, as the Society of Antiquities has recognised, must change.