Museums and Galleries (Hansard, 14 October 1996)

§ 1. Mr. Mans
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much her Department is spending in the current financial year on capital projects at museums and galleries. [37920]

§ 8. Mr. Pope
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on the funding of museums and galleries. [37930]

§ The Secretary of State for National Heritage (Mrs. Virginia Bottomley)
The 17 museums and galleries sponsored by my Department will receive over £205 million in grant in aid. The lottery has made 139 awards totalling over £250 million to capital projects at museums and galleries. The Government's position on the funding of museums and galleries was recently set out in "Treasures in Trust". Copies were sent to hon. Members and placed in the Library of the House.

§ Mr. Mans
Has any of that money gone to service museums and, in particular, to any museum in Lancashire?

§ Mr. Skinner
It has all gone to Gilbert and Sullivan.

§ Mrs. Bottomley
I hope that it will be possible in due course for lottery money to go to Gilbert and Sullivan and the D'Oyly Carte, but its arm's-length relationship with the Arts Council is not a matter for me to comment on. I am sure that many hon. Members would favour that proposal strongly.
I can tell my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) that a substantial amount has gone to service museums, including £6.5 million to the imperial war museum's new American air museum at Duxford and £61,000 to the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment museum in Lancaster.

§ Mr. Pope
The Secretary of State mentioned "Treasures in Trust", which made no reference to the introduction of compulsory competitive tendering in local authority museums. Can she assure the House that CCT will not be introduced?

§ Mrs. Bottomley
There are no plans to introduce CCT in local authority museums. The document is an excellent framework for the standards for which we should all be looking in museums, ranging from the great national museums to the equally important local museums. It is a timely account and a spur to action which I hope will unite the House.

§ Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman
May I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the welcome donation to the museum in Lancaster? It is a superb museum already, but it will be infinitely better when it is 445 finished. At the last Armistice day, there was avid talk about what improvements could be made to the museum, and these can now be made.

§ Madam Speaker
Order. This is Question Time. I did not hear a question.

§ Dame Elaine Kellett-Bowman
I said, "Would she accept my thanks?"

§ Madam Speaker
Order. That is hardly the sort of pertinent question that we get in this House. If the Secretary of State wishes to make a brief comment, I will accept it but I would like to hear questions in future.

§ Mrs. Bottomley
I accept the thanks of my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster (Dame E. Kellett-Bowman), and I should add that that museum uses a lot of volunteers. Volunteers are the life-blood of museums, which are the focal point of many communities. I hope that the additional resources from the national lottery will lead to greater use of museums by both young and old.

§ Mr. Fisher
Do not these figures reveal the truth—that the Government are using the receipts from the national lottery to conceal and compensate for their inadequacy in meeting the capital needs of the galleries and museums for which the Secretary of State is responsible? Are they not covering up for the past 17 years of neglect? Did not the Prime Minister promise that lottery money would not be used in that way? Is that not yet another broken promise from the Prime Minister?

§ Mrs. Bottomley
One of the most enjoyable features of recent months has been watching the Labour party's agony as it tries to cope with the formidable success of the national lottery, which has produced more money than anyone expected. If Labour had had its way, it would have increased operating costs, reduced the amount of money going to good causes and meddled with the distribution. I am delighted that, in addition to the £205 million given to the key 17 museums, a further £250 million has been provided by the lottery. As the document sets out, another £500 million is likely to be provided between now and the end of the century.