§ 6. Mr. Phil Sawford (Kettering)What plans he has to extend the provision of free entry for children to those national museums and galleries outside London. [83413]
§ The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mr. Chris Smith)Since 1 April, entry for schoolchildren to all national museums and their branches has been free. I am delighted to say that that includes Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire, the eight national museums and galleries on Merseyside, the zoological museum at Tring, the national railway museum at York, the Tate gallery in St. Ives, Fort Nelson in Portsmouth, and the museum of science and industry in Manchester.
§ Mr. SawfordI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. First, what action is his Department taking to encourage non-national museums to give children free entrance? Secondly, will he accept an invitation from me to visit the excellent Alfred East art gallery and the wonderful award-winning museum in Kettering, neither of which will charge him an entrance fee?
§ Mr. SmithI thank my hon. Friend for that generous invitation. When I have the opportunity to visit Kettering, I shall undoubtedly take him up on that offer. We have put in place a new fund for the designated museums—the 43 pre-eminent regional museums. That is a £15 million fund over the next three years. We have also supported the heritage lottery fund's ambitions by establishing a £7 million access fund. I hope that that will enable museums around the country to follow our example and ensure that children have the best possible access to our great collections.
§ Mr. Mike Hancock (Portsmouth, South)I welcome the fact that the museums outside London that the Secretary of State has listed give free entry to school children. Will he widen that list to include the heritage area in Portsmouth, which contains HMS Victory, Warrior and Mary Rose, and the Royal Naval museum? It would benefit enormously from an influx of schoolchildren. More importantly, schoolchildren would learn a great deal about our history, especially our maritime history, if it were included on the list.
§ Mr. SmithThe Mary Rose, with its associated exhibitions, is a designated collection. I am sure that the trustees of the Mary Rose collection are making a good application to the Museums and Galleries Commission for the use of some of the funds for designated museums. I am also sure that the hon. Gentleman will exercise his powers of persuasion over his colleagues about precisely what they should bid for.
§ Mr. Richard Spring (West Suffolk)In a parliamentary written answer after the comprehensive spending review, the Secretary of State announced free 629 access for children this year, for pensioners next year, and for everyone in 2001. Will he confirm that sufficient sums are available to carry out his pledge?
§ Mr. SmithWe have provided sufficient funds for the current year to meet the free access for children pledge, which has now been fulfilled, and sufficient funds for next year to ensure that the pledge on pensioners can be carried out, and we have allocated £30 million in the budget for the third year. As we made clear at the time, it is up to the trustees of each national collection to decide whether they want to take up that offer.