§ 52. Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister for the Arts what further evidence he has on the effect of admission charges on visits to museums.
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§ Mr. LuceThose museums and galleries that have introduced charges have experienced a fall in attendances or expect to do so. All however find that the initial fall is soon reversed when visitors see for themselves the benefits and improvements which the revenue from charges brings, including extended opening hours.
§ 63. Mr. ChapmanTo ask the Minister for the Arts what steps his Department is taking to encourage national art galleries and museums to stage more special entry charged exhibitions so as to provide additional revenue for those galleries and museums.
§ Mr. LuceThe exhibition policies of the national museums and galleries are a matter for their trustees.
The Government are committed to maintaining support for museums and galleries in a way that encourages them to develop greater self-reliance in their development and to broaden their financial base. I have renewed for the coming three-year period my undertaking to the national institutions that they may retain any receipts they earn in addition to those which were assumed at the time of their grant-in-aid allocations. In the present year the national museums and galleries that I sponsor expect their income from non-grant sources to exceed £20 million.
§ 67. Mr. BowisTo ask the Minister for the Arts what is the increase or decrease in Government spending on museums and galleries since 1979.
§ Mr. LuceFunding for museums and galleries from the central Government arts programme was £48.202 million in 1979–80 and £153.576 million in 1988–89.