§ 16. Mrs. Ann CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to strengthen collaboration between the national museums and galleries and the museums and galleries funded by his Department. [149402]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthThe national museums and galleries sponsored by my Department already have a good record for assisting their regional counterparts through, for example, tours and loans of their works and the provision of curatorial advice.
In recent years the national museums and galleries have established direct liaison with their regional counterparts involving closer interaction. We will be encouraging the further development of such interaction.
Currently, a number of directors of our national museums and galleries are involved with a task group created by the Secretary of State and chaired by Lord Evans, Chairman of Resource, which is looking at issues facing regional museums and galleries and ways to help maximise their contributions to our cultural life.