§ Mr. FOOTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the particulars showing how the Estimate is made that 2360W the respective sums of £6,000 and £3,500 will be brought into the Treasury by charging entrance fees at the British Museum and the Natural History Museum; whether it is estimated that the number of admissions will be reduced; and, if so, to what extent?
§ Major BOYD-CARPENTERThe Estimate made in October, 1921, that the respective sums of £6,000 and £3,500 would be received by charging entrance fees at the British Museum and the Natural History Museum, was based on experience gained at the National Gallery. The further experience gained there since the calculations were made substantiates the original figures. As regards the second part of the question, such forecasts are necessarily somewhat uncertain, especially as conditions vary from year to year; but experience elsewhere suggests that no reduction is likely to take place in the total number of admissions during the year—any reductions on paying days tending to be made up either by transfer to non-paying days or by the natural growth in the number of visitors.