§ Mr. Rhodesasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on purchase grants for the national museums and galleries after the end of the current financial year.
§ Miss Jennie LeeThe Government have been considering the level of purchase grants for the national museums and galleries after the end of the current financial year. They believe that the quinquennial system of purchase grants has proved its value. Subject to Parliamentary approval of the estimates they have proposed that for the quinquennium 1970–71 to 1974–75 the total purchase grants shall be £2 million a year. This compares with £1 million in the current financial year and £835,000 a year in the quinquennium 1964–65 to 1968–69. This increase will be accommodated within the programme for public expenditure as a436W whole as set out in the White Paper "Public Expenditure 1968–69 to 1973–74" (Cmnd. 4234).
The Standing Commission on Museums and Galleries has been asked to advise on the distribution of the £2 million among the national institutions. Its recommendations, which the Government have accepted, are shown in the following table:
£ British Museum 632,000 Victoria and Albert Museum 139,000 Science Museum 8,000 Imperial War Museum 10,000 London Museum 8,000 National Gallery 480,000 National Portrait Gallery 40,000 National Maritime Museum 25,000 Tate Gallery 265,000 Royal Scottish Museum 44,000 National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland 24,000 National Galleries of Scotland (including Scottish National Portrait Gallery and Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) 152,000 National Library of Scotland 63,000 National Museum of Wales 64,000 National Library of Wales 46,000 2,000,000