HC Deb 26 May 1988 vol 134 cc258-61W
Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Minister for the Arts what information he has about museums disposing of items not required for display or retention.

Mr. Luce

Most national museums and galleries have carefully circumscribed powers to dispose of items from their collections either by sale, exchange or gift. I believe that this facilitates good collections management and it is my intention to grant such powers to the National gallery, Tate gallery and National Portrait gallery as part of their change to corporate status.

As I announced in the House on 20 May, I shall be initiating a wider consultation exercise on this question before reaching any final decisions. I shall be considering in the light of the response whether it would be appropriate for different collections to be treated differently in this respect.

Institution Date charges introduced Present charges
Adult Concession
£ £
British Museum (Natural History)
Natural History Museum1 April 1987 2.00 1.00
Geological Museum1 April 1987 1.00 1.00
Zoological Museum2 April 1987 1.00 1.00
Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road December 1984 Voluntary Donation
HMS Belfast3 December 1971 3.00 1.50
Cabinet War Rooms April 1984 2.80 1.50
Duxford Airfield4 January 1976 3.50 1.80
National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside
Merseyside Maritime Museum April 1986 1.00 0.50
National Maritime Museum April 1984 2.20 1.20
Science Museum
National Railway Museum April 1987 1.50 0.75
Wroughton Airfield5 1980 2.00 —
Concorde6 1980 3.00 1.50
Tate Gallery
Barbara Hepworth Gallery7 1976 0.50 0.25
Victoria and Albert Museum
South Kensington November 1985 Voluntary Donation
Apsley House 1949 2.80 1.00
Ham House 1952 1.80 0.90
Osterley Park House 1953 1.80 0.90
Theatre Museum April 1987 2.25 1.25
1 Free entry 4.30–6.00 pm weekdays.
2 Free entry 4.30–5.30 pm weekdays.
3 Taken over by Imperial War Museum March 1978.
4 £2.50 and £1.25 during winter.
5 Seasonal opening. Charge per car.
6 Charge is for entry to Fleet Air Arm Museum.
7 Taken over by Tate in 1980.

The other information the hon. Member asks for can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Worthington

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table, covering each of the votes on Class XIII and each of the years 1979–80 to 1990–91, which analyse income other than supply grant by its source including admission charges, other charges, trading profit, miscellaneous sales revenue, support from non-Government sources, public donations and other miscellaneous income.

It is for the trustees of each institution, advised by their director, to determine the extent to which their statutory powers are used. Information about items disposed of under these powers is not held centrally.

Mr. Worthington

To ask the Minister for the Arts if he will publish in theOfficial Report, for each of the national museums covered by Class XIII a list of operational facilities, the dates at which any admission charges were introduced and the structure of such tariffs and any changes over the period 1979 to 1988.

Mr. Luce

[holding answer 25 May 1988]: The national museums and galleries sites at which the trustees charge for admission or seek a voluntary donation are as follows:

Mr. Luce

[holding answer 25 May 1988]: It is the policy of this Government to maintain their support for museums and galleries, and the arts generally, and to do so in a way which encourages and assists arts organisations to become more self-reliant in their development and growth. Some of the national museums and galleries have been particularly successful in this; all are developing their non-Exchequer sources of funding.

The non-Exchequer receipts of the national museums and galleries that I sponsor, for the years since 1979–80, including the estimate for the current year, are as follows:

£ 000
1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 (estimate)
British Museum 610 814 939 960 1,100 1,327 1,520 1,250 1,853 4,592
British Museum (Natural History) 609 767 844 942 931 1,174 1,392 1,657 3,843 4,441
Imperial War Museum 458 495 531 551 660 850 779 875 1,259 2,825
National Gallery 20 25 27 99 112 106 48 114 144 286
National Maritime Museum 180 210 217 227 255 624 720 672 879 1,089
National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside — — — — — — — — — 716
National Portrait Gallery 200 156 200 210 220 245 387 426 726 640
Science Museum 50 40 39 140 280 250 240 350 1,950 2,200
Tate Gallery 25 165 122 164 260 260 161 240 342 932
Victoria & Albert Museum 119 370 376 571 572 690 990 1,019 625 2,842
Wallace Collection 12 17 15 43 30 35 40 50 57 66
2,283 3,059 3,310 3,907 4,420 5,561 6,277 6,653 11,678 20,629

Notes:

  1. 1. Source: Supply Estimates 1981–82 to 1988–89.
  2. 2. National Maritime museum figure for 1987–88 has been adjusted to take account of later information.
  3. 3. National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside was established in 1986. Receipts figures were not shown in Supply Estimates for 1986–87 and 1987–88.

An analysis of receipts on the basis and in the detail requested by the hon. Member is not available.