§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will publish an estimate of the value at current prices of the records and artifacts claimed by the national railway museum in each year since it opened in York under the provisions of section 144 of the Transport Act 1968.
§ Mr. SproatThis information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) whether he intends(a) to keep the national railway museum in York, (b) to continue to treat it as the most important national collection of railway-related records and artifacts and (c) to continue to fund it accordingly;
(2) what plans he has to remove the national railway museum, in York, from its place in the national museum of science and industry and establish it as a national museum in its own right.
§ Mr. SproatThere are no plans to move the national railway museum from York or to change its status. It will remain a part of the national museum of science and industry.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage by how much he plans to increase the Government grant-in-aid to the national railway museum in the current financial year and in future years to compensate for the museum's loss of the right to claim redundant railway equipment at no cost from certain railway undertakings.
§ Mr. SproatThe grant in aid to the national museum of science and industry for the current financial year and over the next two years was announced in November last year. It included an addition of over £2 million to the previously announced figures in order to allow for the replacement of 251W the motive power depot at the national railway museum in York. There are no present plans to increase the funding further.
The Railway Heritage committee was set up under the 1993 Railways Act to oversee disposal of artefacts and records as they pass from British Rail ownership. I am sure that the museum's representation on the committee will continue to enhance the reputation it has earned as the outstanding museum in this area of our heritage.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many people visited(a) the science museum in Kensington, (b) the national railway museum in York and (c) the national museum of the moving image in Bradford in the last financial year; and if he will show in a table (i) the total amount and (ii) the cash amount per visitor (x) received in Government grant in aid and (y) generated from visitors by each of these museums in the same financial year.
§ Mr. SproatThe number of visitors to these museums was as follows:
Financial year 1993–94 1992–93 Science Museum (South Kensington) 1,269,345 1,223,702 National Railway Museum 479,414 535,575 National Museum of Photography, Film and Television 832,286 764,166 Wroughton 90,120 55,280 Totals 2,671,165 2,578,723 The national museum for science and industry receives a single grant in aid from the Government. In 1992–93—the latest year for which accounts are available—this grant-in-aid was £21,878,000. It is not earmarked between the four component museums—science museum, national railway museum, national museum of photography, film and television and Wroughton. The NMSI aggregates both the grant in aid and its other income for these four component museums in order to provide a total income pool. From that total the board of trustees of NMSI allocates expenditure to the four museums according to priorities determined by the board.
The income generated by visitors to three component museums in 1992–93 was as follows. Figures exclude income from Wroughton which is received from hire of the site to outside organisations:
Gross income generated by visitors (£thousands) Income per visitor (£) Science Museum (South Kensington) 2,469 2.07 National Railway Museum 1,669 3.12 National Museum of Photography, Film and Television 928 1.22