§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
In which year compulsory entry charges and voluntary donations were introduced for the National Museum for Science and Industry; how many people visited the museum in the year before and the year after the introduction of any such charge or donation, and what percentage change this represents; and how many people visited the museum in 1993–94.
§ Lord InglewoodThe National Museum of Science and Industry consists of the Science Museum in London, the National Railway Museum in York, and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford.
Compulsory entry charges were introduced for the Science Museum in 1988 but the Museum offered—as it still does—free entry for all visitors after 4.30 p.m. and for pre-booked school parties at all times. There were 1.84 million visits to that museum in the financial year 1987–88 and 1.23 million in 1989–90. This represents a 33.2 per cent. reduction compared with 1987–88. There were 1.27 million visits to the museum in 1993–94.
Compulsory entry charges were introduced for the National Railway Museum in 1987 but the museum 155WA offered—as it still does-free entry for pre—booked school parties for an annual fee for the school of £30. There were 945,000 visits to the museum in 1986–87 and 595,000 in 1988–89. This represents a 37.0 per cent. reduction compared with 1986–87. There were 479,000 visits to the museum in 1993–94.
Entry to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television remains free of charge.
The number of free admissions are estimates only and the data are therefore not directly comparable to the numbers of paid admissions.
§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
In which year compulsory entry charges and voluntary donations were introduced for the Victoria and Albert Museum; how many people visited the museum in the year before and the year after the introduction of any such charge or donation, and what percentage change this represents; and how many people visited the museum in 1993–94.
§ Lord InglewoodIn addition to the museum at Exhibition Road, the Victoria and Albert Museum is responsible for the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood and the Theatre Museum and also manages the Wellington Museum at Apsley House, all in London.
Voluntary donations were introduced at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1985. There were 1.69 million visits to the Museum in 1984 and 1.02 million in 1986. This represents a 39.5 per cent. reduction compared with 1984 but the number of free admissions are estimates only and the data are therefore not directly comparable. There were 1.30 million visits to the museum in 1993–94.
Entry to the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood remains free. The Theatre Museum was opened in 1987 and visitors were charged for admission to its lower floor galleries from that date. Compulsory entry charges were introduced for the Wellington Museum in 1979 but no estimates are available for the number of visits in 1978.
§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
In which year compulsory entry charges and voluntary donations were introduced for the National Maritime Museum; how many people visited the museum in the year before and the year after the introduction of any such charge or donation, and what percentage change this represents; and how many people visited the museum in 1993–94.
§ Lord InglewoodCompulsory entry charges were introduced for the National Maritime Museum in 1984. There were 600,000 visits to the museum in 1983 and 598,000 in 1985, of which 145,000 were by complimentary tickets. This represents a 0.3 per cent. reduction compared with 1983 but the number of free admissions in 1983 are estimates only and the data are therefore not directly comparable. There were 530,346 visits to the museum in 1993–94.
§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
In which year compulsory entry charges and voluntary donations were introduced for the Natural History Museum; how many people visited the 156WA museum in the year before and the year after the introduction of any such charge or donation, and what percentage change this represents; and how many people visited the museum in 1993–94.
§ Lord InglewoodCompulsory entry charges were introduced for the Natural History Museum in 1987 but the museum offered—as it still does—free entry for all visitors after 4.30 p.m. (and after 5.00 p.m. on Sundays) and for pre-booked school parties at all times. There were 2.5 million visits to the museum in the financial year 1986–87 and 1.61 million in 1988–89. This represents a 35.6 per cent. reduction compared with 1986–87 but the number of free admissions in 1986–87 is an estimate only and is therefore not comparable with the number of visits for later years. There were 1.75 million visits to the museum in 1993–94.
§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
In which year compulsory entry charges and voluntary donations were introduced for the Imperial War Museum; how many people visited the museum in the year before and the year after the introduction of any such charge or donation, and what percentage change this represents; and how many people visited the museum in 1993–94.
§ Lord InglewoodThe Imperial War Museum consists of the museum at Lambeth Road, the Cabinet War Rooms and HMS Belfast in London, and Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire.
Compulsory entry charges were introduced for the museum at Lambeth Road in 1989. There were 282,000 visits to the museum in 1988. However, the museum was closed for redevelopment during part of 1988 and 1989. There were 396,000 visits in 1987 and 412,000 in 1990. This represents a 4.0 per cent. increase compared with 1987. There were 455,000 visits to the museum in 1993–94.
Compulsory entry charges were introduced for the museum at Duxford Airfield in 1980. There were 312,000 visits to the airfield in 1979 and 264,000 in 1981. This represents a 15.5 per cent. reduction compared with 1979. There were 343,000 visits to the airfield in 1993–94.
The museum opened the Cabinet War Rooms in 1984 and charged for admission from that date. Similarly, the museum charged for admission to HMS Belfast from 1978, when it took over responsibility for the site from the Belfast Trust.
The number of free admissions are estimates only and the data are therefore not directly comparable with numbers of paid admissions.