§ Mr. FauldsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will place in the Library the attendance figures for the financial year ended 31 March reported by the national museums and galleries for which she is responsible, broken down into the individual institutions, but including their outstations, with figures in each case of the percentage change on the attendance figures for the preceding year. [21338]
§ Mr. SproatThe following table lists the forecast number of visits to the 12 national museums and galleries in England for the financial year ended 31 March 1997, and the actual figures for the financial year 1995–96. The information is provided by the institutions. More accurate figures for 1996–97 will be available in July.
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Number of visits in 1995–96 (million) Forecast number of visits in 1996–97 (million) Provisional percentage increase/decrease over the previous year British Museum1 6.1 6.5 +7 Imperial War Museum 1.31 1.23 -6 National Gallery1 4.5 5.0 +25 National Maritime Museum 0.58 0.44 -24 National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside1 1.22 1.21 -1 National Portrait Gallery1 0.82 0.79 -4 Natural History Museum 1.46 1.75 +20 National Museum of Science and Industry1 2.7 2.7 — Tate Gallery1 3.1 2.5 -19 Victoria and Albert Museum 1.49 1.60 +5 Wallace Collection1 0.16 0.18 +13 Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson 0.02 0.03 +34 Total 23.5 23.9 +2 1 The number of visits to premises for which admission is not charged are estimated or counted by other means. 1. It is not possible to accurately identify the number of visits to the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London. The forecast number of visits to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds which opened in March 1996 is 455,000. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.