HL Deb 12 January 1998 vol 584 cc135-6WA
Lord Freyberg

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What was the admission charge for (a) the Natural History Museum (b) the Imperial War Museum at Lambeth Road (c) the National Maritime Museum (d) the Royal Air Force Museum (e) the Science Museum in London (1) the Victoria and Albert Museum (g) the National Museum and Galleries, Cardiff and (h) the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum when voluntary and compulsory charges were introduced; what it is now; and what is the percentage change of the charges since the introduction of admission charges.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The information is given in the following table.

Full adult admission charge at introduction Year of introduction Full adult admission charge now Percentage rise
Natural History Museum1 £1 and £2 1987 £6
Imperial WarMuseum2 £2.50 1989 £4.70 88
National Maritime Museum £1.50 1984 £5 233
Royal Air ForceMuseum3 £3 1988 £5.85 95
Science Museum4 £2 1988 £5.95 198
Victoria and Albert Museum5 £5 1996 £5 0
National Museum & Galleries, Cardiff £1 1988 £3.25 225
Ulster Folk andTransport Museum6 £0.15 1964 £4 2,567
1 The Natural History museum initially operated differential charging regimes on two sites in 1987. A percentage comparison is therefore omitted.
2 The figures are for the Lambeth Road site.
3 The figures are for the Hendon site.
4 The figures are for the South Kensington site.
5 The Victoria and Albert Museum initially operated a suggested voluntary donation of £2 in 1995, which rose to £4.50 in 1996. A compulsory charge was introduced in 1996.
6The figure quoted is for 1971. Although the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum began charging in 1964, figures for that year are not available.
The prices quoted do not take inflation into account and represent the full single adult price. All museums operate generous concessionary pricing regimes and the majority of visitors do not pay the full price. Many gain free admission. Concessionary regimes differ from institution to institution and detailed comparisons would need to take this into account.

Lord Freyberg

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether there is any correlation between the reduction in Treasury grants to national museums and the increase in admission charges at those museums that charge them.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

Admission charges are a matter for the trustees of each institution.