§ The Earl of Clancartyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What studies have been undertaken on the social mix of visitors to national museums and galleries in the United Kingdom, and in particular on the class spread in 1998 and trends during the last 10 years; and whether they will publish such studies and place them in the Library of the House; and [HL626]
Whether they carry out a detailed study to determine the present social mix of visitors to public museums and galleries in the United Kingdom.[HL627]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe social profile of visitors to public museums and galleries has most recently been examined by research carried out last autumn by the Central Office of Information for the Museums and Galleries Commission (MGC). Interim findings can be found in the publication Who Pays forMuseums? which is available in the Library of the House, and the full report will be published in the spring. A previous omnibus report By Popular Demand, published in 1994 by Dr. Stuart Davies for the MGC, was based on over 200 visitor surveys across the UK.
In addition, national museums and galleries in the UK carry out periodic research to determine their visitor profile, including the socio-economic, ethnic and age mix. While the departments with responsibility for national museums across the UK have some access to this research, it is rarely published and is not therefore available in the Library of the House. Other research is conducted by local museums, area museum councils, the Association of Independent Museums and the tourist boards.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is considering the case for further research into the social mix of visitors across the museums and galleries sector.