§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria he uses in deciding whether a museum is eligible(a) for Government funding and (b) to reclaim VAT. [130677]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthMy Department funds the 12 national museums in England, and provides varying degrees of grant-in-aid to seven other museums or museum services, partly for historical reasons and partly in recognition of the importance of their collections. Other funding is generally project related challenge funding, distributed in response to applications made in published criteria (for instance, the £15 million being made available over three years to designated museums through the Designated Museums Challenge Fund).
To the extent that museums are businesses, they are subject to the same VAT rules as other businesses. These rules are a matter for HM Customs and Excise.