§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received regarding the Government's museums policy. [145555]
§ Estelle MorrisI have received a wide range of representations, both from individuals and from key sectoral organisations, including the National Museums' Directors' Conference, the Museums Association and the Association of Independent Museums. There is strong support for the main planks of our policy: namely, free access to the National Museums and Galleries in London and the regions, the Renaissance programme for regional museums, and support for improved museum education services, particularly to children. The views received will make an important contribution to the Department's developing thinking during the 2004 Spending Review and thereafter.
§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what targets the Government have set to increase social inclusion through museum policy; [145556]
(2) what financial incentives are in place to encourage museums to increase the number of visitors from different sections of the community; [145558]
(3) what the Government's policy is on museums and social inclusion. [145559]
§ Estelle MorrisAs set out in the publication "Libraries, Museums, Galleries and Archives for All" (PP 383 January 2001), our policy objective is that social inclusion should be a priority for all museums and galleries. To that end we have set two Public Service Agreement targets for the 2003–06 period: an 8 per cent. increase in adult C2DE visitors to the national museums and galleries; and 500,000 visits by new users, predominantly from social classes C2DE and ethnic minorities, to regional hub museums participating in the Renaissance in the Regions programme.
Renaissance in the Regions is the main funding programme specifically targeted at increasing the number of visitors from different parts of the community. Two of the programme's eight priority areas—reaching a wider community and improving access to knowledge and information—are particularly relevant. Funding for the programme is £60 million during the 2003–06 period. The grant in aid the Department provides to the national museums and galleries also supports the social inclusion activities they undertake.
From 1 April 2001, all National Museums and Galleries that are free have been able to recover input VAT on their expenditure associated with free access and those that charged previously have been compensated for their loss of admission income.
§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many museums have closed since 1997. [145560]
§ Estelle MorrisSince August 1997, 93 museums have been removed, on grounds of closure, from the museum registration scheme run by Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. During the same134W period 407 museums joined the registration scheme, of which 101 were newly founded. There are currently a total of 1,725 museums fully registered throughout the UK.
§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make an assessment of the impact on collections in museums of the Government's free admission policy. [145561]
§ Estelle MorrisFree admission together with investment in new galleries has enabled more people to see and appreciate the great collections of the national museums and visit them more frequently. Visits to the former charging museums rose from 9 million in 1998–99 to 15.3 million in 2002–03, an increase of 71 per cent. There is a good mix of new and repeat visitors. In consequence earned income from trading has held up well and was greater in 2002–03 than in 2001–02 before the introduction of full free admission. There is therefore no reason to suppose that free access has inhibited care of collections. All those museums that went free received year-on-year compensation for loss of admissions income.
§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make an assessment of the impact of the Government's free admissions policy on museums that are not included in the policy. [145562]
§ Estelle MorrisI will reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Miss KirkbrideTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the total Government funding to museums in real terms in each year since 1992. [145563]
§ Estelle MorrisDirect government funding to museums in England is shown in real terms in the following table from 1992–03 to 2005–06. It includes core funding of the National Museums as well as non-core support for regional museums as part of the Regional Renaissance Programme.
DCMS and MoD funding in real terms (£ million)1,2,3 1992–93 218.7 1993–94 214.4 1994–95 220.5 1995–96 215.4 1996–97 201.6 1997–98 188.6 1998–99 181.1 1999–2000 197.7 2000–01 203.7 2001–02 213.9 2002–03 230.6 2003–04 248.3 2004–05 254.0 2005–06 263.4 Total increase 43.6 1 The figures exclude funding for the RAF museums at Hendon and Cosford. 2 The figures exclude funds form DfES, the Arts Council of England and the National Lottery. DfES does not provide recurrent or direct funding to museums and galleries. Since 1999 DfES has provided approximately £6.8 million to support education work in museums and galleries through various project-funding programmes. 3 The table does not include funding in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which is administered separately.