<p><del class="ministerial">Member houses of the Historic Houses Association make an important contribution to the UK's tourism industry. They attract over 24 million visits per year with a total visitor spend of £1bn; and support 41,000 jobs.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">Government has made no specific assessment of the possible closures of these historic houses. DCMS continues to work with the HHA and others, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, to support privately owned heritage.</del></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">DCMS museums operate at arm’s length from government and the transfer of objects between national museums is a matter for the boards of the museums. The transfer of part of the Royal Photographic Society’s collection has been carefully considered by the Trustees of the Science Museum, who approved the transfer of the objects to the V&A, with the Royal Photographic Society also approving the transfer. The Department was informed of this in December 2015. Bradford City Council was regularly consulted while the matter was under consideration.</ins></p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">The National Media Museum took this decision in order to focus its offering more effectively, while ensuring that the Royal Photographic Collection is preserved.The V&A intend to store, digitise and make the photographic collection available as part of its planned International Photography Resource Centre, which will provide the public with a world-class facility to access the consolidated collection.</ins></p>