Tessa Jowell hails "inspirational" 29 million extra visits to national museums since admission charges scrapped five years ago
152/06
Nearly 30 million extra visits to England’s national museums and galleries have been made, five years after entry charges were scrapped, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell announced today.
Government investment, and changes to the tax regime, have meant that places like the Natural History and Science Museums in London, the V&A, the National Railway Museum in York and the National Museums in Liverpool have seen admissions soar by 29 million since 2001.
New figures, released today, also show:
- An 83 per cent increase in total visits to formerly charging museums since 2001, representing an extra 6.5 million visits in 2006, making it the best year ever for admissions nationally,
- Visits to the former charging national museums in London up by 86 per cent on 2001 with visits to the V&A up 122 per cent, the Natural History Museum by 112 per cent and the Science Museum by 81 per cent,
- Visits to DCMS sponsored museums outside London up by 75 per cent, with National Museums Liverpool up by 138 per cent, the Zoological Museum in Tring by 81 per cent and the National Railway Museum in York by 63 per cent.
Ms Jowell said:
“These are inspirational figures. They completely vindicate our decision to put free admission at the heart of our cultural policy since 1997. There is a real appetite for serious culture in this country - when the obstacle of entry fees is swept away, people come in their millions, and keep coming.
“Our museums and galleries are internationally renowned. I am pleased that, thanks to Government investment, nearly 30 million extra visits have taken place.
“The figures also give the lie to the myth that this is all about the same people visiting more often: a half of all visits are by new visitors.”
Figures also show that visits to the national museums that were already or have always been free, such as the National gallery and the British Museum, rose by eight per cent over the same period.
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Notes to Editors
1. The free entry scheme came into effect on 1 December 2001. The museums and galleries covered are:
London
- Science Museum
- Natural History Museum
- Victoria & Albert Museum (went free from 22 November 2001)
- Imperial War Museum
- National Maritime Museum in Greenwich - including the Royal Observatory and Queen's House, Greenwich
- Museum of London
Regions
- National Railway Museum in York
- Royal Armouries in Leeds and Fort Nelson
- Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester
- The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire
- National Museums Liverpool – including World Museum Liverpool, The Walker Art Gallery, The Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Sudley House, The Conservation Centre and HM Customs and Excise National Museum.
Free access to the following was introduced later on and visits to them have not been counted towards the free admission figures:
- National Coal Mining Museum for England in Wakefield (went free from 8 April 2002)
- National Football Museum in Preston (went free from 19 March 2003)
- People’s History Museum in Manchester (went free from 15 October 2005)
2. The Government sponsored national museums that were already free are:
- British Museum
- Geffrye Museum
- Horniman Museum and Gardens
- Imperial War Museum North in Manchester (opened free in July 2002)
- National Gallery
- V&A Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green
- National Media Museum, Bradford
- National Portrait Gallery
- Sir John Soane's Museum
- Tate Britain, Tate Modern and Tate Liverpool (Tate Modern opened free in May 2000)
- Tyne & Wear Museums (only one of its branches, Segedunum, still charges for entry. It went free for children in April this year)
- Wallace Collection
3. In 2001, Treasury introduced a scheme for Government sponsored museums and galleries to receive VAT refunds when they allow the public free admission to their permanent collections. This removed the VAT incentive for DCMS sponsored museums to charge for entry and opened the way to the abolition of charging. From 10 August 2005, the VAT scheme was also extended to 48 university museums and galleries.
4. Tables showing how visit numbers have grown at each of the national museums and galleries since the Government provided investment to allow those that charged admission to scrap entry fees, is available below.
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Table 1: Number of Visits to the Former Charging Museums and Galleries
|
Museum
|
Year 0
Dec 2000-Nov 2001
|
%increase between between Year 0 and Year 1
|
%increase between between Year 0 and Year 5
|
Year 5
Dec 2005-Nov 2006
|
| Imperial war museum |
633,498 |
11 |
12 |
708,137 |
| Museum of London |
303,305 |
28 |
30 |
392,840 |
| Museum of Science & Industry (Manchester) |
292,952 |
64 |
224 |
363,802 |
| National Maritime Museum London (Greenwich) |
907,337 |
34 |
72 |
1,557,249 |
| National Museums Liverpool |
694,197 |
80 |
138 |
1,650,392 |
| National Railway Museum, York |
543,359 |
36 |
55 |
840,387 |
| Science Museum London |
1,308,763 |
101 |
81 |
2,363,432 |
| Natural History Museum |
1,657,124 |
81 |
112 |
3,509,195 |
| Natural History Museum (Tring) |
65,153 |
29 |
81 |
113,986 |
| Royal Armouries Leeds* and Fort Nelson |
296,654 |
29 |
2 |
303,542 |
| V&A (London) |
1,117,336 |
112 |
122 |
2,481,051 |
| Total |
7,817,678 |
69 |
83 |
14,327 693 |
Note
Free admission for all introduced 1 December 2001.
Free admission to people over 60 introduced 1 April 2000
Free admission to children introduced 1 April 1999
*Free admission to children and people over 60 introduced at Royal Armouries Leeds 1 April 2000
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Table 2: Number of Visits to the Always Free Museums and Galleries
| Museum |
Year 0 Dec 2000-Nov 2001
|
% increase between Year 0 and Year 1 |
% increase between Year 0 and Year 5 |
Year
5Dec 2005-Nov 2006
|
| British Museum London |
4,637,439 |
-1% |
1% |
4,843,384 |
| Geffrye Museum London |
83,353 |
-3% |
-11% |
74,553 |
| Horniman Museum London |
112,540 |
87% |
220% |
360,341 |
| Imperial War Museum North, Manchester |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
232,907 |
| National Gallery London |
5,022,000 |
-20% |
-13% |
4,380,000 |
| National Media Museum, Bradford |
888,383 |
-10% |
-25% |
662,409 |
| National Portrait Gallery London |
1,260,029 |
18% |
25% |
1,570,802 |
| Sir John Soane's Museum London |
85,754 |
0% |
4% |
89,329 |
| Tate Britain London |
994,324 |
18% |
57% |
1,562,761 |
| Tate Modern London |
3,619,613 |
27% |
31% |
4,741,617 |
| Tate Liverpool |
621,419 |
-19% |
-12% |
552,107 |
| Tyne and Wear Museums |
1,407,153 |
-8% |
6% |
1,485,405 |
| V&A Museum of Childhood London |
174,711 |
11% |
n/a |
n/a |
| Wallace Collection |
227,702 |
-1% |
1% |
230,848 |
| TOTAL |
19,129,420 |
2% |
8% |
20,786,463 |
Note:
Imperial War Museum North opened free in July 2002.
V&A Museum of Childhood was closed for refurbishment from November 2005 to December 2006
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Table 3: Total Visits to the Former Charging Museums and the Always Free Museums
| Museum |
Year 0 Dec 2000-Nov 2001 |
% increase between Year 0 and Year 1 |
% increase between Year 0 and Year 5 |
Year 5 Dec 2005-Nov 2006
|
| Total visits to Former Charging Museums |
7,817,678 |
69% |
83% |
14,327,693 |
| Total visits to Always Free Museums |
19,129,420 |
2% |
8% |
20,786,463 |
| GRAND TOTAL* |
26,947,098 |
21% |
30% |
35,114,156 |
*Excludes 1.2 million visitors to 4 branch museums that continue to charge
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