Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Vincent Cable (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Monday, 25 June 2007 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Museums/Galleries (Admission Charges)

Question: Too keen to get on to the loyalists, Mr. Speaker. Although the Secretary of State is undoubtedly right to say that the policy has been successful in attracting new visitors, is it not the case that her Department’s surveys show that there has been an almost complete failure to attract low-income visitors? What is the Department doing to change that?

Answer: It is not the case that there has been a failure to attract low-income visitors. One particular success has been the outreach work of several of the ““renaissance in the regions””-funded museums, which have made a point of going out into local communities to attract visitors from such areas as deprived estates into those museums. There is an expectation that every museum will make efforts to attract people who have never visited before. The figures for the free entry programme demonstrate that that has been a great success. Almost half the visits to museums in both London and throughout the country were made by people who had not visited a museum in the previous 12 months.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 462 c11-2
Session: 2006-07
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Disadvantaged Fees and charges Low incomes Museums and galleries Visits
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk