House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee

The Future of the Science Museum Group

Oral and written evidence

2 July 2013 Mr Edward Vaizey MP, Ian Blatchford, Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin

Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 2 July 2013

HC 507-i Published on 31 January 2014 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £11.50

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies.

Current membership Mr John Whittingdale MP (Conservative, Maldon) (Chair) Mr Ben Bradshaw MP (Labour, Exeter) Angie Bray MP (Conservative, Ealing Central and Acton) Conor Burns MP (Conservative, Bournemouth West) Tracey Crouch MP (Conservative, Chatham and Aylesford) Philip Davies MP (Conservative, Shipley) Paul Farrelly MP (Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme) Mr John Leech MP (Liberal Democrat, Manchester, Withington) Steve Rotheram MP (Labour, Liverpool, Walton) Jim Sheridan MP (Labour, Paisley and Renfrewshire North) Mr Gerry Sutcliffe MP (Labour, Bradford South)

The following members were also a member of the committee during the parliament: David Cairns MP (Labour, Inverclyde) Dr Thérèse Coffey MP (Conservative, Suffolk Coastal) Damian Collins MP (Conservative, Folkestone and Hythe) Alan Keen MP (Labour Co-operative, Feltham and Heston) Louise Mensch MP (Conservative, Corby) Mr Adrian Sanders MP (Liberal Democrat, Torbay) Mr Tom Watson MP (Labour, West Bromwich East)

Powers The committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk.

Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/cmscom. A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume.

The Reports of the Committee, the formal minutes relating to that report, oral evidence taken and some of the written evidence are available in a printed volume.

Additional written evidence is published on the internet only.

Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Elizabeth Flood (Clerk), Grahame Danby (Second Clerk), Kevin Candy (Inquiry Manager), Emily Gregory (Senior Committee Assistant), Keely Bishop (Committee Assistant) and Jessica Bridges- Palmer (Media Officer).

Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6188; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]

List of witnesses

Tuesday 2 July 2013 Page

Mr Edward Vaizey MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ev 1

Ian Blatchford, Director, Science Museum Group Ev 6

Tony Reeves, Chief Executive, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Kersten England, Chief Executive, City of York Council, and Vicky Rosin, Deputy Chief Executive, Manchester City Council Ev 14

List of written evidence

1 Michael Bailey Ev 22 2 John Howat Ev 22 3 David Fildes Ev 22 4 Joseph Pugh Ev 23 5 Gawaine Meechan Ev 23 6 Dr Patrick Greene Ev 23 7 Peter Turvey Ev 24 8 Brian Russell Ev 24 9 Richard Ross Ev 25 10 Dr Pete Waterman Ev 25 11 Tom Wooley Ev 26 12 Sir Neil Cossons Ev 27 13 Prospect Ev 28 14 Liberal Democratic Group, City of York Council Ev 31 15 Royal Society Ev 31 16 Royal Institution Ev 32 17 Royal Academy of Engineering Ev 32 18 Museums Association Ev 33 19 Campaign for Science and Engineering Ev 36 20 Public and Commercial Services Union Ev 37 21 Arts Council England Ev 38 22 National Museum Directors’ Council Ev 40 23 Department for Culture, Media and Sport Ev 45 24 Science Museum Group Ev 47 25 Mark Charnley Ev 56 26 Provident plc Ev 56 27 Wellcome Trust Ev 57

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Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence Ev 1

Oral evidence

Taken before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Tuesday 2 July 2013

Members present: Mr John Whittingdale (Chair)

Tracey Crouch Steve Rotheram Philip Davies Jim Sheridan Mr John Leech Mr Gerry Sutcliffe ______

Examination of Witness

Witness: Mr Ed Vaizey MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, gave evidence.

Q1 Chair: Good morning. This morning the Q2 Mr Sutcliffe: Thank you, Chairman. Good Committee is holding a special session on the future morning, Minister. On 8 April, the DCMS outlined of the Science Museum Group, and I would like to the timetable for the settlements, and a Commission welcome first the Minister for Communications and letter went out. You asked the SMG to model the Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey. Perhaps you would impact of cuts of 5%, 10% and 15% and to return by just like to begin by giving us your view now that we 18 April what their proposals were. On 23 April, you know the elements of the Comprehensive Spending met with the Director of the Science Museum Group Review and the DCMS settlement, because when this to talk about the National Media Museum. Why just issue first arose there was a little bit of speculation the National Media Museum and not the other about what it was going to contain. Now we know the museums in the group? Why specifically about them? facts, how do you see that affecting the museum Mr Vaizey: We talked about a range of things. First, sector? let me begin by saying thank you to Mr Sutcliffe, who Mr Vaizey: I think the Secretary of State, Maria has been very helpful throughout this process. I think Miller, secured a very good settlement with the this is my fifth parliamentary occasion in the last three Treasury. It has always been the case when we have weeks when we have had an opportunity to discuss been dealing with the reduction in funding for arts and the future of the Science Museum Group, but I have museums that we have sought to protect the frontline, said on the record many times that both Mr Sutcliffe and other local MPs have been very helpful in this which is a slightly bureaucratic phrase, but what it issue and there has been no grandstanding or playing means is that money that goes directly to organisations politics. I would not have expected anything less, but that deliver the arts, we have tried to reduce the cuts. I just wanted to put that on the record. In the 2010 spending round, we kept the cuts to I think it is well known that the Science Museum national museums down to 15%, even though our Group has a number of institutions that it supports, overall cut was around 30%. This time Maria Miller MOSI being one, the National Media Museum as well secured a 5% ring-fence for cuts to the national as the Science Museum and the National Railway museums. While any cut is unwelcome, I think it is Museum, but it is well known that in particular the within the bounds of reasonableness and should give National Media Museum has seen a significant drop the Science Museum Group and other national in visitors. I think that it was worth having a museums some comfort and the opportunity to discussion to look at what options were available to continue to do the excellent work they do. reboot the National Media Museum, if I can put it The other point I would add is that we continue to that way. make reforms in cultural policy that will have an Mr Sutcliffe: It was a specific meeting about the impact on museums, and one of the reforms that the Media Museum rather than the other members of Chancellor announced as part of the spending review the— was a package of freedoms for museums. They are Mr Vaizey: That was the main focus of the treated effectively as public-sector institutions by the conversation. Office of National Statistics, so their spending counts as public spending, but what we have been able to do Q3 Mr Sutcliffe: What was your view then of the is look at a package of measures that, when press furore and MPs’ furore when the announcements implemented, will hopefully give them a degree of were made that the three museums in the north might financial freedom, both in terms of setting their pay close, or one of them might close? rates, but also the opportunity to borrow in order to Mr Vaizey: If I am being honest, Mr Sutcliffe, I regret invest. perhaps not speaking out earlier. When the furore Chair: Okay; thank you. As you are aware, three of broke at the beginning of June, we were obviously my colleagues represent constituencies that host some three weeks away from the settlement. I knew museums within the Science Group. To some extent, then obviously that we were lobbying very hard with I shall defer now to them. the Treasury to get a good settlement for our national cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Mr Ed Vaizey MP museums, but obviously I could not be confident. I in kind for the museum, in terms of publicity, in terms am aware that we effectively had up to three weeks of communicating the museum’s offers to local of speculation about the future of all the Science communities, in terms of overcoming any difficulties Museum’s regional posts and that caused a great deal the museums may be having, either with issues like of concern to people living in the cities where those planning permission or access and so on. museums are. Thanks to Mr Sutcliffe and the efforts I would also hope that there would be financial of other local MPs who came to meet me, I think we support. I know that times are tough, but clearly these were able to achieve a degree of clarity. Also I think museums are very important to the local and regional those MPs were able to communicate the passion and economy. Quite a lot of the councils facing cuts do support that is felt in Bradford, Manchester and York have extensive reserves. Mr Sutcliffe, just as you have for those museums. talked about a north/south divide, I hope that councils would not see a divide between some of the very Q4 Mr Sutcliffe: Thank you for having that meeting important work they do in areas like social care and with the Bradford MPs and with colleagues from important work in culture. I hope that culture is not elsewhere connected to the other museums. There always perceived as a second-class citizen and that tended to be a view around that there was a north/ these councils will recognise the importance of these south divide in terms of what was happening and we cultural institutions. will speak to Mr Blatchford later about why it was the three northern museums should close rather than the Q6 Mr Sutcliffe: That leads me on to the work of whole of the group, but it has added to the perception this Committee in terms of the creative industries that there is a north/south divide in terms of the inquiry that we are undertaking at the moment and the cultural offer. Have you anything to say about that, or impact that creative industries have on the economic would you like to reassure people in the north? life of the country. Isn’t there is an opportunity here Mr Vaizey: I think it is very regrettable. If one is being for the three councils who are involved and others— straightforward, clearly the Science Museum in and I can think of the Coal Mining Museum in London, whatever happens, will always attract the Wakefield—to use that sector as a wealth creator and most visitors. London attracts most tourists. London a job creator? has the bigger catchment area and the best transport Mr Vaizey: I think that is right; for example, funding links. However well Manchester, Bradford or York do, like the regional growth fund, which one traditionally I think London will always outpace them in terms of thinks of as going to car factories or whatever. I do visitor numbers, but I think it is important to get the not see any reason why that should not go to support message across, and it is certainly my point of view museums because museums can be characterised and I hope it is the point of view of directors of all potentially as part of the industrial ecology of the city our national museums, that their establishments in which they are based. They provide jobs that are outside London are equally important and equally equally valid, and they attract inward economic treasured. It is an interesting philosophical debate, the investment, which is equally valid. I think, balance between local and national branding, but it particularly when one talks about the Science seems to me that people in cities like Manchester or Museum’s buildings and establishments outside Bradford appreciate the fact that a national museum London, you are talking about Manchester with its has one of its bases in their community. I think having fantastic reputation for the creative industries, you are it branded as the Science Museum is extremely talking about Bradford as a city of film, you are helpful. I do regret any perception there is a north/ talking York with its industrial heritage, but there are south divide, and I think that we need to work harder a lot of creative industries in and around York as well. to make it clearer that these organisations outside They could become quite exciting hubs for those London are equally relevant and important. industries. I think it is important that museums in general have very porous borders and that people feel Q5 Mr Sutcliffe: Moving on, then, to be more that they are not simply static collections of heritage positive now, on the Adjournment debate on 19 June objects, but they are institutions that are alive and you indicated that you felt that local authorities could engaged with the here and now and what is happening do more to support these museums and I think you in the local economy. talked about better partnerships in the area. A slight problem for Bradford is that, as a result of the CSR, Q7 Mr Sutcliffe: Finally from me, I just want you to they are going to have to face cuts of around £100 reiterate what you said at that adjournment debate on million over the next three years, making it very 19 June; that you, as the Minister responsible, would difficult for them to be involved. Would you want to act as a conduit to make sure that there are progressive say a bit about what are the partnership arrangements talks between the variety of partners that need to get are that you would like to see in areas like Bradford, together to make sure we have a long-term, secure York and Manchester? future for all three museums. Mr Vaizey: The leaders of the councils are giving Mr Vaizey: Yes, I would like to reiterate that, Mr evidence this morning. I hope that they would support Sutcliffe. In fact, I have talked about little else but the the museums. I think it is very important they support Science Museum for the last three weeks, and every the museums. There are two ways that they can time I meet anyone who is involved in a technology support them. One is what one might loosely call industry I engage with them about the Science moral support. That is to be actively engaged in the Museum. I am hoping, with you, Mr Sutcliffe, and management of the museum, in providing resources your colleagues to have a meeting in Bradford with cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Mr Ed Vaizey MP all potential stakeholders to look at what opportunities Q10 Philip Davies: If we have four world-class there are for the national museums. museums, why do you think the visitor numbers at the National Media Museum have dropped so rapidly? Q8 Philip Davies: Can I start, Minister, by thanking Mr Vaizey: I think this is the great challenge and one you for your readiness to meet all the Bradford MPs of the issues that happens when public spending is tight is it forces people to grasp nettles. The facts do at very short notice, which was a great credit to you send us a message, which is that the number of and much appreciated, and also for your robust visitors going to Bradford has effectively halved, and support for all of the three Science Museums in the that is in a time when Bradford’s National Media north at that meeting, but also in the subsequent Museum had introduced free admission. We have to debate. I think we all appreciated how straightforward look very hard at the offer. I think that there are two and robust you were. The Director of the Science elements to that and it is not really for me to get into Group was reported as saying that he would rather too much detail, although obviously I am semi-expert have three world-class museums than four mediocre now in this particular area, but it seems to me the ones. What is your response to that? IMAX, I think everyone is agreed, should be run as a Mr Vaizey: My ambition is to have four world-class commercial operation. It is a commercial cinema. museums rather than three, and I think that there is We need to ensure that the collection itself engages a great opportunity now that we have achieved this particularly with young people as much as possible, settlement to ensure that that is the case and to work but again I come back to this point about partnership, with the Science Museum Group. I know that you are and I think that it is not simply about asking people hearing evidence from the Director of the Science to write a cheque. It is about asking the city council, Museum straight after me, so you can ask him to the university, the further education college and others expand on his view on that. Lying underneath that, I to engage. I also think there is an important point here think one should not shy away from the fact that we about fundraising. Although I was being obviously appoint very good people to run our national mildly facetious earlier when I talked about raising institutions and we expect them to make tough the Science Museum with every technology company decisions, but I think now, given the settlement and I come across, I have done that, but the point is you also given the ground swell of support for museums, don’t talk to these companies to say, “Will you write it is quite clear that we can particularly turn around a cheque? Thank you very much. See you later”. You Bradford and make a significant difference going say, “You are recruiting the people who are going to run these companies in the next 20 years. You are at forward. the forefront of what you are doing, but also you are selling your product to the world. Let’s have some of Q9 Philip Davies: Do you see the four museums that expertise so that we can engage people in what currently as world-class museums, or do you see any you are doing”. of them as mediocre ones? For example, take something like the Large Hadron Mr Vaizey: I see them all as world-class museums. I Collider exhibition that is happening towards the end think if you look at the collections in each of the of the year. The Large Hadron Collider is one piece museums, which continue to be added to, you have an of big science where, broadly speaking, if you stopped extraordinary asset. We in this country are 100 people on the street, you would get a significant unbelievably lucky, because of our history and sample who at least knew, broadly speaking, what you heritage, to have collected these astounding pieces. were talking about. There are these great opportunities We were at the forefront of the scientific revolution to showcase science and technology. from the 17th century onwards. We have the oldest scientific institution in the world. We were at the Q11 Philip Davies: Would you say this choice forefront of the Industrial Revolution, so in between three world-class museums and four Manchester you have that reflected at MOSI. We have mediocre ones is a false choice, so that isn’t really the been at the forefront of the development of television, choice that is facing the Science Museum Group? and the recent addition of the 1,000 objects from the Mr Vaizey: Mr Davies, I was going to say a fulsome BBC archive is a very good example. There are very thank you to you for your very kind words at the beginning of your remarks, because I know how few countries in the world that could replicate that robust you are and therefore it means a lot to me, but kind of collection. Then, of course, the Railway I hope you will not take it amiss if I think you are Museum; we are a nation of railway buffs. If you go inviting me to drive a wedge between myself and the and visit York, you will see the engines being excellent Director of the Science Museum. I will not maintained by groups of passionate volunteers. Again, take the bait. I will just simply say that I think the our railway heritage competes with the world. We furore, as the Chairman put it, of the last three weeks have from our forefathers this extraordinary gift of has given all of us a wake-up call and an opportunity these collections, which we have not had to go out to find a way forward. and acquire because our forefathers created it. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to show them off Q12 Philip Davies: The Director of the Group, since as best we can and to use these collections; as I say, our very constructive meeting, has been quoted in the not simply to look at the past and reflect on Britain’s local papers as still, even after that meeting, saying no great industrial heritage, but to use that extraordinary decisions have finally been taken, and there still is a past to engage future generations. threat to some of the museums. That was certainly not cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Mr Ed Vaizey MP my understanding of the meeting we had, and I am Q14 Philip Davies: What would you say to those sure Gerry would agree. What is your response to people who think that the Science Museum Group those comments still flowing from the Science would be better served under the auspices of BIS Museum Group, even after the meeting that we had? than DCMS? Mr Vaizey: I think both the Chairman and the Mr Vaizey: As I say, I only want the best for the Director, who you might be surprised to know I have Science Museum and for any other institutions that I met quite recently to discuss the National Media represent. If I thought the future of the Science Museum and others, are very much of the view that Museum would be better in BIS than it would be in they have been overwhelmed by the support not just DCMS, I would support that. What I would say of DCMS, but also of local MPs and the local though is I think that it would be odd to break up the community, and they are now actively working with portfolio of national museums. I think that we have us to ensure a great future for the National Media again this sort of duality, if you like. You have 12 Museum. I think it is important to stress that, while national museums that are looked after by DCMS and, we have secured the future of these museums, “no if anything—particularly in a public spending change” is not an option. The National Media environment that is very tough—the onus is on them Museum will have to change and that will involve a to co-operate more, to share best practice, to see great deal of effort from very many stakeholders, but, where they can make savings. Museum storage, for as Mr Sutcliffe indicated by quoting my earlier example, is a good issue where we are talking about remarks, I am very happy to be an integral part of where we can make significant savings and they have that process. a lot in common, but that does not preclude them Philip Davies: But just so that everybody is clear; having a strong relationship with other Departments. while “no change” may not be an option, closure of For example, the National Gallery benefits, I am sure, any of these museums is not an option either? hugely from having the Deputy Prime Minister as one Mr Vaizey: That is correct. of its ex officio trustees. It has a relationship with the Deputy Prime Minister’s office and I would certainly Q13 Philip Davies: Finally, the Government has think a strong relationship with BIS would be of made lots of commitments about the importance of significant benefit to the Science Museum, and, as I science, particularly in the Department of Business, say, I would be completely un-precious about the Innovation and Skills. I just wanted to know what Director spending time with David Willetts. discussions you have had with that department as to whether or not they might be able to offer some Q15 Mr Leech: Philip and Gerry both mentioned support to the Science Museum Group in order to visitor numbers and the fact that visitor numbers had make good that commitment to protect the science gone down in Bradford, and in York visitor numbers budget and science generally across Government. had dipped but then increased. The big success story has been MOSI in Manchester, where visitor figures Mr Vaizey: I have had an informal chat with the have gone from less than 300,000 when there was Minister for Science, and I have written to him today charging to over 800,000 now. Is there anything that to follow up on that conversation. I have no obsession Manchester is doing that perhaps Bradford and York with territory and I would welcome partners across could mimic or learn from, learning from the my portfolio that can help make things better, and so experience of how successful Manchester has been? I would welcome discussions with BIS to look at how Mr Vaizey: It is a very good question, and I honestly they can work more closely with the Science Museum. don’t know the answer. I think that is something the It strikes me as plain as a pikestaff that BIS should be Director of the Science Museum could probably give involved. The Science Museum, as you quite rightly a more intelligent, thoughtful and knowledgeable point out, Mr Davies, has been protected because response to, but my instinct is, dare I say it, having Britain has a world-class science base and the work the partnership with the Science Museum has also that we do in science is going to contribute massively contributed to the success of MOSI. That is again to the growth of the UK economy, but the great where I see several elements of a wider national challenge in science is attracting young people to museums policy. I think there are opportunities when work in science and to work in technology. you create conglomerates where you can make As I said earlier, you have this unbelievable collection savings, so you can make a site more efficient, but spread across the country. You have a golden there is also, as I think I said earlier, the opportunity opportunity, particularly in the north, in Manchester to share best practice. Some of the people that the with its world-class university, and with Bradford and Science Museum may have brought into MOSI may York, to engage a whole range of people and, with have also contributed. this footprint, you have an opportunity to engage the Again, this is pure speculation, which is why you whole of the nation. I think if BIS is spending should ask the Director for a more intelligent answer, hundreds of millions on our science base, a few but I wonder whether also the Science Museum brand pennies that would take what David Willetts has helped drive visitors to MOSI as well. You have an himself said—I don’t know if he has said it in public, opportunity to market it in London through the but he has certainly said it to me—he regards as the Science Museum in London but also people like the most valuable assets to engage young people in fact they are going to visit a national museum, even science, then it would seem sensible that BIS is though MOSI has obviously been an incredibly involved in some kind of relationship with the important local and regional museum before its Science Museum. merger with the Science Museum. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Mr Ed Vaizey MP

Q16 Mr Leech: You have said, and I was delighted That is not meant to sound disapproving, but it is mid- to hear, that you did not want to see charging at any of range. I think some organisations like Tate are the museums. Clearly in Manchester the visitor figures probably slightly higher in terms of proportion of have gone up dramatically since charging ended. Why grant and aid versus commercial income. No doubt the is it your view that charging should not be introduced Director will correct me when he gives his evidence. I when, if you look at other museums, they have been think some of the national performing arts institutions, successful with still charging? such as the Royal Opera House, are very far advanced Mr Vaizey: A lot of regional museums do not charge, in terms of the mix of their commercial income and it has become almost the norm not to charge. For against grant and aid. I think that it is as low as 20% example, I think about the Ashmolean near my but, again, I would have to check that figure; so, some constituency. Most museums take the view that what of the big national performing arts, but I do not think they would characterise as their permanent collection the Royal Shakespeare Company has that same should be open to the public. I think that is a good proportion. principle. It has almost become a tradition in this I think the Science Museum is doing pretty well in country that the permanent collections that have been terms of its opportunities to raise money both built up over many centuries should be open to the commercially and through finance, but that doesn’t public and accessible to the public, but of course mean that there are not huge opportunities. I think national museums do charge in other ways. For engaging technology companies in the work of the example, if you get people through your door free of Science Museum is a massive opportunity. I also think charge and they wander in they are more likely, to put the museum freedoms are sensible because I think that it in very crude terms, then to buy a cup of coffee and the Science Museum would be quite within their a cake or spend something in the gift shop. So you rights, and other museum directors would be quite can earn revenue that way. You preserve a very good within their rights, to say, “Well, you say we have to principle, but you should never stand in the way of go out and raise all this money, but it costs money to museums that look at imaginative ways of raising raise money”. If they are able to access capital or revenue. Of course, museums also charge for special revenue in advance in order to make the investments exhibitions. You won’t get into Pompeii at the British to raise that money, then that is something we should Museum free of charge, although you will still have support them on. access to its permanent collection. Q19 Mr Leech: Just following on from that answer, Q17 Mr Leech: The Visit Britain survey—I think it in terms of moving forward, is there any suggestion was 2009—suggested that a lot of foreign tourists from the Department that perhaps more capital come to the UK because there are a lot of free things spending might be made available for the Science that you can go and do in the UK. Has any assessment Museum Group for the medium to long-term future of been done by the Department as to what impacts there the museums and their ability to generate more cash? would be on tourism figures if all the free things that Is there any suggestion that that money might be people can get into suddenly started charging? forthcoming? Mr Vaizey: No, as far as I am aware we haven’t made Mr Vaizey: Capital is important, and we want to that assessment because it has never been an option to ensure that we get a good capital settlement for our reintroduce charging for national museums. I certainly national museums going forward. Clearly other think that the Taking Part surveys we do indicate opportunities for capital, for example money from the strongly that museums are a big driver of tourism, so Heritage Lottery Fund, are independent of we haven’t made an assessment of the impact of Government. We couldn’t simply just say to the charging. Heritage Lottery Fund, “By the way, can you write Mr Leech: But you recognise that it might affect this cheque to the Science Museum Group?” But tourist figures? clearly, if the Science Museum Group were to work Mr Vaizey: I acknowledge the possibility that it could either in Manchester or in Bradford to look at a affect tourist figures, based on absolutely no evidence reconfiguration of their estate in order to attract more that I have available to me. visitors or put on better exhibitions, I am sure they are more than capable of putting in an appropriate Q18 Mr Leech: A gut feeling. Commercial activities application to—again, I will correct myself if I am for the Science Museum Group are about 22% of its wrong, but my instinct would be—someone like the income, which is pretty much on a par with the take, Heritage Lottery Fund. Of course trusts and which is 23%, and 19% for the Imperial War Museum. foundations and also again, to put it bluntly, large Do you know how those figures compare with other donors do like to contribute to capital projects because parts of your portfolio, museums, libraries, theatres, they have an air of permanency. It is much easier to and what proportion of income they get from ask someone to donate a seven-figure sum to a commercial activity? building than it is, say, to help fund the cloakroom. Mr Vaizey: Mr Leech, I will probably have to write Chair: Minister, I think you have exhausted the to you in detail, but my instinct is that, broadly Committee. speaking, the Science Museum is sort of mid-range. Mr Vaizey: Thank you very much, Mr Chairman. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01

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Examination of Witness

Witness: Ian Blatchford, Director, Science Museum Group, gave evidence.

Q20 Chair: For the next part of this morning’s of the museum. The other crucial thing to say about session, can I welcome Ian Blatchford, the Director of visitor numbers is that, as always with these things, it the Science Museum Group, and invite Philip Davies depends where you start, because in the discussions to begin. within the senior management team and the trustees Philip Davies: Mr Blatchford, you said that you about the future of the museum, one of things we have wanted to see three world-class museums in the group been clear about is that visitor numbers alone should rather than four mediocre ones. Is that still your not be a deciding factor. If you started from day one position? and said, “Here is a museum in Bradford, attracting Ian Blatchford: When I made that comment, what I 500,000 people”, rather than think that was a problem, was referring to was the scenario where the cuts were you would think, “Actually, that is a very respectable around 10%, not if the cuts were at a lower level, number by any benchmark, both nationally and also because where we are at the moment is we do given tourism numbers in Yorkshire”. certainly have four world-class museums. That comprises a number of things; not only the collections Q22 Philip Davies: If an outcome was conceivable the Minister mentioned, but something else, and you to you that you could have three world-class museums don’t just have to take my word for it, you can also in the group and not four museums in the group, think about how those museums are perceived from which one of the museums did you think was outside these shores. For example, the Japanese dispensable? worship the National Railway Museum. One of the Ian Blatchford: First of all, just picking up your word major Russian museums is taking an exhibition from “conceivable”, the view very much of the whole board the Media Museum in Bradford, and also no one is from day one has been that we wanted all the any doubt about the industrial importance of the museums to stay open. But in terms of what museum museum in Manchester. might need the greatest attention, the greatest attention On the three world-class versus four, I was making a was really focused on the museum in Bradford, and very basic point about what would happen in a 10% the reason was one of strategy, because it is now scenario. If you saved money in that scenario by crystal clear is that the priority for the science agenda cutting across the board, you end up essentially is paramount in our minds. When the Media Museum degrading the offer at all the museums and in the first opened, it was very clear that, although it has tricky situation of beginning to lose a number of these great technology collections, they were collected things. You lose visitors, you lose enthusiasm and, for scientific and technology reasons, not necessarily also, it can be pretty devastating from a fundraising to tell an art story. We did take action early by point of view because—and it is very clear to me as I changing the management structures there, so we had spend so much of my life fundraising—big trusts, people with a stronger science focus. What has also major philanthropists and also companies only want been very striking in our conversations with the local to invest in success. The narrative, “Why don’t you authority is that our concern about getting back to a save the museum?” appears quite strong, but in fact stronger technology and science agenda in the the real way of raising money is to say, “We are museum is very much on the same page as them. already world-class, why don’t you invest in us?” Philip Davies: When you said that one of the three northern museums in the group might be under threat, Q21 Philip Davies: If your current budget allows you you were talking about the National Media Museum to have four world-class museums as you are claiming in Bradford? and that the loss of any funding may lead to a decline Ian Blatchford: I wouldn’t have put it that starkly. in visitor numbers and so on, how come we have had Philip Davies: That is what you seem to have just a decline in visitor numbers in Bradford with your said. current budget? Ian Blatchford: Yes. Let me explain. The Ian Blatchford: In the case of Bradford, there are lots conversations that I had with, for example, the leader of factors at play and there is not one single one to and chief executive of Bradford were as follows: in a point to. The first is issues with its environment. For scenario where the cuts were not significant, we would example, in particular years there has been major have both the time and the money to reshape the redevelopment in the city centre, and, as we all know, museum so it had a stronger technology focus, and when there are building works in the centre of a town, indeed we discussed a number of very exciting plans people tend to not go there, so that has certainly not for increasing audience numbers. In the 10% scenario, been helpful. I think the other thing that was true the cuts would be so significant that we would not when the museum had higher visitor numbers is that have the time and the money to achieve that, and, the IMAX was a novelty, and certainly both the IMAX therefore, there was a real threat that the museum in Bradford and also in London has experienced a big would not be sustainable. decline in that being the big pull. The other thing that may have been a factor—opinion Q23 Philip Davies: I am pleased you mentioned your is a bit divided on this—is that before it was renamed, discussions with Bradford council because at the it was pretty clear to the visitor what was in the meeting that we had with the Minister, which I am museum. I think National Media Museum, although it sure you recall, you said that the reason why you had appears to be a neat title, is quite confusing because not approached the MPs in Bradford beforehand about it doesn’t really tell you very much about the content the issues was because you had been told by Bradford cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford council not to approach the local MPs. I just wondered point of view, there is another group of people who if you could tell us who it was that told you not to obviously have been deeply affected, the staff who approach the local MPs in Bradford. work in those museums, and another important group Ian Blatchford: I think what I may have said in that of people who get forgotten in this dialogue, the meeting I probably put rather clumsily. What I was volunteers, who are absolutely crucial. really trying to— When I had my meeting with the Minister, our whole Philip Davies: You were very clear, if you don’t mind conversation was around what we planned to do in me saying so. You did not put it clumsily at all. You order to reshape Bradford, and we agreed at that might regret saying it, but you certainly did not put meeting that that was going to be a successful venture it clumsily. if the funding settlement wasn’t too dramatically bad. Ian Blatchford: The thing about Bradford, which is Indeed, our hope at that stage was to be very discreet also true of York and Manchester, is clearly, on a day- about the whole thing, precisely because we did not to-day basis, our primary relationship is with the local want speculation. Unfortunately, our hand was forced authority, particularly, of course, bearing in mind that because at a meeting between us, the northern cities in Bradford we sit in one of their buildings; so we are, and the museums, we discussed scenarios that in a sense, one of their tenants. Also, the chief included what would happen in the rather difficult executive of the local authority sits on our advisory event of a 10% cut and that meeting was leaked. Also, board and we talk to them a lot. What I was trying to let me be unbelievably, supersonically clear that it was convey in that conversation was that, given how not us who leaked that because certainly, for the past sensitive the issue was about what would happen to month, the time we could have spent on looking at the the museum, either the reshaping of the museum or Bradford solution and also raising money has clearly indeed the threat of it not staying open, we were very not been possible. keen to keep a very tight circle of who we could speak Our problem was that we had a very major press to. What the local authority said to me was, “We conference coming up shortly afterwards with all the prefer the local authority to talk to our MPs first”, heavy-hitting organisations of the science world, and because we don’t particularly have a relationship with it became very clear to us, both from the coverage in the local MPs and it would seem more appropriate for the local Bradford press but also in the Manchester the local authority to brief them first. Although it may Evening News, that we had quite a serious problem: have come across as we were banned, it is simply that could we, in other words, close down the story and we were showing courtesy to the local authority to let just get it to go away? The story was building and them speak first. building. The story was becoming not so much that there was one museum that might close, but that there Q24 Philip Davies: To be fair, that isn’t what you were three museums. We took the view, based on a said at the meeting. It was very clear. Quite lot of press advice, that in the end the simplest and specifically at the meeting, when asked why you had most straightforward approach was simply to say that not approached the local MPs in Bradford, you said one museum was under threat. It wasn’t where we that you specifically had been requested by the local started, but we felt there was no way we could close authority not to do so. I just wanted to know—it is a down the story and, in fact, if we attempted to do so, fairly straightforward question—who was it at the it would increase speculation. local authority that told you not to contact the local Philip Davies: Do you know where that leak came MPs in Bradford? from? Ian Blatchford: The person I was talking to most at Ian Blatchford: It depends what you mean by the local authority was the chief executive, and I am “know”. The answer is no, I don’t know, but I can sure he will be able to address that later, but his speculate. request was not put as starkly as I accidentally put it. Philip Davies: Do you have any suspicions? Who do His request was, “It would be helpful if we could you suspect? If you were pricing it up as a bookmaker, speak to them first”. who would be favourite for being responsible for this leak? Q25 Philip Davies: What do you say to people who Ian Blatchford: I would rather not have a game of claim that your threat to the National Media Museum, Cluedo about who it was in the library with the as it turns out as opposed to one of the northern candlestick. museums, was just a piece of negotiation; that you Philip Davies: We quite like it. were never going to close the National Media Ian Blatchford: I know, but I have to look to my Museum down and that you knew that it would be long-term relationships with all the people we work deemed unacceptable, but it was just your way of with, and I am sure whoever leaked it probably, with trying to get a better settlement from the Government? hindsight, rather regrets doing so. Ian Blatchford: I would say that it definitely wasn’t Philip Davies: But you have your suspicions, would fake, and we would not dream of making such a it be fair to say? statement if we were not sincere about following it Ian Blatchford: Of course I have my suspicions. through. If I can just briefly talk about the chronology, because I think it is quite important to explain that our Q26 Philip Davies: If you had gone through with this starting position was not to have some great national threat to close the National Media Museum, when campaign. I say that not least because obviously there would you have envisaged it closing? has been a lot of focus on the anxiety caused to people Ian Blatchford: In a scenario where the cuts had been who live in those cities, but also, looked at from my dramatic, the one thing we said we wouldn’t have cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford done is rush to action. because clearly such a thing National Media Museum will not be closing and its would have been terrible in so many ways. The real future is secure? impact of a 10% cut would have been in 2015–16, Ian Blatchford: I would be delighted to do so and and, although that seems quite some way off, of also, if I may, explain why it has taken us so long to course planning for that involves planning now. We say that because I think some people, particularly in would have explored a whole range of options with those local communities, might have thought we were the local authority and also with the Minister before deliberately tormenting them. I will start with that, we would have made some trite or simple decision because I am afraid it is a rather tedious thing to have about closure. to go through, but it is rather important. The crucial thing from the point of view of the trustees of the Q27 Philip Davies: If the threat was so real, why was Science Museum was that when we said something, it it that one week before this broke you spent £120,000 was definitive, and the worst possible outcome would on a facelift for the café at Pictureville? be to say something and then two weeks later say, Ian Blatchford: There were good reasons for that, “Oh, by the way, we have discovered, for example, because it was part of a bigger refurbishment project that we do not have any capital funding”, or there is in terms of catering across a number of our museum some other problem with the funding arrangements sites. It wasn’t just one project; it was part of a bigger that meant that a promise made couldn’t be sustained, deal. Also, I remember vividly having a conversation which would be clearly a disaster for everyone. with both the head of my trading company and also The stages in our mind were, first of all, my chairman the director of the National Media Museum about and I went to see the Minister to clarify the meaning whether we should proceed, and we took the view that of his comments, in civil service speak, but the serious we should proceed, because not to do so in a way point that is very productive from that meeting—and would fulfil a prophecy about doom for the museum. the Minister has already mentioned it—is the idea that You could end up saying, “Well, catering is not he will be pursuing a number of avenues for funding. making much money, and income-generating at I think if those come off it would be a significant Bradford isn’t very good”. breakthrough, not only in terms of the Science Also we were deeply concerned about something that Museum Group but also in a way of doing business. is intangible but a very potent factor, which is that the That was on Wednesday last week. On Thursday we impact on the staff in the museum would be pretty had a board of trustees, and clearly they, we should devastating, because this is something that has been all remember, are legally responsible for all the promised for a long time. To suddenly say, “Oh, for museums and ultimately they have the decisions. Then various reasons”, whatever bureaucratic language one we were waiting both on Friday and also Monday for uses, “it is not going to happen”, I do not think would verbal reassurances about the level of our revenue and convince a single member of staff that that was a good capital funding, and although the revenue funding was move. I think in a scenario where there had been a very much in the public domain, the capital wasn’t. poor settlement, obviously we would have looked to Although we do not know the precise number, we had get out of that contract in a way that was been given very strong indications that it was a level commercially sensible. We were balancing a number that is rather welcome. of rather different factors, but our view overall was The answer to your question is, because of all of that that we did want to believe that we could make the now happening and the Minister’s clear commitment museum succeed in Bradford rather than endlessly publicly that the museums do not need to close, I can postpone projects. say that the museums are not shutting. The way I would put it, in a way that will mean a lot to local Q28 Philip Davies: You agreed the contract with communities, is that in quite a lot of national press Compass until 2018, so that doesn’t ring true that you and regional press, after the Minister’s previous were thinking about closing in 2015. statements in the following week, it all said that the Ian Blatchford: I don’t see any conflict between those museums are “saved”, and the “saved” was in two things. I think I have already explained the threat quotation marks. The message this morning is, “Take to the museum in a 10% scenario was very real, but the quotation marks off”. also you have to make decisions hoping that you will find a way forward. I think that our chances of finding Q30 Mr Sutcliffe: Thanks very much for that a way forward would be much lessened had we reassurance, which I am sure will go down well in the decided not to proceed with the contract, because the three cities affected. I just want to dwell on the past a goodwill and morale of staff would have been so little bit and then talk about the future in terms of weakened by that one decision that you would have what we need to do. I asked the Minister about your to pick them up in order to have a dialogue about the meeting on the 23rd where you discussed just the future of the museum. National Media Museum and not the other two museums, and that is because you felt that Bradford Q29 Philip Davies: Finally, everybody heard today had the most difficulty perhaps. Is that true? in public the robustness of the Minister’s response Ian Blatchford: That is fair, yes. It was because we about the future of the National Media Museum, the felt—“we”, by the way, being the board of trustees— same robustness that we heard in private at our that, given the strategic priorities, the issue with the meeting. Would you like to now take this opportunity National Media Museum was that there wasn’t enough to make it abundantly clear to everybody that the science; that simple. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford

Q31 Mr Sutcliffe: Were you surprised then that this reasons. We had a lot of conversations with the local campaign came about from the northern alliance authority to assure them that in fact, rather than between Bradford, Manchester and York and that secretly slowly poisoning the museum, we were doing those three authorities were gaining support from something with the opposite intention. everywhere against this attack from the south on the northern territories? Q34 Mr Sutcliffe: Could I just stop you there, Ian Blatchford: I think one of the things that has been because there is a feeling in Bradford and has been extraordinary over the past few weeks is that, while it over many years that when we attracted the National has been a period of great anxiety for everyone, it Media Museum in the 1980s the Science Museum has also been a period of extraordinary opportunity Group in London were not very happy about that. because so many things have happened. One of the There has been a potential management of decline things that has slightly taken our breath away is that over many years in an attempt to get the museum back obviously museum people always say that their to London. The challenge goes from some of us that museums are valued by their local communities. I this has been a managed decline to get things back, don’t think anyone can be in any doubt that what we reinforced by the Media Space that is going to open say, rather smugly, is profoundly true. in London in September, which will showcase the On the issue of the northern alliance as you call it, I national photography collection held by the National was—rightly—berated by one of the chief executives Media Museum. That reinforced this view that it was the other day because I had got into the habit of all about managed decline. Can you just comment on calling it that, and they said, “It is you who is making those issues? it a north/south thing, not me”. What they meant was Ian Blatchford: I think those are understandable that coming through this difficult spending round you perceptions. To do something very strange and go will end up with four fantastic museums who work as back a long way in time, if you were to talk to Dame a group. Each part of the group needs to play a Margaret Weston, who is still around and whose idea particular part and also decide who gets priorities in very much the project was, and Colin Ford who was terms of particular exhibitions and particular capital the first director, they would probably say that there funding. You could ask, and I think it would be a very was a great deal of what one might call metropolitan fair criticism, why we did not get around to doing that resistance to the idea. There are also particular issues before. With hindsight, it is extraordinary that we have that the museum still has to deal with because, in not met in that way before. addition to working for the people of Bradford, there are other stakeholders, like the photography Q32 Mr Sutcliffe: Mr Blatchford, you talked about community, who obviously are particularly anxious the management structure changes. When was that? about having the best possible access. Ian Blatchford: You mean the National Media The thing that is very difficult about the Media Space Museum? project is that—it wasn’t agreed under my Mr Sutcliffe: Yes. directorship; long before me, but obviously I know all Ian Blatchford: The previous arrangement was that the people involved—it was done with the sincerest the previous director who reported straight to me left of intentions, but has been misinterpreted. What I in March 2012, I think it must have been. Then for a mean by that is that it was intended to be a showcase period the museum was managed by my deputy, for the National Media Museum, both showing the Heather Mayfield, who is deputy director of the amazing collections but also reminding people what Science Museum. The reason for that was twofold. was in Bradford and getting them to go there. Now, it One is because she was very much part of the team won’t open until September, but I am—and I am sure who founded it and is devoted to it—and if anyone that the local authority would say they are as well— wants to know who is a great champion of the optimistic that that objective will be achieved. museum’s interests in London, it is certainly her— On your question about managed decline, if we felt but also because she has enormous experience of the that the museum needed to sort of ebb away, we science agenda. Her remit from me was very much to would not have done what we did last year, which is look at how Bradford could change pace in terms of make the management changes, because if you wanted the science exhibitions and particularly the education the museum to fail, all you needed to do was do side. nothing. In fact putting in, first of all, Heather, but also Jo Quinton-Tulloch, who is now the director and Q33 Mr Sutcliffe: In March 2012 the management who is one of the brightest stars in the group, is a sign structure had changed. You then are dealing with the of faith in Bradford, not absence of commitment. cuts from the previous settlement that you had to deal with and then you get notification of the potential cuts Q35 Mr Sutcliffe: Just on interesting facts and of 5%, 10%, 15%. What discussions did you have figures, I was looking at the audience for the science with the local authority in Bradford, and at what time, museums and the various museums, and the overseas about the potential? visitor figures are quite stark. I mean, obviously one Ian Blatchford: First, when we made the change in accepts 1.1 million people coming through the doors management structure, although this may seem rather in London, but then you have 40,000 overseas visitors obscure to people not involved, both the local MPs in Manchester, 51,000 overseas visitors in York and in will completely understand that this was quite a tricky Bradford just 8,000. Looking to the future and looking moment, because it was seen as some strange forward now, what would you like to see happen in conspiracy, and I think for very understandable terms of how we revitalise the museum, the cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford partnerships that we need to get into and the people Also, let’s not forget Bradford College as well, that we need to be working with? How would you like because there are some great film courses in Bradford, to see it go forward? and, even though we do have a good link with them, Ian Blatchford: Well, that is a very good challenge. the challenge going forward is to find spaces and Yes, those numbers are quite striking, because it does programmes that make that even more visible. seem perplexing that the numbers should be so low. Mr Sutcliffe: One of the things that I want to see in One of the key things about going forward, for the city is that cultural strapline with the heritage we example, with the local authority is working much have in Haworth with the Brontes, J B Priestley in harder on the tourism agenda, and in some cities that Bradford, Delius—there is a whole host of people that is easier than others. For example, we have a very we could talk about—it is an opportunity for the strong tourism relationship with York and also district to set its stall out as a city of culture. increasingly with Manchester. I think that, because of all the changes that have gone on at the National Q37 Mr Leech: The accounts of the group don’t Media Museum, it would be very easy for me to say, show which parts of the group are more successful at “Well, the local authority should do more”, but, in generating additional income. Which parts are fact, the reality is that we should have done successful, and are there any lessons to be learnt from considerably more much earlier to work with them. the less successful parts of the operation? There are lots of fascinating opportunities in Bradford; Ian Blatchford: There are several ways of answering the classic example is City Park. If you watched the that. What we do obviously analyse in some detail Bollywood Carmen—I didn’t see it live, but I saw it every year is where money is being spent and where on television—it was a fantastic opportunity to brand money is coming in and we have a rather helpful the city. I also think that one of the real incredibly measure—it is not definitive, but certainly a good strong links between the city’s interest and indeed the benchmark—which is looking at the net cost of each museum’s interest has been UNESCO City of Film, museum, i.e. the cost of running it minus the income and still I meet the most amazing number of people it generates directly. That sets out some rather all over England—and, by the way, many of them in interesting challenges going forward, especially with the north of England—who know nothing about it. the spending review. On the tourism agenda, I think we should also What we do, by the way, is compare that net number remember that it is not just about overseas tourists, it with the actual audience that they are reaching to give is also about domestic tourism as well, and one of the us a rough guide to value for money in terms of who rather visionary ideas emerging from the discussion is succeeding. By far and away the best performer on between the three northern cities is that we can talk a that measure is MOSI, and that does not surprise us lot about the north and south, but also you do want a because MOSI came into the group with quite limited situation where people in York and Manchester also funding and it has always delivered a huge amount for know about what is in the Science Museum and also not much money. The Science Museum also does very visit Bradford. well. At the other end of the scale, there are issues with the National Media Museum because its costs are Q36 Mr Sutcliffe: Just moving on to the science pretty high and its income streams are pretty low; for agenda, clearly there are changes at Bradford example, it is probably 20%, 30% more expensive in University: a new vice-chancellor, the private sector, terms of reaching the public. and lots of technology companies in Bradford and the In terms of what we can do about that though, I think surrounding districts. Do you see that as an there are two things to say. One is a general point opportunity now to get the science agenda improved about fundraising and the other is about the National in the offer that the museum puts forward? Media Museum. One of the things that you may have Ian Blatchford: I think it is vital, because one of the seen in some of the statements made both by the things that we have successfully achieved as an Minister and also by me is that we are very keen to advocacy and fundraising plank in Manchester is the explore commercial partnerships, particularly with the idea that we are the city’s showcase for technology. cinema world, in the museum because, although we For example, in Manchester, the Science Museum is run a cinema operation there and it is clearly vital as opening in July a wonderful exhibition called Brains, part of the UNESCO City of Film, we do think there which is based on the show that was at the Wellcome are some lessons we can learn from commercial Trust, but in fact has been greatly amplified by providers in terms of marketing and income- contributions from Manchester University; so it is generating. fantastic example of a link. On a bigger issue, something we are acutely aware of, In terms of Bradford, I have said publicly that I am given all the sites we operate in, is the overwhelming particularly delighted by Brian Cantor coming as dominance of London in terms of philanthropy. It is Vice-Chancellor, because I know him very well from incredibly striking, and you may have seen some of my existing job. I think that he will completely get the recent DCMS reports on that. The way we the opportunity for us to be that showcase because, approach that is to take a group approach. We with the best will in the world, although universities certainly do not take the approach that what is raised do a great deal of outreach, going on to a university in London stays in London; definitely not. Every two campus as a member of the public feels a less or three years we sit down with all the museums, and accessible experience than walking into a free national we look at who has the greatest investment need in museum. I think there are huge opportunities. terms of either programming or capital expenditure cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence Ev 11

2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford and then basically set priorities in terms of who is to their schools and colleges. They want us to be part going to get the money. of a narrative where everyone wants young people who are doing maths and physics and chemistry and Q38 Mr Leech: Effectively, because more charitable biology to do much better. The other thing I should money can be raised in London, that helps to subsidise also say about it is that it was risky. For example, the the others in the north? last exhibition that the museum did before we took Ian Blatchford: To some degree, although we want to over was the Art of Harley-Davidson. “Why?” was move away from that because it is very clear that if the reaction of everyone we spoke to in Manchester, you have a museum, no matter where it is located, because not only was it a very strange exhibition but with a very strong programme and a very strong also commercially not very successful. vision you will still raise the money. Clearly, one of The other area in which it was running on a shoestring the things that has made our life more complicated— was in maintaining the building. Although it had a and this is just a factual statement rather than making major capital scheme recently, you will know if you a comment on policy—is that when RDAs existed, not walk through the site that the actual old railway so long ago, it was easier to have a bedrock on which station itself certainly needs investment, and the Air to do capital schemes; if you look at the Revolution and Space Hall seriously needs investment. It was sort Manchester scheme, for example, at MOSI, or if you of getting by and the thing that was very revealing look at many of the capital schemes at the National during the merger discussions is that, at a time when Media Museum. Then it was very easy to have a all the other national museums had active plans for bedrock and then match it with the funding. how they would cope with minus 15%, MOSI had We are also pushing this a bit harder because my none. Although it may seem a bit cheeky to portray development director, who is Yorkshire born and bred, us as kind of a white knight riding to the rescue, I is very keen to make sure that the northern museums think to some degree that was true at that moment; really do well on the fundraising. For example, with their model of getting by was on the brink of no the powerhouse of fundraising in London, we now longer being viable. have a very close sense of all the major foundations and philanthropists, and we are going to impose on Q40 Mr Leech: There has been some concern raised ourselves a clear discipline that, in some of those that the work on the Ordsall Chord has an impact on cases, we will not ask for money for London. We will access to the station. Has that issue been resolved, actively prioritise our grant applications so that the and, if it is not resolved, what impact will that have northern museums get a share. on MOSI? I am sorry this is such a long answer, but I feel very Ian Blatchford: First of all, it hasn’t been resolved, strongly about this. One of the things that we hoped and is very much a live issue. Not everyone will would happen when the Museum Group had enough necessary know what the issue is, but it is rather critical mass when MOSI joined is that we would have crucial because what potentially would happen as part a new narrative to go to major companies. One of the of major railway developments in the Manchester area things that has been very interesting about our current in order to improve rail travel and commuting in that campaign—to raise money for an exhibition about part of the world is that the museum would lose its careers in engineering—is that we are saying to the connection to the main railway line, and clearly that companies who are supporting it, “This exhibition will be in London and one of our northern museums”. is of concern to the museum for a number of reasons. What we are discovering is that, rather than that being First of all, given it is the world’s first railway a hard sell, companies are falling over themselves. It passenger station, just on an emotional and symbolic is quite easy to see the classic trap where all company level it feels tricky not to have that link. It is also head offices tend to be in London, or even if they have difficult because we run railway rides that use that line major operations outside London, decision-making is and also, in the longer term, we had quite a big plan still in one place. Our experience over the past year is at the point of merger to have a wonderful relationship that the corporate sector is very, very conscious of that between Manchester and the National Railway risk, and we want to be among the people who pioneer Museum, which of course has such a great collection. a new approach. At the moment, we are having two conversations. One is obviously with Network Rail to see whether there Q39 Mr Leech: You said that when Manchester are any alternatives and the second is to see, if it came into the group, historically it had not had the proves to be impossible to find one, whether there is sort of levels of funding that others have; so it has some kind of compensation for the very significant provided more for less. What things was it doing impact on the museum. I should say obviously we differently to be able to provide more for less? are doing that in consultation with the local authority, Ian Blatchford: It was, first of all, running a very because we do not want to do something that is right commercial exhibition programme. While that would for the museum and wrong for the people of appear to be a good thing, it became very clear to us Manchester. when we spoke to all the political, business and cultural leaders in Manchester at the time of the Q41 Mr Leech: You mentioned earlier about the merger that it was not winning many hearts and museum in Bradford being in a council building, and minds. That is quite an interesting point to make. The my understanding is that given where the Tate thing that is very striking about all the local authorities Museums are located, local authorities do give them a we talk to is that they want us to add educational value small amount of grant funding. What sort of support cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Ev 12 Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence

2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford do you get from the local authorities where the period. Amazing to think it was controversial, but I national museums are located? think it transformed people’s perception of Shildon. Ian Blatchford: It comes in many different guises. One of them is not a large bag of gold coins, but being Q43 Mr Leech: In terms of the real crux of the un-facetious for a second, they do a great deal for us. problem with funding, how much of it is to do with For example, Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester capital spend and how much is to do with revenue? council, sits on the board of MOSI, the chief executive Ian Blatchford: On the issue of the mix, just to give of Bradford council sits on the board there, and the you an idea of scale and then explain why it is an tourism chief for York sits on the board there; so they issue, at the moment our grant is about £37 million a do a great deal in terms of giving us connections. year on revenue funding and £2.5 million on capital. They also provide funding for particular events, I think, from the outside world looking in, you might particularly festivals. There is also the big link that I have thought that the fact that we did not want to mentioned earlier on tourism. say anything publicly until we knew roughly what our The other thing that a great relationship with the local capital funding was would seem a little bit kind of authority does is provide you with enormous prissy and strange, given that it is only £2.5 million opportunities in terms of introducing you to other compared to £37 million. In fact the number matters people in the area, particularly if there are capital profoundly for two reasons. One is because the estate schemes involved. For example, while the site next to is enormous if you think of the number of listed the museum in Manchester is now being redeveloped, buildings we have, and it is not just the museums. We the old Granada site, it has been hugely encouraging also share a huge site in Olympia for storage of that both the purchasers, but particularly the council, national collections and a huge site in Wiltshire where definitely keep our best interests at heart. the large objects are kept. There is one local authority that does give us bags of Also, so much of the capital funding is spent on things gold coins, which is Durham. It is very easy to forget that are deeply unglamorous but profoundly in this scenario that one of the great gems of the important: lifts, fire systems, lavatories, IT systems. Science Museum Group is Locomotion at Shildon What that means is that we probably spend in any where we have a co-funding partnership with the local year more than £2.5 million on capital because we are authority, which is at present surviving the difficult also trying to do feasibility work on the master plans times. I suppose, going forward, clearly we will talk that we have agreed—for example, at the museums in to all local authorities about what more they might do Manchester and York—to develop the museum, for us and, in particular, we are having a dialogue with because in order to raise private-sector money you the council in Bradford about how we might work have to spend some money yourself to have plausible together to reshape the museum. But I am very plans you can go out into the market with. cautious about saying too much about that for two reasons. One is because it is not my money, and it is Q44 Mr Leech: How much of a problem is it that always very easy giving evidence to spend someone MOSI is a listed building? else’s money, but the more serious point is that they are still absorbing their own public spending round Ian Blatchford: In the short term it has not been a news, and I do not think they will be in a position to problem because we did a very thorough survey of the come to a view for some time. building before we agreed to the merger. Not surprisingly, the board of trustees were very Q42 Mr Leech: You say Durham financially supports concerned that we did not take over a building and Shildon. I see the visitor numbers at Shildon have then discover that one half of it was about to fall gone up very significantly from 2008–09 to 2011–12. down. One of the great things, of course, about the Is there any particular reason for that? era in which those buildings were built is they were Ian Blatchford: I think it is a combination of word of built incredibly well, and when a previous regime mouth and some very clever programming. The thing restored the building they also did a very good job. that is very striking— With the exception maybe of the Air and Space Hall, Mr Leech: It is not the gold coins from Durham? which really does need some attention, the rest of the Ian Blatchford: The gold coins from Durham help us site for the time being is in a good state. The issue do a number of things. First of all, it is well marketed. though is not about the fabric there. It is about the Secondly, it has built up enormous loyalty in the local quality of some of the galleries that, as I am sure you community. The thing that will not necessarily be know, particularly at the end of the site are very obvious and I should explain is that it is run dated indeed. curatorially and managerially out of the National Railway Museum in York, so it is part of the National Q45 Chair: In your ambitions set out in your annual Railway Museum but there happens to be part of it in review you say, “The group must push its audiences Shildon. When Steve Davies was the director he had harder, so we are ditching the science-lite special the brilliant idea—it was hugely controversial—of exhibitions of the past decade to focus on real having loans of major iconic locomotives from York science”. As I am looking at the visitor numbers, to Shildon. If you look at the figures for those sorts of MOSI had an exceptionally good year in 2008–09, heritage festivals, it transformed the visitor numbers which we are told was as a result of hosting the and huge crowds were turning up there on a regular Doctor Who exhibition that year. Therefore, is it not basis, not only to see the individual event but also to the case that the science-lite exhibitions might be the see iconic locomotives when they were on loan for a ones that attract the visitors? cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford

Ian Blatchford: The answer is that, first of all, it is a to Bradford—looking here at Mr Sutcliffe and Mr very mixed bag. If you look back over all the Davis—one of the key things we need to do at the museums when they have done those exhibitions, it is National Media Museum is to restore what used to be a great trap to assume you know what will be there, which is a wonderful temporary exhibition commercially successful. For example, if you looked space, because at the moment it is missing out on at the 10 years before I arrived at the Science some fabulous high-quality exhibitions, not only Museum, when it was doing very much commercially generated by the museum in London but indeed based exhibitions, it was very striking that many of internationally. these supposedly commercial exhibitions received very poor audiences and also did not make any money, Q47 Chair: We are presumably still looking at a in fact lost some. The other big picture is that, if you combination of the more popular with the perhaps have the courage of your convictions in terms of more academic, so it is not goodbye to Doctor Who content, it is better to go for long-term serious altogether? programming rather than something that brings you Ian Blatchford: Not at all. short-term gain. The thing that was very striking, Chair: Good. I am greatly reassured. talking to people in Manchester about the kind of Ian Blatchford: I note a strong plea to make sure. My exhibitions you have just quoted, and also talking to point is Doctor Who is fine, but it cannot be all you the wider science community about the kind of do. That is all I am saying. exhibitions that the Science Museum was doing in London, is that slowly but surely it was eating away Q48 Mr Leech: I just wanted to come back. You at our credibility with the science community because made the point about the need for some investment in they said, “Well, okay, so it is bringing in an audience, the aerospace/aviation section at MOSI. Has the group but they are not learning very much science”. been in any discussions with the aviation industry, I can give you a rather surprising example of whether it be airports or airlines, about the possibility something, strangely enough, relevant to Manchester. of sponsorship? I just think of the example of Etihad This year in the Science Museum we have had an Airways, who pumped in rather a lot of money to a exhibition on celebrating the centenary of Alan certain football club in Manchester, reportedly up to Turing. Alan Turing, of course, famously worked in £400 million over 10 years to sponsor the stadium, the Manchester, but the exhibition happens to be in naming rights of the stadium. Have there been any London. The point about it is that it is quite a discussions within the industry about sponsorship? challenging exhibition. You are dealing with Ian Blatchford: I think the honest answer is not really. mathematics and very early theoretical computing, but We have had one conversation with Manchester we think by the time the exhibition closes it will have Airport, but that was very much an initial conversation been seen by over 900,000 people. Our view is that, to introduce ourselves. Given that we have only been although it is very tempting to go for quick fixes and in the new regime for little over a year, our main go for particularly popular exhibitions, there is no real priority has been to form our priorities and plans. One conflict between quality and audience numbers as long of the things that I slightly have joked about with as you follow an exhibition approach consistently and colleagues is that we have been taking names. What I just do not go for one-offs. mean by that is, given that so many people have said how important the museums are in all those Q46 Chair: The Minister talked about the Large communities, we have noted who they are and I can Hadron Collider exhibition, which I am sure will be assure you that once the smoke has cleared in the fascinating, but it may not bring in quite so many existing scenario we are certainly going to look very people as the James Bond exhibition that was held in actively at all key players in all those cities to look the Science Museum not that long ago. for funding. But the answer to your question is not Ian Blatchford: My view of programming is the same really. We have just had one conversation to date. view that I used to take when I was deputy director Mr Leech: But this is the sort of thing that you are of the V and A, where you have to take a three or looking at? four-year view of your portfolio. Some of those you Ian Blatchford: Absolutely. I should also say that, of know will be very popular and some of them you course, many important companies in your part of the know will be very niche, but you are doing it in order world do already give us support. There is a very to be credible. For example, with the Large Hadron major operation for Siemens in your part of the world, Collider exhibition, we are budgeting for no more than and we have a very good relationship with them and 40,000 or 50,000 people, and what matters is that they have been a longstanding generous supporter of every physics teacher in the country comes. I think it the Science Festival. It is certainly not the case that may be more popular, but it is the first time we have we have not had support from industry in Manchester. taken this approach. We have had very good support, but I think the The year after that, we are doing an exhibition about challenge now is to see if we can increase the the Russian version of the space race, where I expect investment and, in the case of the airport, perhaps queues all the way down to the tube station, and after obtain some support for the first time. that we are doing an exhibition on robots. Robots, by the way, are a very good example of the kind of Q49 Mr Leech: I did ask a question of the Minister programming that is very popular and high-quality in relation to the proportion of income from that you can do in London and you can also do in commercial activities and how that compared with the Bradford and Manchester. If I may just briefly go back rest of the DCMS brief, libraries and theatres and cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Ev 14 Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence

2 July 2013 Ian Blatchford things like that. Do you think that there is scope for of that back”. Even though that might appear an increased proportion of revenue coming from paranoid, these things do happen. Now that we have commercial activity? independent foundations raising money actively that Ian Blatchford: I think there is, for a number of helps enormously. reasons. The first is that something that would appear In terms of the question you asked earlier, I might to the average person in the street rather obscure, but take issue with the Minister describing us as middle- to us is incredibly significant, is part of the detail of ranking. I do not think that is quite how we see the spending settlement, which is the idea of these ourselves, and this is a serious point. For example, we new freedoms. One freedom in particular to include— say in our written evidence that if you look at all the this is something that I cannot do, which is income coming into the group the ratio is roughly particularly annoying compared to my colleagues at 60% Government and 40% private. He is right that I the science museums in America there—which is very would say that the leader in this sector is the Tate, and simple, is borrow money. The reason that matters is certainly when I last looked at it they are much nearer that the number of times my colleagues have come to the 50/50 ratio. Clearly we would love to increase our see me with rather brilliant ideas about how we can income. Just to remind you, we have over the past increase audience numbers and income, particularly five years tripled our private-sector income. So we are in the northern museums—for example, “London has starting from a pretty strong base. Launchpad, an insanely popular part of the museum. Also, I think there is a bigger point I would make. No Would it not be wonderful if you had such a thing in national museum wants to just be a subsidy junkie if Bradford, and in Manchester?”—but the upfront it can also find other sources of income. In all our investment is daunting and we do not have the ability minds we are on a path here, which is that we know to borrow. So that is a major thing. our funding settlement until 2016 but, whoever is the The other thing that seems an even more obscure point next Government, we are not expecting lavish but has been hugely significant is the encouragement amounts of public funding to pour into our coffers. for the national museums to form foundations. One of We need to fundamentally realign our business model the things that has been lurking as a powerful and be more nimble financially. disincentive for years is the idea that if you did Chair: I think that is all we have. Thank you very succeed in raising lots of money the Treasury would much. think, “Very well done, and I think I will have some

Examination of Witnesses

Witnesses: Tony Reeves, Chief Executive, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Kersten England, Chief Executive, City of York Council, and Vicky Rosin, Deputy Chief Executive, Manchester City Council, gave evidence.

Q50 Chair: For our final part of this morning’s with major investments in the offing. The investment session can I welcome Tony Reeves, the Chief in City Park, as has already been referred to, has made Executive of Bradford District Council; Kersten a big difference to the city, but one of the things that England, the Chief Executive, City of York Council; has kept Bradford functioning as a proper city through and Vicky Rosin, the Deputy Chief Executive of that difficult decade has been the National Media Manchester City Council. Perhaps you would just Museum, and obviously in its former name as well. It begin by each of you giving a general view of how is absolutely fundamental to the future of the city, and important the local branch of the Science Museum I cannot overstate its importance. Group is to the city that you represent? Kersten England: I will speak briefly about York. Tony Reeves: The Media Museum in Bradford is Clearly the director of the Museums Group has absolutely critical to the city. I think it is fair to say it already made the point about the link with our tourism is the jewel in the crown in the city centre, and, while industry where we have 7 million visitors a year, much has been said about visitor numbers and they 930,000 of whom visit the Railway Museum, but I have declined over the last few years, it still brings think it is also important to say that the Railway half a million visitors to the city centre. If you look at Museum speaks about the history and heritage of our the average over a 10-year period, the average is about city. It connects the residents of the place to where we 650,000. The 1 million that has been referred to and have come from. But, for us, much more importantly, those numbers halving was a blip. It was an outlier it inspires children and it draws them in to those statistically, quite frankly; a very positive year, and it STEM sciences that are so critical now to our would be great if we can get back to those numbers, nation’s growth. but half a million visitors coming in to the city centre I heard Richard Noble of the Bloodhound endeavour is important for Bradford. speaking at the National Railway Museum, saying you We are regenerating the city. It is not in the same can correlate the economic growth of a country to place as the other cities, and let us be frank about that. those that have PhDs in physics and are drawn in to Bradford is a city that has a hugely impressive past, the engineering subjects. That is very important to us. an industrial past that made it a very wealthy city, but Not only do we have a shared apprenticeship in the it is a city that has been in decline for many decades. rail industry, which the NRM is working on with us, We are just at the cusp of turning that around now including Network Rail and our local college, but we cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence Ev 15

2 July 2013 Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin also have a very strong connection across to the the resource that we are going to have going forward University of York to work on safety in the rail and asking ourselves how best to deploy that resource industry. We share a rail safety institute with Nanjing to achieve the council’s objectives against the stated University in China, and reference was made to Brian priorities. Regenerating the city centre is a top Cantor who has until recently been the Vice- priority, alongside achieving step-change in education Chancellor of the University of York, now going to be attainment across the district and building the skills the Vice-Chancellor of Bradford. Gerry is smiling. My that we need in the local population with a very fast- loss is your gain, I think, Gerry. growing and uniquely young population for the north One of the things that was very important was the of England to exploit the economic advantage that connection between research and development, brings. If you put skills regeneration and education at knowledge transfer, wealth creation, and industrial the heart of this, then you can see why making sure growth in our city connected to the rail industry. Just that the National Media Museum grows in strength to be very clear, we remain the base of the rail and goes from strength to strength in the future, both industry in the north of England, with five train in its role nationally but also its relationship with the operators, the northern base for Network Rail, and city, is going to be incredibly important to us. many emerging companies now in the rail sector, There is no doubt that our revenue funding is going including some of the advanced manufacturing and to be in very short supply, but we are very happy to digital high-tech companies in the rail industry. You sit down with Mr Blatchford and his colleagues—we can see the importance in connections between the have already started to outline plans to do so—to NRM and our city and our city’s growth and explore how we can work together in the future. We continued prosperity are pretty clear. have not had any detailed conversations about money. Vicky Rosin: I do not want to completely repeat what We anticipate that we will be doing some time soon. Kersten has said, but, of course, the Museum of Science and Industry is hugely important to Q52 Mr Leech: Does Bradford council provide the Manchester. It is located right in the city centre, in the accommodation for the museum free of charge? Castlefield district. It is based on the world’s oldest Tony Reeves: Yes, on a peppercorn rent. There are surviving passenger railway station. It is located in two separate leases. One expires in 2087 and one 10 five listed buildings, hugely important in terms of years later, but it is on a peppercorn rent. telling the story about Manchester and our industrial Mr Leech: It is quite a big financial contribution? heritage, the birthplace of the industrial revolution. It Tony Reeves: Yes, right in the city centre. has always been important to Manchester people that Kersten England: I would echo much of what Tony the museum is at the heart of that story. We have made said. The spending review settlement notwithstanding, very good connections with the University of we will continue to work with and support the NRM Manchester, which is well renowned and well in a number of ways. I have already referenced the regarded as one of the leading science universities at apprenticeship programme that we are working on and the forefront of both research and innovation. We see I think we will look to broaden that in the coming MOSI telegraphing Manchester the city as the 21st years. We are in active dialogue and partnership with city of science and technology. them on the regeneration of a piece of land in the We have had extremely good visitor numbers of late, middle of York called York Central. It is the largest 850,000 over the recent year, and have had massive brownfield site in western Europe next to a main line support from our schools. MOSI holds the Greater railway station, and the NRM sits on it. We, Network Manchester contract for the STEMNET arrangements Rail and the NRM are working to bring a business and we place science ambassadors in 140 schools district to fruition in that area. We are actively looking around the region and work with almost 500 teachers. at their land holdings and how we might support them The importance of that STEM agenda for the city, for to realise value from it. We attended the property the growth and investment in new skills, is absolutely forum in Cannes this year and we took the NRM offer critical. It has been a very important journey for us as as part of that to the market. a city to make connections with the Science Museum As was referenced, the chief executive of our Group. It is quite recent, as you have heard, but over destination management organisation sits on the board the last 12 to 18 months we have made huge strides of the NRM, as does one of my directors, the director in reconnecting MOSI as one of the jewels in our very of regeneration. We actively include them in all the wide-ranging cultural and science portfolio. We have partnership work around the cultural offers of the city. every confidence that the museum is going to go from It is not so many years since the theatre produced The strength to strength. Railway Children, with a neat reference to Bradford; put it on at the Railway Museum and put it on at Q51 Chair: We heard from the Minister that DCMS Waterloo and then took it to Toronto in Canada, which had achieved a better than expected settlement in the is twinned with York. We will continue to support CSR. Of course, that probably is not the case for the them to position the offer of the NRM in regional, local authorities. You are going to be facing some national and international markets as well. difficult decisions. How is that going to affect your Vicky Rosin: Similarly, we are facing considerable ability to support the museums? reductions in our revenue and expenditure, but I think Tony Reeves: I think, from a Bradford point of view, our track record in Manchester demonstrates that we yes, you are absolutely right that we have a very have always seen the role of culture as a catalyst for difficult financial environment to operate within. The regeneration and for investment and growth. Not to stance we are taking as a local authority is looking at continue to support and invest where we can is seen cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Ev 16 Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence

2 July 2013 Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin as a retrograde step. While we have to look at he does not suspect Bradford of leaking anything cutbacks and efficiencies across the board, we will either. continue to do everything we can. In this example, to Kersten England: It just remains for York to confirm support the museum, we have worked very closely the same. I was with the leader of the council when with the new director to help her bring forward a 10- he took the phone call from the journalist, and we year development plan that we are very excited about, were as surprised as anybody. and, as you heard earlier reference to the Ordsall Vicky Rosin: It certainly was not Manchester. Chord, while it is absolutely critical to the development and investment potential within Q55 Philip Davies: Tony, if Mr Blatchford made it Manchester, we recognise that it brings real challenges clear to you that he did not think it was Bradford, did to the museum. We use our good offices where we he give any suggestion to you as to who he thought can to broker the relationships with Network Rail and it was? the ongoing negotiations that MOSI needs to continue Tony Reeves: No. to secure the best possible outcomes for themselves. Philip Davies: No. So, we are no wiser on the leak. Similarly with my colleagues here, we support the Tony Reeves: I cannot help you there I am afraid. museum through direct participation in the board, Kersten England: The Cluedo is not solved. through support for the Science Festival, which is a hugely successful festival that MOSI curates, and Q56 Philip Davies: Tony, perhaps you could be a bit through other conferences and support in kind where more forthcoming then about who it was on the we can. council that told Mr Blatchford not to approach the Kersten England: If I might just add one thing that local MPs in Bradford about the situation? I shall go might be of interest, a decade ago my council back and read the transcripts again later, but it seemed transferred its museum holdings into a trust status and to me he was pointing the finger at you. they now run independently. Clearly the council still Tony Reeves: Okay, let me absolutely clear about this. owns the asset. I think we would be very happy to There were three things decided for the council to do support the Science Museums Group and the NRM in in the meeting that we had with Mr Blatchford and looking at what some of these freedoms that have the chairman. The first was that the portfolio holder been promised might enable them to do. Similarly, I was going to speak to Mr Sutcliffe, somebody from think the three authorities have absolutely committed her own party but obviously connected intimately with to working together on the synergies across our three DCMS, which we thought was very important. Myself cities and what we might do together to support the and my colleague, the regeneration director, undertook Science Museums Group. to speak to David Ward MP, because we had discussed with Mr Blatchford and Mr Gurr the importance of Q53 Mr Leech: Just to follow on from that, how engaging BIS in the process, particularly around does your relationship with Shildon work and does science funding as a potential source of future funding that create any difficulties in terms of the costs of for the Group, and one of our MPs was able to arrange running at two locations? some discussions there. So we undertook to do that. Kersten England: Yes, clearly I am not responsible The third thing, which is something I undertook for the NRM in Shildon. It enhances the offer of the myself to do, was to then speak to my counterparts in NRM, and, as you can see, they have built the visitor York and Manchester to say, “I think there is a serious base up in Shildon. I think it is a net gain for us. There issue for the group here. It is not just about Bradford. It is an issue for the group as a whole”. I will be frank was reference to the running of the locomotives up with you, I also said to them, “As the three northern and down the line, and only at the weekend the museums, we are going to be vulnerable in this. We Mallard, which was the fastest ever steam locomotive need to work together to make sure that the in the world, ran through York Station and on up. We importance of the northern museums, as part of the have seen that as a very positive development. very successful and important Science Museum Mr Leech: It is an opportunity rather than a Group, is properly understood”. challenge? That was precisely what was agreed. If somebody has Kersten England: For us it is an opportunity. It also interpreted that to mean that they should not speak to brings partnership with Durham, as has been MPs, that is a misinterpretation. Our MPs have played mentioned. a key role in this, including, I have to say, I have no doubt in securing this session today, and there is no Q54 Philip Davies: Can we go back to the issue of question from our point of view that the MPs were the leak that Mr Blatchford was telling us about going to play anything other than a very important earlier? He seemed to think that he knew who it was role in this process. Of course, Mr Blatchford has a who had leaked it, but discretion was getting the better relationship with Mr Sutcliffe because of previous part of valour by the sounds of it. Would anybody on roles, and it would be completely inappropriate for the the panel like to claim credit for the leak, or would council to try to communicate that. I can only say anybody like to specifically rule themselves out as categorically that did not happen, and the only being the source of the leak? explanation I can give is if there was a very clear Vicky Rosin: I absolutely rule myself out. misinterpretation or an unclear interpretation of what Tony Reeves: Perhaps I will start off, then. I will was said in that discussion. categorically rule Bradford out, and I am pretty clear Philip Davies: Nobody either suggested or stated from discussions I have had with Mr Blatchford that specifically that Mr Blatchford should not approach cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence Ev 17

2 July 2013 Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin the Bradford MPs about the threat to the National Executive of Manchester either later that day or the Media Museum? next day. I suspect it was later that day, but I put Tony Reeves: No, they did not. Myself, the leader, phone calls in to arrange telephone conversations. I the portfolio holder and the regeneration director—the think the straightforward answer was it was at the four of us who were in the meeting—have discussed same time. this subsequently because it has been raised a couple of times with us and we are absolutely clear that did Q61 Philip Davies: You said at the start of the not happen, and, as I said, I can only put this down to session, quite rightly, that the National Media a misinterpretation. Museum brings half a million visitors into the city centre each year and, therefore, how important it is to Q57 Mr Sutcliffe: Did you discuss the deal with Bradford. I had the sense from Mr Blatchford that, speaking to the MPs— while the National Media Museum brings half a Tony Reeves: We did indeed. million visitors to benefit the city centre, the city Mr Sutcliffe:—rather than calling all the MPs centre is not doing a fat lot to bring people in to together to sit down and talk this through? benefit the National Media Museum. Do you think the Tony Reeves: At that point. Bearing in mind this is council should take any responsibility for the decline directly after that meeting, and what was agreed was in visitor numbers in the sense that, for example, you that we would approach yourself and David Ward MP have a big hole in the centre of Bradford where there for the purposes I have set out. should have been a Westfield development? Do you think the council should take any responsibility for Q58 Philip Davies: Why would you think that the this decline in the city centre? other MPs would not have any interest or ability to Tony Reeves: I can only talk about the period that I help? have been at the council, and that is approaching Tony Reeves: That was not the case at all. This was seven years. Over that time we had Westfield on site the immediate thing we needed to do straight from to start building the shopping scheme and then, of that meeting, bearing in mind we were in a position course, the financial crisis ensued and every major where we were pretty shocked at the thought that the shopping scheme in western Europe that was in the museum was under threat. None of this was in the development pipeline stalled. The Westfield scheme is public domain at that time. We wanted to understand, now very close to going live again, and Westfield have in further discussion with the Science Museum Group, announced they will be on site later on this year to exactly what the situation was and there was never start building it and open two years hence. Once it is any intention to withhold information from any of the under construction, and we are very confident that that MPs. It was just simply the first steps we believed will be the case, it will be the only town centre we needed to take—and that was a discussion in the shopping scheme in western Europe under meeting—was to contact Mr Sutcliffe for advice and construction. The council was not responsible for David Ward to ask if he could open the door for some that whatsoever. discussions with BIS. Whether that was the right During that period the council has invested £24 conclusion or not, that is the factual situation of what million in City Park; a tough decision to take and a went on in that meeting. very challenging decision because that was not universally popular. It was very popular with some Q59 Philip Davies: Do you think that, with people as of course you would know, Mr Davies. City hindsight, that was the right thing to do? Would you Park has brought hundreds of thousands of people into have done anything differently if you had your time the city centre, and the part of the city centre again? absolutely adjacent to the National Media Museum. I Tony Reeves: Undoubtedly because this then got into think Mr Blatchford touched on that earlier on, but we the public domain somehow, very quickly afterwards, do need to understand that, as I said earlier, Bradford and it would always have been our intention to ensure has been a city that was in decline for some time. that our MPs were briefed before things got into the If I was starting to criticise the council, I would say public domain. The way that events unfolded, we that, for quite some time, the council had been saying should have briefed all of the MPs at the time. I am with its left hand it wanted to regenerate the city and absolutely clear about that. moving all of its staff out of the city centre over a period of years. We have reversed that, and, despite Q60 Mr Sutcliffe: Can I be clear? The meetings with the funding reductions and the fact that we have lost York and Manchester that Bradford council decided 1,500 of our colleagues over the last three years, we would be the way to move forward, was that before now have more than 1,000 more people in the city the MPs were briefed or after the MPs were briefed centre because we have closed peripheral buildings in the way that you wanted to brief people? and re-staffed them. We have plans to relocate the Tony Reeves: There were three actions from that central library into City Park, which will increase meeting. footfall to the library, but then to relocate our whole Mr Sutcliffe: What date was that meeting, Tony? Education Department and Children’s Services Tony Reeves: I do not have the date to hand. I am Department into the library, bringing another 1,000 very happy to confirm that in writing. I do know that people right into the city centre, right next door to the the portfolio holder spoke to you that day. I do know museum. I think, despite the very difficult economic that the regeneration director spoke to David Ward conditions, which are certainly not unique to that day, and I spoke to Kersten and to the Chief Bradford, we have been doing all the right things. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Ev 18 Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence

2 July 2013 Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin

I think the final thing I would say there is we were Q64 Mr Sutcliffe: The good news we have heard also absolutely central to Provident Financial today from the Minister is that the museums will not relocating their considerable headquarters right into close and from the Director of the Science Museum the city centre, very close to the Media Museum, and Group that the museum will not close. I think that is bringing 800 staff into the city centre, which has the excellent news we have heard today, but I still subsequently grown to over 1,000 staff. Bradford is in want to go back to why we are in the situation that a challenging place, and it is starting to move forward. we are and how to move it forward. In 2012 we were I think the council is doing all of the right things, and told by Mr Blatchford there was a management we are absolutely determined that we will continue to structure change at the museum. We are all aware of re-intensify the core of the city over the coming years that change and what that change represented. Did you to get Bradford to be the functioning city that it once have any alarm bells ringing at that time about the was. That can only be to the huge advantage of the future of the Media Museum? Media Museum. In short, I think we are doing the Tony Reeves: Yes, I did because— right things. Mr Sutcliffe: What did you do? Tony Reeves: In my role as an Advisory Board Q62 Philip Davies: For the last four or five years I member, to put it bluntly, myself and other members have been told by various people on Bradford Council of the Advisory Board challenged Mr Blatchford and that the Westfield development is imminent; it is going the then chair, Michael Wilson, extremely robustly, in to start, it never starts; it is going to start, it never what I suspect was quite an uncomfortable meeting does. Would you not accept that kind of situation has for them, about the changes they were making, the not helped in terms of encouraging people perhaps, reason for it, and questioning the reasons why the say from my constituency, to want to go into the Advisory Board were not informed in advance of the centre of Bradford, which not only would help the city changes that were being made. Of course, from a centre but help guarantee more visitors for the Bradford point of view, because this was coinciding National Media Museum? with the development of media space at the Science Tony Reeves: The delays to the shopping scheme as Museum in London, alarm bells were ringing there a result of the economic downturn have undoubtedly as well. slowed down progress in the regeneration of the city What I can say to you, categorically, is that myself centre, and once that scheme is open and there are and the rest of the Advisory Board were absolutely hundreds and thousands of people through there each reassured that the purpose behind the changes that month, that will make a big difference to the footfall were being made was because there was a lack of in the city and will benefit the museum. I completely confidence in the curatorial direction of the museum agree with that point. Your previous question was and the need for Bradford to up its game because asking if the council was responsible for that, and things were slowly sliding and Mr Blatchford saying, what I have said categorically is the council was “Rather than this being a signal that the museum is absolutely not responsible for that. It is absolutely a going to close, if we do not act”, and I think he said product of the economic downturn. You can look at this again this morning, “the museum will inevitably 20-odd other examples in this country of town centre continue to decline over a period of time”. shopping schemes that have not been able to move He explained to us, as did the chair, the sensitivities forward and lots more across western Europe as well. from a personnel point of view that needed to be managed, and, while they could have discussed it with Q63 Philip Davies: We will move on, but it has been the Advisory Board, they made a choice not to and imminent since the—it was not that there was an we understood their reasoning for that, but I think on economic crash and that the council then said, reflection there was a view that they could and should “Westfield now will not open until 2015 or 2014”, or have discussed this confidentially with the Advisory whatever. We had the economic crash, and then we Board beforehand. were still told that the start was imminent and it was In terms of the media space in the Science Museum, imminent and nothing ever happened. That is the point we were absolutely reassured that that was the I am getting it. Just for the record now, because potential to promote the museum in Bradford, not in obviously the Westfield development is so important any way to detract from it. We questioned them very to footfall into the city centre, which can only benefit hard on that, but I have to say I was entirely satisfied the National Media Museum, can you state with the answers I received. categorically now, just so we all have it there and it is on the record, exactly when work proper will start Q65 Mr Sutcliffe: That was 2012. You know that the on the Westfield site and when that shopping centre MPs were alarmed that the BBC studio was going to will open? be removed from the Media Museum and that we tried Tony Reeves: What I can say categorically is that to fight against that and, indeed, Mr Davies and I Westfield have announced in their annual report that questioned the BBC when they appeared before the they will recommence the construction of that scheme Select Committee. For me, that meant alarm bells in the second half of 2013 and it is a two-year build ringing that this managed decline or perceived period. What I can categorically say is that we have managed decline was going on. Did the council object real confidence that Westfield will achieve that aim to the BBC moving out of the Media Museum? and so they will be on site this year and building. As Tony Reeves: Yes, the council did, and we made to start dates, I am afraid that is a matter for Westfield communication to the BBC about them moving out to say precisely when that will be. and we did that also through Bradford Breakthrough, cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

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2 July 2013 Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin of which the council is a member. That is an Tony Reeves: Yes, I was. My understanding of the organisation that represents large businesses in the situation is that the crisis that has emerged over the city. The answers we received to that were very last weeks has emerged because of the funding clearly that it was a decision for the BBC, that they settlement for the group as a whole. We knew about were in a position where their spending position was the challenges at the Media Museum and, as I have changing very rapidly and, while their commitment referred to, I was part of the Advisory Board that to Bradford was undiminished, they were moving the discussed those challenges with Mr Blatchford and studio. I was absolutely clear that the issues were colleagues last year and very much supported, and still completely unrelated. That was very much a decision do, the changes that were being made to reinvigorate for the BBC. It did not ring alarm bells about the the museum. future of the museum as a whole at that stage, Given what I know now, I am not surprised the although it was disappointing to see the studio moving discussions were taking place as those were problems out of the museum. for the whole group. I was surprised that the discussion, from what I have heard, was about Q66 Mr Sutcliffe: In 2012–13, we had the Bradford. I was not party to that meeting, or I did not management restructure and I mentioned earlier to Mr know of its existence until very recently. Blatchford the audience figures for the reach of the museums, and I quoted the figures of the overseas visitors, which for the Science Museum in London Q69 Mr Sutcliffe: Just moving forward then now, was 1.1 million, for Manchester 48,000, for York given the announcements that have been made today 51,000 and for Bradford just 8,000. Are you aware of by the Minister and Mr Blatchford, what positive that figure? things do you think we can take away from and what Tony Reeves: I am aware of it now, yes. sort of partnerships do you want to see between the Science Museum Group and the council and the Q67 Mr Sutcliffe: What do you think are the reasons university about what can happen in terms of behind Bradford only attracting 8,000 overseas regeneration of the Media Museum? visitors? Tony Reeves: I think there are lots of positives that Tony Reeves: I am speculating, because I have read we can take from this experience, what has been a those figures in that detail in recent days, Mr Sutcliffe. very difficult and quite traumatic experience over the The two thoughts I would have—firstly, Bradford as last few weeks for many people. First of all, if there a city does not attract tourism to the extent that other was any doubt what the Media Museum means to cities do. York, obviously with its heritage, attracts Bradfordians, I think that has been absolutely nailed huge numbers of tourists, as we know in the Yorkshire with the phenomenal response to the Telegraph and region. Manchester as a city that has regenerated, or Argus campaign; the petition. If there was ever any is in a different stage of its regeneration, will attract a doubt about the international, let alone national, lot more visitors. Bradford does in terms of Ilkley and standing of the Media Museum, when you have the Haworth and other places, and I think Mr Davies has likes of Martin Scorsese, the Whistling Woods Film already touched on the point that the city centre does School in Mumbai—which by the way is opening a not have enough to offer people to come in and visit. branch in Bradford today at Bradford College, a new As the city continues to regenerate and City Park— course for the film industry—and a whole host of and somebody referred to Bollywood Carmen earlier other people from across the globe, letters from China, on today—a lot of other events taking place in the city and a range of other places, then that issue has been are reenergising the city centre. I am talking absolutely nailed. retrospectively, but at the moment we are starting to I think there is the opportunity to shake a lot of people make real progress in that regard and that will build out of complacency that the museum would always be reputation for the city. I think that is very important. there and we have to work hard in a very changing I think the second thing is that the bulk of our environment alongside the Science Museum Group to overseas visitors are coming to visit family rather than support them in their leadership of repositioning the on tourism visits, and there is a real opportunity whole group and the Bradford Museum, in particular, through reengaging our schools, the colleges and university in Bradford, to reengage those and we are absolutely determined to do that. I think it communities. I think that will make a significant has caused Mr Blatchford and the Chair of Trustees difference in the overseas visitors coming to visit the to have a fresh look at Bradford and what Bradford as museum in future years. We would be very pleased to a city is all about. I hope they have been very have the opportunity to work with Mr Blatchford and pleasantly surprised, and I believe that is the case, his colleagues to strengthen those ties and make sure by the response they have seen, both from the local that becomes a reality. authority, from the districts’ MPs working together, and from the overwhelming support from Q68 Mr Sutcliffe: Perhaps you heard me mention to Bradfordians and, as I said, from across the globe. I the Minister and to Mr Blatchford the meeting of 23 think the opportunity is there to reengage the colleges April where Mr Blatchford goes to meet the Minister and university in Bradford—and they are willing to to discuss the National Media Museum as a result of do that—and to re-engage the museum locally to drive the spending review. Were you surprised that that things forward. The council will play a full part in meeting only discussed the Media Museum and not that process. I think lots of positives as a result of that the three other museums? will come from this. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Ev 20 Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence

2 July 2013 Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin

Q70 Mr Leech: I think we heard earlier visitor figures for how many people specifically come to figures for York of 7 million people. Bradford, Manchester or York to go to a museum and, Kersten England: 7 million tourists a year, yes. on that basis, you will not know the value that the Mr Leech: What are the respective figures for museums are giving to your city centres and the Manchester and Bradford? respective cities in terms of the economic benefits of Vicky Rosin: I do not have that off the top of my head. people coming into the city. Is there a role for you in Mr Leech: For Bradford? the future to provide more support, not financial Tony Reeves: It certainly will not be 7 million. I do support but helping to market the respective museums not have the figure. There are considerable visitors to for your visitors? the Bradford district because of Haworth, because of Kersten England: I will just start by saying clearly Ilkley, because of Saltaire, the World Heritage site in Visit York, which is our destination marketing Mr Davies’ constituency, and a range of other things. organisation for the city, already does do that. It But to the actual city centre itself the numbers would promotes the offer of the NRM into international be very considerably down on that, other than large markets and we will continue to do that. numbers of overseas visitors coming to visit family Mr Leech: What sort of things does it do in order to in Bradford. specifically market the museum? Kersten England: We produce a year-round calendar Q71 Mr Leech: If we just focus for a second on York of events and attractions and that has an online in that case. Of those 7 million people who have come presence. It has a trade fair presence. It has copy that to visit York, how many of those specifically come for runs in local, regional and international media. We the museum? also do product development with the NRM so that Kersten England: The figure that you saw was about we make sure that our attractions are working together 930,000 visit the museum. They are not unique on a themed basis where that is useful to do so. For visitors just to the museum. They will sample the example, I mentioned The Railway Children, which whole of the attractions. What we do know is York was a production of the theatre that was saved by the has a number of top attractions, so clearly the Minster NRM that then went global. That is the kind of thing and the walled city are a big draw; also Jorvik, which that can be achieved when we work well together. of course was ground-breaking in its time, the Vicky Rosin: We do know how much gross value archaeological understanding of York; and then there added the museum brings directly, £7 million a year, is the Railway Museum. In fact it probably goes and indirectly a further £8 million. I just do not have Minster, NRM and then Jorvik and then the wider the figures in terms of the breakdown as to what retail leisure offer that the city has. In other words, it proportion of that is the foreign tourism. Similarly to is very significant. York, Visit Manchester is well connected to MOSI. Vicky Rosin: I can’t give you the absolute figure, but We are direct supporters of the Science Festival. We what we do know is our tourism visitor numbers also directly support Future Everything, which is a increase year on year. We have significantly more digital and arts and cultural festival. We have foreign tourists in the city every year. MOSI is our top enhanced and grown the connections between our visitor attraction. Therefore, as I said before, 800,000 schools both, within the city and Greater Manchester. visitors but it joins a top-quality stable of cultural That said, I do not want to sound complacent, because offers. Manchester is the sporting capital of the world. I do think there is more that we can do in terms of Therefore, in terms of very regular visitors coming in both connecting the millions that live and visit around to the whole range of offer, we feel very confident that Greater Manchester and the north-west, not just to it will continue to grow. MOSI but Bradford and to York, and I think there is I think what has not been said is although it is very considerably more that we can do to support each welcome that it has been confirmed the museums will other as a group. I will be taking that to look at again. not close, 5% reductions nevertheless will mean Tony Reeves: Certainly from my point, I would echo changes for all of us. We will need to work very the comments that have been made. I think we are closely with the Science Museum Group to make sure doing quite a lot already, but there is more that can be that the way in which we take the developments of done and we in no way want to be complacent about our respective museums forward is we learn from this. this. If I can give you a couple of examples; the Certainly for myself, we are quite new to the Science Science Festival in Bradford, which is more in its Museum Group in terms of the support we give to infancy but it is growing each year, we support that, MOSI, but that, out of this, the ability for the three and the relationship between the Media Museum and cities to work very much more closely and learn from the Science Festival is growing ever stronger. Two each other is something that we should take as a years ago we hosted the National Science Festival and positive. we have ambitions, as do the British Science Federation, to come back to Bradford in future. I do Q72 Mr Leech: I think everyone would recognise know they visit Manchester periodically as well, and that in the tough financial climate local authorities just that is something we can strengthen in those links with chucking loads of money at the respective museums the museum as well. is not going to be an option. But, given the suggestion We have been promoting the regeneration of the city that every £1 that is spent on museums generates £4 and where Bradford is at by holding a series of events of economic activity, is there a role for your respective with journalists over the last few months through councils in terms of helping the marketing of the Bradford Breakthrough, the organisation I referred to museums? None of you were able to give me the earlier, and on one of those events we took the cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/035034/035034_o001_odeth_CMSC 02.07.13.xml

Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence Ev 21

2 July 2013 Tony Reeves, Kersten England and Vicky Rosin journalists to the opening night of the International numbers are affected by that, but, nevertheless, that is Film Festival at the museum—one of the journalists a commercial decision sometimes about the ability to is in the room here today—for a rather risqué opening bring specific exhibitions. film, I have to say, which was reported in some of the local press, that showed the city’s confidence to take Q75 Mr Leech: Does it ever impact on customer journalists into such an event. attitudes and the likelihood of people returning as Chair: I have to know: what was it? well? Tony Reeves: It was the Look of Love about Paul Vicky Rosin: I think the fact that you can get into Raymond. It was the opening night of that. A very either the gallery or to the museum for free is good film; it is worth seeing but not for the something that Manchester residents hold dear. There fainthearted I think, Chair. is a choice then. I think people understand that Chair: The Committee will have a screening. sometimes in order to be able to bring certain Tony Reeves: But it was a great opportunity to exhibitions to the city and all the profile and the showcase the museum at its finest, with many people reputation and the other potential economic there experiencing the opening night of the Film advantages that that might bring there is an argument. Festival. We are very happy to do that, but, as I have We do face criticism when we levy charges, but that said, there is more that we can do and we will leave is a judgment that we have had to make. no stone unturned in exploring the relationship Tony Reeves: I think this is something we would want between the city and the Science Museum Group as to explore in detail and think very carefully about in we move these discussions forward. terms of giving a position on that. What we would not want to see is a general two-tier experience at the Q73 Mr Leech: Just changing the subject slightly, museum, but if it was for very specific circumstances what are your local authorities’ views on the impacts that could not be achieved in any other way, then that of charging at the museum? is something that we would look at with an open Vicky Rosin: We would be completely unsupportive mind. of that. I think the evidence we have had since we stopped charging in MOSI, which I think was around Q76 Mr Leech: Finally, there has been some 2001, in two years we doubled the visitor numbers discussion about the possibility of the Museum Group and since 2003–04 we have doubled them again but, being transferred from DCMS to BIS or at least more importantly, just to visitor numbers, is the real having some sort of relationship with BIS. Do any of economic diversity of our audience. The access that a you have any concerns about the potential difficulty policy of not charging affords right across the in competing for science money with universities, spectrum of our visitors is important to us as a local research councils and other organisations like that and council. We believe that there could be certainly quite whether you would be able to compete with those serious consequences of reintroducing that. other organisations? Tony Reeves: From a Bradford point of view, the Tony Reeves: From my point of view on this, and council would not support charging. We want to obviously I have discussed this with Mr Blatchford in inspire our young people to raise aspirations, to build some detail thus far, the decision as to which ambition. We want to strengthen the science and Department the Museum Group comes under is not technology links with the museum without losing one for the council. That is for Ministers to establish. what is great around film and photography and so on. The thing that I am very clear about is that the I believe there are ways of doing that. It would be relationship with BIS can be stronger and that would utterly counterproductive to deny access to the very be to the benefit of the whole group, and we are very people that we are looking to inspire and so the keen to support the Science Museum Group in council would not support charging. developing those relationships with BIS. Kersten England: The only thing I would add to that In terms of the relationship with the universities, I is I think we would like to work with the Science think there is synergy rather than conflict there. I think Museum Group and push them to look at other the Science Museum Group plays a unique role in revenue streams and the further commercialisation of inspiring young people—budding engineers, the operation, much preferable to the introduction of technologists, scientists, as we have heard this charging. morning—and that is to the advantage of the universities where we have skill shortages in a lot of Q74 Mr Leech: A number of people who have those sectors in the UK. That is something the Science written to us providing written evidence have Museum Group can play a more central role in suggested that the museums ought to be allowed to promoting. You only have to see, and I am sure charge for special exhibitions. Do you have a view everybody in this Committee will have experienced on that? this themselves, the experience that young people Vicky Rosin: I think that is not inconsistent with a have in the museums and the lasting impact it makes general policy of not charging. We have an example. on them to see how important that synergy can The Manchester Art Gallery that the council runs does become if we exploit it to the full. not charge as a generality. However, there are certain Chair: I think that is all we have. Thank you very exhibitions or certain events where we would consider much. charging. Our experience is always that visitor cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [SE] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

Ev 22 Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence

Written evidence

Written evidence submitted by Michael Bailey Until February 2012, I was a Trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester (MOSI). From that month, at the Secretary of State’s insistence, the museum was absorbed into the SCG. To bring this about, the Trustees negotiated an agreement with the SCG. One clause of that agreement stated specifically that the MOSI site in Manchester should remain as a science and industry museum for a minimum of 25 years. This agreement remains in being and should not be gone back on. MOSI provides a beneficial service to the people of Manchester and the wider northwest region. Its education facilities form an essential part of the curriculum for a large number of schools. In the last complete business year MOSI received 840,000 visitors, making it one of the largest provincial museums. Quite apart from the very large collection of artefacts it holds, the site incorporates the worlds earliest main line railway buildings dating from 1830. They are Grade 1 listed. Nothwithstanding the need for the country to make budget reductions, museums should never be threatened with closure as they retain the nation’s cultural heritage, which is so important for today’s and future generations. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by John Howat I can hardly believe that there are thoughts of closing any of these superb NATIONAL collections. I have visited them all, most of them several times, and never fail to see something interesting or learn something new. As Museums, each one is more or less unique and they are all of an extremely high standard. I am in York for a couple of days next month and had planned to visit yet again the NATIONAL Rail Museum, the Museum in Bradford is the NATIONAL Media Museum and the MoSI in Manchester represents the local industries fantastically well. Manchester after all was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution and MosI reflects this perfectly. That these museums are NATIONAL Museums cannot be stressed enough, they need preserving for once gone and broken up there will be no return. I understand that the introduction of admission charges may result in a drop in visitor numbers, however I do feel that overseas visitors who are non-tax payers should be required to contribute. I also feel that any requests for voluntary contributions (with Gift aid if possible) could be made more prominent and be accompanied by an printed explanation of the circumstances leading to the necessity for the request. Another possibility would be an entry fee most days but a couple of days a month entry could be free. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by David Fildes The problems of funding are a consequence of the Government changing how museums are funded and that National Museums should be the only ones funded, obviously these are based in London. I believe this policy was never thought through properly. Why were the five museums merged, was proper due diligence performed during this process. What was the rational, I believe that visitors at MOSI has dropped by 25%, is this due to changing the management structure from a far and which has shown knows nothing about what MOSI is all about. Why was the National Railway Museum not recognised as a national museum? As London is the countries main tourist attraction it would be better that an entrance payment should be sought from these National Museums from overseas visitors, not UK tax paying residents. This would help with the funding of region museums so that they can still be free at entrance. Free entrance could also be targeted ie senior citizens, families with children and group visits. Funding already applies to schools. Funding could also be sought from other Government departments such as the department of education and tourist board for example who benefit from these regional attractions and also regional growth funding. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) organisation does not appear to be fit for purpose and needs to be more focussed. It should be remembered that these museums are preserving our countries Heritage for future generations and should be seen as a long term investment for the future and not as a short term asset. June 2013 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

Culture, Media and Sport Committee: Evidence Ev 23

Written evidence submitted by Joseph Pugh The suggestion by the SMG that one of its four sites will have to close if a 10% cut is applied to its budget is a kind of cry for help. The group has already absorbed a substantial budget cut and job losses. What it is articulating is that its grant-in-aid has been cut to the bone and a further cut will make its ‘business as usual’ impossible. The Treasury has made encouraging noises about reducing the size of this cut and I hope the Committee will urge this very vigorously and further encourage the Treasury to sign off on a deal to support museums in managing their debt. It must be very wearying to have the economic arguments in favour of these institutions constantly reiterated: this happens because they are self-evidently true. The Committee knows full well that any cuts resulting in a closure would be utterly self-defeating: the economic impact on, for example, Bradford of its premiere attraction disappearing would dwarf any nominal saving achieved. (This is to set aside for a moment the devastating cultural vandalism of closing, say, the National Railway Museum in the country that invented the train). The Science Museum group has been, famously, one of the most assiduous museum organisations in Britain at attracting corporate sponsorship. If the mixed model of subsidy and private revenue cannot work here, where exactly can it work? Local councils must ‘do their bit’ but central government has to accept that the responsibility for national collections rests nationally. The Committee may by all means set high standards for education and local engagement with these institutions. Outreach and Education are targets for cuts within institutions and the Committee should discourage museums from letting the axe fall on what are absolutely core activities. But, fundamentally, I submit that if the Committee will not go the barricades for these institutions, who, in government, will? Many loud voices have been raised in support of the Science Museum Group and its much loved institutions. The Committee must heed them: the economic and cultural consequences of ignoring them will be very serious. This must be a line in the sand moment for cultural heritage in this country. Many of our museums, libraries and galleries are struggling financially. The Committee must issue a strongly worded statement, saying in effect, “here and no further”. Museums reconsidering expensive capital projects is one thing but on no account can any of the SMG’s doors be allowed to shut. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Gawaine Meechan It would be a complete travesty if any of the Museum group were scrapped. The National Media Museum in Bradford is a wonderful building that brings real pride and joy to the people of Bradford as well as countless visitors though out the UK and internationally. The museum gives a comprehensive view and clear understanding of the history, art and social importance of traditional media and newer digital media technologies. Without them we would still be in the dark ages and modern life would be a whole lot duller. Once it’s gone it’s gone so I implore you to think again and provide more funding to save all of the Science Museums. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Dr Patrick Greene I directed the development of the Museum of Science and Industry in the Manchester from its inception in 1983 until I took up my current position as Chief Executive Officer of Museum Victoria, Australia’s largest museum organisation, in 2002. The project was initiated by Greater Manchester Council as a means of creating a new museum that would attract visitors and help transform the derelict Castlefield area in central Manchester. The rescue and reuse of the buildings of the world’s oldest railway station provided an opportunity to tell the story of Manchester as world’s first industrial city. After two decades at the helm I was proud to have played my part in a project that had proved a success in urban regeneration, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and winning over 50 national and international awards. I was very concerned to hear of the threat to close the Museum (or one of the other northern museums) if the Science Museum suffered a 10% cut to its finances. I understand that the cut will be 5% and that the threat has been lifted. However, a 5% reduction in finances is large, especially in light of a series of cuts to the Science Museum’s budget and it will face the organisation with difficult choices as it attempts to achieve a balanced budget. Following the abolition of Greater Manchester Council in 1986, funding for the Museum of Science and Industry was assumed by the then Department of National Heritage (later the DCMS). The arrangement worked very well during the entire period that I led the Museum, with the governance of the charitable trust/limited liability company board to which I reported. A topic that the committee might wish to examine is whether the cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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withdrawal of DCMS funding and subsequent merger in to the Science Museum Group has placed the Museum in a more vulnerable position that might otherwise have been the case. The Museum of Science and Industry plays a vital role in the cultural life of Manchester; it is a very important educational resource in the essential task of attracting young people to science and technology studies and careers, and it is a significant tourist attraction. Furthermore, as a site with a group of historic buildings that commemorate the beginning of the Railway Age, it has enormous historic significance. Railways were a British invention that transformed the world- providing, I hope, inspiration for the present day as well. I am pleased that the Select Committee is addressing the issue of funding and I would be willing to provide any further evidence that the members might require. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Peter Turvey RE SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP—RECENT STATEMENT BY DIRECTOR HIGHLIGHT FUNDING DIFFICULTIES. Until May 2012 I was Senior Curator, at the Science Museum Group’s Large Object Store at Wroughton Wiltshire. It is my view that under Mr Blatchford’s direction the Science Museum group has become increasingly London-centric and intellectually elitist. There is shameful opposition to providing wider public access to the hidden collections in the Museum’s stores, particularly those at the large object store at Wroughton in Wiltshire. On many occasions I found management unwilling to support my efforts to improve public access to the stored collections at Wroughton (at minimal cost to the institution). Proposals for Reconstituted Volunteer groups and participation in the excellent Heritage Open Day scheme all fell on deaf ears. Mr Blatchford asserts that such collections can be made accessible through display at South Kensington; however for key items in the Wroughton collection this is a physical impossibility. I also question the effectiveness of the 2011 staffing cuts, which resulted in a loss of collections based curatorial experience. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Brian Russell To quote Bill Bryson in his “Notes from a Small Island”: “Most worthwhile things don’t begin to pay for themselves—traffic lights, lay-byes, schools, drains, national parks, museums, universities, old people and the Settle to Carlisle railway line.” It might be difficult to measure the worth of a museum, but there is no doubt that museums are worthwhile. Students, from primary school age to university age, flock to Science Museums for inspiration. They come in school parties during term time and with their mums and dads in the holidays. Imagine what is going on in their brains when their faces light up with understanding. These are the people who are going to grow up to become scientists, mathematicians and engineers. They are the ones who will enter employment, earn salaries and pay income tax. It is they who will set up companies, generate wealth and pay corporation tax. Go to the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester and watch a presentation to school children by volunteers on the “Baby” (the replica SSEM or Small Scale Experimental Machine). The talk often concludes with a volunteer asking the pupils a question along these lines: “Can you tell us what the computers that come after the ones you have at home will look like … because we cannot tell you? The people who designed the Baby are long dead. The people who designed Mainframes are retired; they are here, talking about the Baby. The people who designed your laptop will soon be retiring too. The people who will succeed them are still at school. Please come back in ten years and tell us what computers you have designed.” June 2013 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Written evidence submitted by Richard Ross I would be grateful if the Committee could take the following points into consideration: 1. The five museums should be seen as a collective, each adding to our understanding of the history and current importance of science and technology. 2. They have developed from different roots and are still developing, witness the application of digital technologies by them. These developments should be encouraged, by increased, not reduced, funding. 3. The unbalanced nature of the British economy, skewed as it has been over the last 30 years to finance, means that these museums should be given more prominence. It is essential that Britain’s industrial base is expanded. Science and technology should be at the heart of Britain’s economic policy and the Science Museum Group is playing a part in maintaining the basis on which future economic success can be built. This part should be given more prominence and the Group should have a higher media profile in relation to Britain’s economic life. 4. Finally, the geographical spread of these museums should be seen as strength. Each museum is of regional as well as national importance and contributes to local economic growth. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Dr Pete Waterman THIS SUBMISSION ONLY RELATES TO THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM (“NRM”) My first direct and relevant knowledge of the incompetent approach adopted by the NRM dates back to circa 1994. The background to this, and other relevant matters, is summarized below.

LMS “Super D” In 1994, I established a Trust named The Waterman Railway Heritage Trust. The purpose of the trust was to protect heritage railways assets for the future education of and enjoyment by, the public. The NRM owned a LMS Super D locomotive and tender. They estimated that the cost of returning it to full working order was circa £125,000. I, through my trust, agreed to underwrite this cost. The arrangement was that in consideration for meeting the cost of the work, based on the NRM’s estimate, my trust would operate the asset for a period of 10 years and during that time accumulate a fund (from renting the locomotive to preserved railways) to complete a full overhaul at the end of that period, whereupon it would be returned to the NRM. NRM management insisted on managing the project. They ran a tender process and selected a now defunct engineering business located in Chatham, Kent to undertake the designated work. Costs soon started to spiral out of control and it was abundantly clear to me that the NRM had conspicuously failed to: (a) Understand properly the scope of the required work; and/or (b) Select a service provider capable of undertaking the work. The demands for more and more money soon tried my patience and eventually I demanded that the locomotive and its tender be delivered to my railway works in Crewe. By the time that the locomotive was finished, the total cost to my trust was in the region of £700,000. It was obvious that it could never earn that sum over a 10-year period. As such, on numerous occasions over the intervening period I have sought to engage in a dialogue with senior NRM management to resolve the situation, but have been frustrated at every turn. It is an institution characterized by people burying their heads in the sand.

LNER A3—“Flying Scotsman” I previously owned this locomotive in partnership with Sir William McAlpine and, therefore, have a direct personal knowledge of the challenges it presents. We sold it to Mr. Tony Marchington for £1.2 million (in a transaction that also included, from memory, a few coaches). In 2004, the NRM acquired the locomotive from Mr. Marchington (in fact, I think it was actually purchased from Barclays Bank plc, which sold it as mortgagee in possession). It is a matter of public record, as evidenced in the First Class Partnerships report (redacted version dated 7 March 2013) that a schedule of works that was initially commenced in December 2005 and estimated to cost £1 million is, over seven years later, still incomplete and expenditure has exceeded £2.7 million. The parallels between the gross mismanagement of this project and my direct experience with the Super D (as set-out above) are alarming. It is a plain and simple truth that as an institution that relies extensively on the public purse, the NRM lacks commercial acumen in the letting and management of contracts. In 2011, as a committed and passionate supporter of heritage railways, I came to the conclusion that the NRM’s incompetence in the management of the Scotsman project was damning the whole industry. In that cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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light, I made an offer to the NRM to complete the overhaul of the Scotsman to mainline standard, whatever it took, on the basis that I could run it for 10-years and at the end of that time, return it to the NRM “fully ticketed” and ready to run for the next 10 years. My offer was rejected out of hand.

Instead, management of the NRM continued to spend taxpayers’ money in their shambolic and increasingly desperate attempt to salvage something from this debacle.

When the NRM put the remaining work out to tender earlier this year, I declined to be involved as I knew that the process would only lead to further problems due to their inability to manage large and complex projects of this type. My railway engineering business in Crewe has undertaken numerous projects of this scale over the years; some even more complex. We would have been ideally suited to delivering the Scotsman within budget and on time, but the old adage of “once bitten, twice shy” is ignored at ones’ peril.

It is my fervent belief that the NRM should restrict itself in its engineering unit only to basic maintenance of its static exhibits. Instead, through procuring various grants and other government incentives it has sought to build a unit that in effective seeks to compete with the best that the “market” has to offer. This is a nonsense and, I believe, cannot be sustained on any logical grounds.

What the NRM should focus on is its core remit. In pursuit of that, it should beef-up its project management and procurement capabilities and fund the cost explicit and implicit in this suggestion by cost savings in its engineering unit, as advocated above. In fact, truth be known, the actual cost savings will be significantly higher as such action should bring to and end the financial drain it has suffered from poor management of this activity over the years. Quite apart from that, it will restore its reputation as a national archive and source of education and entertainment for the public in these noble and timeless assets.

Summary

In saying the above, I want to place on the record that there is much that the NRM does that is worthy and worth protecting. It would be shameful if the museum was forced into closure as it offers so much at a time when we need to re-balance our economy and inspire the next generation of engineers. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Tom Woolley

Petition to Save the National Media Museum, Bradford

After hearing the announcement by the Culture minister Ed Vaizey that no Museum in the Science Museum Group would close and watching the Parliamentary debate last night, the 38 Degrees petition to “Save the National Media Museum” has now ended. http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-national-media-museum-bradford

It’s been heartening to see such support for the Museum from the Bradford MPs and the public opposition to the potential closure has been very passionate. 36,152 people have signed the petition since it was set up on 5th June 2013 following Ian Blatchford’s announcement he might be forced to close one of the Northern Museums. It seems like public opinion has been listened to and the petition has been a galvanising force for the supporters of the National Media Museum.

Please find the petition uploaded to Dropbox at the end of this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2jostfemyxe1meo/save-the-national-media-museum-bradford_form.pdf

Please let me know if you have any problems with the link.

My own personal opinion is that whilst I know budgets are being reduced, the National Media Museum needs financial investment to increase visitor numbers. When visitors were at their peak in 2001–02 this was mainly due to the Star Wars and James Bond temporary exhibitions. Short sighted management means the temporary exhibition space is no longer available, blockbuster populist exhibitions haven’t been hosted and visitor numbers have dwindled. The Museum should be hosting exhibitions focusing on well-known artists and brands such as Pixar, Harry Potter, Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick for example.

Whilst I recognise the importance of a science focus, I personally find this uninspiring—whilst the technology used by Hitchcock to create his films is very interesting and important, his film-making genius surely has to be interpreted through his artistic ability, gift of story telling and talent for directing actors. Exploring photography, film, television, animation and digital media purely through a science and technology lens would be a misinterpretation of the subject. We can’t let the V&A hog all the exciting exhibitions and I’m sure a few blockbuster shows in Bradford would help solve the visitor situation. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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I hope the result of the comprehensive spending review next week results in improvement in Bradford, rather than continued reductions, and perhaps the local Council can follow up their support with financial investment in the Museum. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Sir Neil Cossons I write as a former Director of the Science Museum—from 1986 to 2000—concerned that financial constraints and government policy may lead to the closure of a museum in the Science Museum Group or prejudice the museum’s quality such that it can no longer fulfil its obligations to its collections and its audiences. I should be grateful if you could place these observations before the members of the Select Committee at their meeting on 2 June. 1. Collections. The collections of the Science Museum Group are beyond compare. They are the most significant in their field anywhere, reflecting Britain’s role as the world’s first industrial nation and as an international innovator in science and technology. These collections have unparalleled strength in scale, depth, quality and relevance. No other museum in the world has such an abundance of material evidence that compares with the holdings of the Science Museum Group. If you wish to see the hundred objects that really changed the world they are to be found here. 2. Funding. Throughout its existence the Museum has been underfunded in relationship to its core responsibilities—of caring for its collections and presenting them to the public. There were crises in the 1890s when the South Kensington Museum split into the V&A and the Science Museum, in the 1900s when the Museum’s site was under threat, in the 1920s, 1950s and 1980s and again today. For well over a century such funding as there has been has been provided as an afterthought to the requirements of other institutions and has had to be fought for tooth and nail. If there was a golden age it was during the 1960s and ‘70s when the Science Museum was run as a departmental museum by the Department for Education & Science. 3. Under the Department of National Heritage and more recently the Department of Culture, Media and Sport the Science Museum has been grievously neglected. In the 1980s this led to the introduction of admission charges, which injected some £35 million into the Museum’s economy without which it would have collapsed. Since the removal of admission charges and constraints on Grant-in-Aid, the Museum is again in crisis. This could have been foreseen and represents a severe indictment of DCMS and the incoherence of government policy. 4. The current government’s insistence on universal free admission, without debate on its justification or analysis of its wider implications, has—predictably—had catastrophic consequences for the Science Museum. The economies of the English national museums vary widely. For some free admission with a healthy charging economy based on special exhibitions delivers both income and visitor numbers. That option is not open to the Science Museum as there are no suitable exhibitions for which visitors in large numbers will pay. Only one Science Museum exhibition has ever produced significant income; this toured Japan in the late 1990s and delivered a net return, after all costs, of £750,000. No domestic exhibition has produced anything. 5. Admission Charges. The re-introduction of admission charges in the form in which they were applied in the 1980s would not be a solution to the problems of the Science Museum Group; a soundly-based Grant-in- Aid must continue to be the foundation upon which the Museum’s funding is based. However, in a period of austerity when museums and galleries are expected to play their part in meeting the exigencies of the national financial situation, fundamentalist opposition to any form of charging is an irresponsible policy inappropriate to a modern pluralist society. And it is also deeply prejudicial to the interests of the Science Museum Group and its users and other areas of the nation’s cultural agenda that are being emasculated in order to pay for it. 6. There is no evidence that universal free admission widens access to those who cannot afford to pay. But there is a wide range of charging options that could be examined so that a balance may be struck between the Grant-in-Aid, the interests of the museum and its quality of service, and the wellbeing of its users. Charging, intelligently applied, can make a worthwhile and of course index-linked contribution. The best scheme, increasingly and successfully adopted elsewhere, is based on a Pay Once Only formula in which a ticket is valid for a year. This allows multiple visits [an important attribute of free admission], catches all categories of visitor without discrimination [eg on grounds of nationality] and allows multiple discounting [eg free for children, etc]. Modern swipe-card technologies enable this to be applied easily [as with Oyster cards], offers huge opportunities for flexibility and provides the museum with a means of communicating with its visitors. 7. The Current Situation. It is questionable whether DCMS has the intellectual, managerial or financial capability to be a responsible sponsor of a museum as important as the Science Museum, given the department’s commitments elsewhere in fields other than science and technology. The current situation reflects a more widespread cultural negligence in which science, technology, engineering and industry have been allowed to decay, to the detriment of the nation as a whole. There is therefore a case for removing the Science Museum Group to a more appropriate department of state and this should be examined. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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8. The Future. The prime requirement now is for a zero-based review and analysis of the Museum’s purpose, priorities, and funding. Ideally, this should be carried out in the context of a wider examination of the funding of the English national museums and galleries. The priorities for a review should be: 8.1 Statement of the importance of the collections, with comparisons nationally and internationally; 8.2 The cultural and educational role of the Museum and its future potential; 8.3 Analysis and options appraisal of governance, direction, management and funding; 8.4 Analysis and options appraisal of where the Museum should be located in the Government’s departmental structure; and 8.5 Conclusions and recommendations. 9. I should of course be happy to expand on these views or answer any questions you may have. In the meantime I appeal to the Select Committee to recognise the national imperative to protect and nurture the world’s greatest museum of science, technology and industry. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Prospect Introduction 1. Prospect the union represents staff at the National Media Museum in Bradford, the National Railway Museum in York, the Science Museum in London and the Science Museum at Wroughton, near Swindon, all of which are part of the Science Museum Group (SMG), which also includes Locomotion: the NRM at Shildon, County Durham and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Our membership at the SMG includes curators, conservators, photographers, gallery Explainers and Visitor Experience staff, of various grades, and so covers a good cross section of the group’s employees. Nationally Prospect has over 5,000 members in the heritage sector. These members are concentrated in the UK’s national museums and galleries. 2. In our submission we will: — Present our understanding and view of recent events concerning the SMG. — Outline how the SMG has dealt with the economic downturn and cuts in government funding, with our comments. — State our concerns. — State what we wish to see resulting from the current crisis and this inquiry. — State how we can help build a more positive and sustainable future for the SMG.

Our view of Recent Events Concerning the SMG 3. On 9 May, together with our sister unions at the SMG—the Public and Commercial Services Union and the First Division Association—we met with Adele McAlister, SMG Director of HR, and Jane Ellis, SMG Director of Finance for a quarterly business update meeting. Jane gave a presentation on the SMG’s financial position. She told us that by April 2014 the SMG’s government funding would have been cut in real terms by 25%, a reduction in cash terms of over £7 million a year. It was expected that the SMG would receive a further 10% cut in funding in the spending review for 2015–16. Such a cut for 2015–16 would have a severe effect on the SMG’s operations. We asked if it would mean shutting one of the group’s museums. Jane’s reply was that even shutting a museum would not solve the problem. 4. After the recent press speculation and the public comments by Ian Blatchford, Director of the SMG, Prospect wrote to Ian welcoming the fact that he had made public statements over “the real threat that the SMG faces if the spending review results in a further 10% cut” but also reminding him that “In recent years Prospect has repeatedly asked the SMG to make public statements on the impact of continuing cuts in grant in aid...Aswehave said previously, a solution is needed that will break the damaging downward spiral whereby efficiency savings and securing extra income simply results in further cuts in grant in aid.” We went on to say that “Prospect will be seeking a solution that keeps all of the SMG sites open. Whatever the outcome may be, we would welcome an early assurance that any decisions the Trustees may make in the autumn will not be made in isolation. We hope that you will agree that in advance of any decisions, staff, and their unions, will be given a proper opportunity to contribute to the debate over the future of their jobs and the museums they work in.” 5. Although, when he first arrived at the SMG, Ian met in person with the trade unions, since early 2012 he has not consulted or negotiated directly with us. He has delegated these duties to Jonathan Newby, Chief Operating Officer, and Jonathan responded to our communication, welcoming our support and stating that “We will not be putting our plans to the Trustees until the early autumn which is when we would expect there to be detailed consultations. I agree that it would be helpful for us to remain in touch in the intervening period however we may not have much in the way of tangible plans in the early stages.” cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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How has the SMG dealt with the effects of the financial crisis and the cuts in government funding to this point? 6. The SMG reacted to the financial crisis of 2008 in two ways: it launched a programme called “Securing our Future” to look for ways to find savings and generate income and it instituted a new recruitment policy called “Measures for the Downturn” which involved the extensive use of short-term employment contracts and the increased use of Trading Company employment contracts (the SMG employs staff on Museum contracts, which derive from Civil Service contracts, and Trading Company—now Enterprises—contracts). 7. The election of the current government saw the start of a series of cuts in government spending for the SMG effective up to the end of the financial year 2014–15 as follows: 3% in Emergency Budget in June 2010; 15% in October 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review; 3% in 2012 Autumn Statement; 2% in March 2013 budget. 8. Ian Blatchford joined the organisation in the autumn of 2010 and in the spring of 2011 he announced his plans for dealing with the 15% cut in government funding that had been announced in October 2010. He dispensed with many of the projects from the “Securing our Future” programme but did take forward the one aimed at increasing income from visitor giving (public donations). He also set in motion a planned two year programme to find 10% savings in staff costs. 9. We welcomed the initiative to increase the amount of visitor giving and this has proved to be a success. We did not oppose the planned 10% cuts in staff costs but sought to work with the SMG to ensure that this was done in such a way as to minimise the effect on staff and reduce the need for redundancies. To this end we encouraged the SMG to adopt a voluntary redundancy programme across the organisation and to make the best possible use of redeployment opportunities as well as other options available in its own “Managing Change” policy to minimise the impact on existing employees, such as natural wastage. We also emphasised our belief that it was important that the SMG made clear to government and all interested parties the effects of the cuts in government funding for fear that in appearing able to absorb significant cuts it would simply invite further cuts in the future. 10. Unfortunately, the SMG refused to act on our concerns. It carried out its programme of staff cuts on a piecemeal, department by department basis while presenting an outward appearance of “business as usual”. In March of this year the Science Museum celebrated welcoming “its three millionth visitor of the [2012–13] year… the highest number of annual visitors to the museum since complete records began.”

Our Concerns 11. We feel that the SMG’s response to the financial challenges of recent years has been ultimately self- defeating in a number of respects:

12. Continual cuts to Funding Unsustainable We have mentioned some of the efforts to deal with the economic downturn and reductions in government Grant in Aid (GIA). However, although savings have been made, they have exacted a high price in terms of staff numbers and morale and have not solved the problem of ensuring a stable and sustainable future for the SMG. Our fear that each pound saved via efficiencies and each extra pound gained via commercial activities or donations would prompt the Government to cut a further pound, or several pounds, of GIA appears to have come true. The cultural sector, of which the SMG is an important part, is a significant net earner for the British economy but it needs investment to thrive. Although we support attempts to raise additional funding from other sources we believe that there is limited scope for further commercial development or donations from the public. The SMG receives a significant amount of its funding from government and this will continue. Government must recognise the importance of the cultural sector and ensure that it has adequate funding to maintain and increase its contribution to the British economy and society in general. The culture and heritage of a nation is central to its own identity and to its attractiveness to visitors from overseas.

13. Staff Bearing the Brunt While we welcome an increase in visitor numbers at the Science Museum, the reality is that the SMG has only been able to maintain its offer to the public so far because of the goodwill and dedication of its staff in very difficult times. The SMG’s programme to reduce staffing costs by 10% has, to date, resulted in the redundancy of about 100 employees. Prospect conducted a survey of its members concerning this programme and this showed: — most of the work of redundant staff has been retained within the organisation and shared among remaining staff; — these staff are doing more work, often working above their grade as well as below their grade; and — almost half are working more than their contracted hours without compensation. The findings cited above must be seen against the background of falling living standards for most staff due to an extended period of pay restraint and increased pensions contributions for many. Some staff, such as Explainers in York, who are some of the lowest paid staff in the organisation, have suffered further significant cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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reductions in their take home pay due to a change in rotas. This is in contrast to the payment of significant bonuses to a limited number of senior executives in 2011–12. We do not yet know if such bonuses were paid again in 2012–13.

14. Poor Engagement with Staff and Unions

In recent years management’s attitude to communication with staff and working with the recognised unions has been poor. In the survey quoted above, 87% of respondents stated that they had received much less or a little less information about the programme to reduce staff costs than they would have liked. The SMG is committed to conducting a staff survey every 18 months but it has not held one since September 2010. Management has not worked positively with the unions to find savings in staff costs in a way that would reduce the need for redundancies. Consequently, we believe that more staff than necessary have been made redundant and that important expertise has been lost to the organisation. A long standing member of staff with many years knowledge and experience gained in curating the mathematics collection was recently made redundant and the SMG has now announced a major new mathematics exhibition which will rely on outside expertise to bring it to fruition. We raised many concerns about the way the programme to find staff savings was being carried out but these were dismissed by the various levels of senior management within the organisation and by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), the responsible government department, which refused to engage with them on the grounds that they were “operational matters” for the SMG. This was the same response the department initially gave to concerns over the possibility that one of the northern museums might have to close. This attitude to staff and unions is possibly what Ian Blatchford meant when, in the Science Museum Group Annual Review for 2011–12, he referred to the “touch of ruthlessness” that was liked by “those with the money and connections to realise our vision” but it is not the way to create a stable and sustainable future for the museums and an engaged and motivated staff. The staff give their all for the SMG and they deserve to be treated better.

15. MOSI

We do not understand why the SMG took on MOSI in 2012 when it must have been clear that its funding would be an issue at the end of the current spending round.

What we would like to see

16. There are a number of things that we would like to see happening as a result of the current inquiry: — None of the SMG’s museums to close. We need a joint statement from the DCMS and the senior management of the SMG that none of the SMG’s museum sites will close. — We wish to see an end to the cycle of savings and efficiencies simply leading to further cuts. The cultural sector is a net earner for the economy but it needs investment to thrive. — A full explanation as to why the SMG took on MOSI, including the SMG’s expectations at the time and any assurances given regarding the funding of MOSI beyond the current spending round.` — An end to short-term responses on the part of the SMG to the reduction in funding. The museums need a stable and sustainable future and the staff need to have the confidence to give their all for the organisation. There needs to be an end to the extensive use of short-term employment contracts and an end to the use of inferior Enterprises contracts to employ staff who should be employed on Museum terms and conditions. — A step-change in the SMG’s attitude to engagement with its staff and the recognised trade unions. Next to its artefacts, the SMG’s employees represent its most valuable asset. Our survey showed that since the start of the programme to find savings in staff costs staff morale has fallen. The organisation needs to value its staff at all levels and to involve them more in decision making processes. Staff have a lot to offer the organisation, far more than is currently being utilised. — An end to bonuses for senior executives when the vast majority of staff are suffering pay freezes and pay caps. This money should be used for the benefit of all staff. — Positive engagement with all stakeholders (including the communities served by the museums) to find a long-term, stable and sustainable future for the museums that make up the SMG.

How we can help

17. Prospect, together with the other recognised unions at the SMG, is more than willing to sit down with senior management and other interested parties to help find a positive stable and sustainable future for the Science Museum Group. We have relevant expertise at both the local and national level. June 2013 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Written evidence submitted by Liberal Democratic Group, City of York Council

I am writing in regards to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s urgent inquiry into the Future of the Science Museum Group, specifically focusing on the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York.

The NRM plays a significant role in the cultural and economic life of York. The museum reflects the city’s position as both the home of the modern railway in Britain and its continued importance as a major centre of today’s rail industry.

The NRM’s position as a world leading railway museum is well established and it contains many exhibits of national and international importance, including engineering drawings by George Stephenson, the so-called “Palaces on Wheels” used by monarchs from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II, and the 4468 Mallard.

The museum’s contribution to York’s cultural life includes a varied programme of special events, a dedicated art gallery space, and a highly active schools programme. It was also famously used as the original venue for the Theatre Royal’s critically acclaimed Railway Children production in 2009.

York’s tourism offer brings seven million visitors to the city and generates £443 million in GVA per annum. The NRM is a key part of this and only last week it was named the fifth best museum in the UK—according to a poll conducted by the world’s largest travel website, Trip Advisor.

The importance and popularity of the NRM in York has been demonstrated recently by the response to the petition launched by the York Press to “Save The NRM”, which in just weeks has been signed by more than 13,500 people.

At a time when we should be looking to build on the work the NRM is doing and utilise it to drive forward economic growth in York, any funding cuts which threaten its long-term status or force it to scale down its activities, would be a huge blow to the city.

The National Railway Museum is an institution of international importance, which plays a significant role in the local economy and cultural life of York and the wider region. I hope this is recognised and sufficient ongoing funding is provided to secure its future and in the long-term expand its cultural, educational and economic activities. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by the Royal Society

It is a point of welcome cross party agreement that science and innovation are a key element for any long- term, sustainable economic growth. This is not just recognised by the UK but by most of our competitor economies who continue to invest heavily in science.

Science is one of the things the UK does best. Historical figures such as Newton, Darwin and Faraday and many contemporary scientists are well known and recognised the world over for their achievements. We also have companies such as Rolls Royce, Glaxo Smithkline and ARM (whose chips are in 97% of the world’s mobile phones).

One of the factors that had kept us among the scientific superpowers is that we are a very pro-science population (for further information see http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/2764/ Public-attitudes-to-science-2011.aspx). When presented with sound evidence we usually make rational decisions. However, that is not something we can take for granted. While science is currently enjoying a higher profile in the media and more young people are choosing to take science subjects, it is still not central to our culture in the way it should be. Understanding and celebrating the contribution of science to our lives is essential.

That is the reason why the Science Museum Group is so important. They are among the best organisations at bringing science to new audiences in fun but informative ways. They celebrate not only our great scientific and engineering achievements but also the best of our cutting edge research. They do that in London, Manchester, York and Bradford. Could we imagine the UK, a country shaped by railways, not having a national railway museum, the home of the BBC not having a national media museum, or the cradle of the industrial revolution not having a museum of science and industry?

Over five million people a year visit the Science Museum Group sites with over 1 million children in that number (400,000 in school groups). A further 100,000 children are involved through the Science Museum’s outreach programme. At the National Media Museum 44% of visitors are from lower socio-economic backgrounds and it is over 50% at the Museum of Science and Industry. There are also an increasing number of younger adults drawn in by innovative schemes such as the Lates. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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The Science Museum Group is a vital part of the science and engineering ecosystem that can take our children and produce a scientifically literate population, equipped for making decisions on some of the big problems that we are facing and produce the great innovators that the economy needs. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by the Royal Institution The Royal Institution (founded 1799) is an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science, technology and medicine in a number of ways. To this purpose, one of the approaches adopted by the Royal Institution is to use its heritage to illustrate the relations of science with society and culture that have subsisted over the last two centuries or so. In part this is done via research and in part through an interpreted display of about a thousand historical objects in the Royal Institution’s collections which tell the story of scientific discovery undertaken by scientific figures such as Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday, John Tyndall, James Dewar, William Bragg, Lawrence Bragg and more recently George Porter. Objects on display include Davy’s first miners’ safety lamp, Faraday’s first electric generator and transformer, the apparatus by used by John Tyndall in his discovery of the atmospheric greenhouse effect, Dewar’s flasks (better known as thermos flasks), as well as apparatus associated with the Bragg’s work on crystallography Porter’s photochemical equipment. Taken together these objects form the scientific basis for much of modern technology ranging from electrical engineering and communication to the foundations of molecular biology and gene technology. Of note is that the Ri does not currently receive state funding to support public access to these collections, although it is desirous of it. All these objects, along with the associated archives and images, were created for use and have been subsequently retained in the building, which the Royal Institution, almost uniquely for a London institution, has occupied continuously since 1799. The Royal Institution is thus supportive of the Science Museum Group’s efforts to connect people with science via its displays of historical scientific objects. In particular its facilities in Manchester and York have strong heritage similarities to the Royal Institution in that both are key technological sites with associated objects created for those locations. MOSI is housed in the world’s first purpose built railway station which retains many of its original features, whilst York was a major railway engineering site which it is entirely appropriate should be now occupied by the National Railway Museum. The Royal Institution has read with dismay that budgetary cuts are necessitating a review of the viability of one or more museums within the Science Museum Group, and hopes that a solution can be found in order to maintain public access to these important scientific collections. If we wish to encourage an interest throughout all communities in science, technology and medicine, both for utilitarian as well as cultural reasons, then we, as a country, need to invest in the facilities that will help provide this outcome. If the Government wishes to make the UK ‘the best place in the world to do science’, curtailing or restricting access to our extraordinary scientific heritage is not the way to do it. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by the Royal Academy of Engineering Founded in 1976, The Royal Academy of Engineering promotes the engineering and technological welfare of the country. Our fellowship—comprising the UK’s most eminent engineers—provides the leadership and expertise for our activities, which focus on the relationships between engineering, technology, and the quality of life. As a national academy, we provide independent and impartial advice to Government; work to secure the next generation of engineers; and provide a voice for Britain’s engineering community. www.raeng.org.uk The UK is in the business of high added-value, high-technology, sustainable engineering and manufacturing. In addition it needs to maintain capability in civil engineering, engineering construction, electricity production and distribution, gas, water and sanitation, transportation, process manufacture, nuclear, electronics, food manufacture, fuels, high-value materials, consumer products, IT, software and healthcare services. All depend on engineering knowledge and skills and all are signalling increasing demand and experiencing a scarcity of supply of suitably qualified young people. Engineering provides a creative and practical curriculum vehicle for young people, enabling the application of mathematics and science to realistic problems that involve purposeful design, innovation, technology, computing, the realisation of functional artefacts and commercial enterprise. It directs pupils to see how they can use what they have learned to solve problems and improve lives. The Science Museum Group provides a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the hard task of helping young people understand the context and consequences of the application of science, mathematics, computing, engineering and technology to the modern world. As the largest destination for school groups seeking to enrich and enhance the school curriculum and the largest contributor to engaging whole families in science education, it is impossible to understate the contribution made to the formation of the next generation of scientists and engineers. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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In addition, the Science Museum is a valuable partner with industry and the engineering profession in promoting scientific literacy and science-related careers including engineering. The Royal Academy of Engineering is coordinating a consortium of engineering employers in the co-funding of a new engineering exhibition that will be mounted in London and then tour the other museums in the Group. This offers the Group significant leverage on the public funds it receives and shows that the Group is working hard to meet the challenges placed on it by the current financial climate. It is undoubtedly worthy of ongoing public support in a mission that is of national and regional importance and that cannot be undertaken by any other body— public or private. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by the Museums Association Summary i. Museums have high fixed costs for operating and maintaining complex and often listed buildings and for caring for often large reserve collections. This means cuts to revenue funding risk having a disproportionate impact on front-line public services. ii. Museums throughout the UK face cuts in revenue funding from national and local governments. iii. Increase in Heritage Lottery Fund resources can nowhere near compensate for cuts in public funding, particularly local-authority funding. It is vital to maintain the principle that lottery funding should be additional to existing public funding. iv. Cuts in local authority funding are affecting the largest number of museums. As pressures on local authority funding increase still further it is likely to become increasingly difficult for local authorities to continue to fund museums at levels adequate to maintain public services. v. To try to meet the challenge of less public funding, museums are changing working practices; for example, reducing energy consumption and introducing new, leaner staff structures. vi. Museums are endeavouring to generate more income through activities such as shops, cafes and room hire. vii. In many parts of the country—and for many museum subject areas—the potential for fundraising from private sources appears very limited. viii. Museums are striving to maintain services to a wide range of audiences. However, in spite of changes to working practices and increased efforts in income generation, cuts in public funding are inevitably having a severe effect. Improved buildings aren’t being run to their full potential, there is less education work with schools and others, there is less work to widen access and make better use of collections. ix. In the Museums Association’s 2012 survey, almost a fifth of museums reported reducing their opening hours in the past year; this is on top of a similar proportion reporting reduced opening hours in the 2011 survey. x. It is interesting to note that the tradition of free access to publicly funded museums remains strong. Very few museums seem to have introduced admission charges. xi. There is growing public interest in museums. The proportion of adults in England who had visited a museum or gallery reached 52% in 2012–13—a significant increase from 42% in 2005–06. This means that some four million people visited a museum in 2012–13 who would not have done so in 2005–06. xii. Research into public attitudes to museums shows that people feel very positive towards museums and that “museums are in a rare position of being trusted to provide accurate and reliable information in a national conversation increasingly dominated by bias and vested interest.” xiii. The Museums Association’s new document Museums Change Lives shows museums now need to do more if they are to be relevant to a wide range of people and meet their needs. There is increasing recognition that museums can help address a wide range of social problems and needs. There are many inspiring examples of museums contributing to positive social change, usually working in partnership with public or third-sector partner organisations. xiv. Museums Change Lives sets out an ambitious agenda, but ever deeper cuts to museums threaten this and mean museums will not be able to achieve their full potential for society.

Background 1. The Museums Association is the independent membership organisation representing museums and galleries throughout the UK and people who work for them. It has over 6,000 individual members and 600 institutional members. These institutional members encompass around 1,500 museums in the UK ranging from the largest government-funded national museums to small volunteer-run charitable-trust museums. Formed in 1889, it is a not-for-profit charity, receiving no regular government funding, which seeks to inform, represent cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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and develop museums and people who work for them in order that they may provide a better service to society and the public.

Funding Cuts 2. “Shock” is probably the best word to describe our feelings when rumours began to emerge that serious consideration was being given to closure of one of the Science Museum’s branches. It seems inconceivable that public access could be withdrawn from an entire national museum site. The only remote parallel we can think of was the decision by the V&A to discontinue operating the Theatre Museum as a separate building from 2007 and to relocate its operations to the main V&A building. But that was a carefully considered decision made for very different reasons, primarily that the building needed expensive refurbishment and it had proved impossible to raise the necessary capital funds. In contrast, the Science Museum’s three branches are all highly successful and have all had recent capital investment. 3. On reflection, there is perhaps an inevitability that a major museum will be considered for closure. The 15% cuts in grant-in-aid to national museums that were originally announced may not have been as bad as were feared, but there have been further cuts since and on one calculation cumulative reductions in funding (including capital) will amount to 24.3% by 2015, with a further 5% in 2015–16. Museums have high fixed costs for operating and maintaining complex and often listed buildings and for caring for often large reserve collections. This means cuts to revenue funding risk having a disproportionate impact on front-line public services. 4. It is, of course, not only national museums that face cuts in public funding. Museums throughout the UK face cuts in revenue funding from national and local governments. Support for regional museums through Renaissance in the Regions has been reduced as a result of cuts in central government funding and because of inadequate funding to cover the extra costs incurred by Arts Council England when it assumed some of the responsibilities of the former Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Since 2010, many funding streams that once benefited museums have now completely disappeared. (Examples in England include: Strategic Commissioning, Creative Partnerships, funding from Regional Development Agencies.) Heritage Lottery Funding has increased—and this is welcome—but the increase can nowhere near compensate for cuts in public funding, particularly local-authority funding. It is vital to maintain the principle that lottery funding should be additional to existing public funding. 5. Cuts in local authority funding are affecting the largest number of museums. The picture is very varied. At one extreme, some local authorities, such as the London Borough of Barnet, have withdrawn all funding for museums and museums have closed. Other local authorities still plan to continue to support museums as they recognise the wide range of benefits they bring to their area and to the people who live there. However, this is often at a significantly reduced level. Our 2011 survey of museum funding found that the budgets of almost a quarter of responding local authority museums had been cut by more than 25% in the past year alone. 6. Government data shows that overall local authority funding for museums in England fell by 11% in 2011–12 (Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing in England: 2011 to 2012 Final Out-turn, Department for Communities and Local Government.) 7. Looking at a single year does not reveal the full extent of cuts, which in some cases are made year after year. Combining Museums Association survey data from 2011 and 2012 found that 31% of responding museums had their budget cut two years in a row. A third of these had an overall cut in excess of 35%. (These two-year figures refer to museums of all types, not only local authority museums.) 8. As pressures on local authority funding increase still further it is likely to become increasingly difficult for local authorities to continue to fund museums at levels adequate to maintain public services. As a result of thinking about its long-term funding position, Newcastle City Council has announced cuts of 44% over the next three years in its support for museums, affecting the Laing Art Gallery, Discovery Museum and the Great North Museum. Newcastle City Council is withdrawing all its funding for the multiple award-winning Great North Museum, which has attracted over two million visitors since it reopened in 2009. Like the Science Museum branches, these are highly successful museums, widely regarded as amongst the best in the UK.

The Impact of Cuts 9. To try to meet the challenge of less public funding museums are changing working practices; for example, reducing energy consumption and introducing new, leaner staff structures. In our 2012 survey, 39% of respondents said they have a larger proportion of volunteers within the workforce compared to April 2011. Many experienced staff have lost their jobs, meaning that organisations are losing skills and knowledge. The Museums Association’s Monument Fellowships scheme (originally funded by the Monument Trust) has played a small part in sustaining knowledge and skills, by enabling former staff to share their expertise with those who remain. 10. Museums are endeavouring to generate more income through activities such as shops, cafes and room hire. Our 2012 survey of museums found that 69% of respondents expected to concentrate more on generating income in 2013. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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11. Museums are embracing the call for increased philanthropy and trying to raise more private and charitable funds. The effort to increase private giving will be boosted as the Catalyst programme develops. Our 2012 survey found that 62% of responding museums expected to do more fundraising in 2013. We welcome DCMS’s encouragement for philanthropy. However, in many parts of the country—and for many museum subject areas—the potential for fundraising from private sources appears very limited. The Museums Association is playing its small part in funding museums. We offer grants to museums on behalf of the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund and also from a number of small trusts that we administer, supporting collecting, professional development and conservation. 12. Museums are striving to maintain services to a wide range of audiences. However, in spite of changes to working practices and increased efforts in income generation, cuts in public funding are inevitably having a severe effect. Improved buildings aren’t being run to their full potential, there is less education work with schools and others, there is less work to widen access and make better use of collections. 22% of respondents to the 2012 survey have reduced access to sites by closing whole or parts of sites, permanently or temporarily. It is clear that reductions in budgets make reductions in access more likely: 43% of museums with a 10%+ budget cut have closed whole sites or parts of sites, permanently or temporarily. 49% of museums with a 10%+ budget cut introduced or increased charges for school visits. 13. In 2012, almost a fifth of museums reported reducing their opening hours in the past year; this is on top of a similar proportion reporting reduced opening hours in the 2011 survey. The reductions in opening hours are significant: half of those reporting reducing hours in 2012 did so by more than 11 hours—the equivalent of a day and a half a week. As an example, the Graves Art Gallery in Sheffield is now only open four days a week and even on those days closes at 3pm. 14. However, DCMS ministers refuse to acknowledge that cuts in public funding are having a severe impact on service delivery. They dismiss concern about the impact of cuts, with the Secretary of State complaining that she is frustrated by the sense of “perpetual gloom” about the future of the cultural sector. 15. It is interesting to note that the tradition of free access to publicly funded museums remains strong. Very few museums seem to have introduced admission charges. In the 2012 survey only 3% of respondents had introduced a charge for permanent collections and 8% for special exhibitions. However, that covers only one year of change. Recent research (see below) reveals a strong public belief that “museums have to be accessible and inclusive to all, including the most vulnerable in society, [particularly] in terms of free/cheap entry, as well as physical aids for the disabled.”

Public Support and Interest 16. Paradoxically, cuts in public funding for museums coincide with growing public interest in museums. The proportion of adults in England who had visited a museum or gallery reached 52% in 2012–13—a significant increase from 42% in 2005–06. This means that some four million people visited a museum in 2012–13 who would not have done so in 2005–06. See www.gov.uk/government/publications/taking-part- 2012–13-quarter-3-statistical-release 17. This increase in participation is probably due to a widespread public recognition that museums have improved significantly over the past decade or so and are more appealing to more people, largely thanks to redevelopments supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and to twenty years of museums’ paying increased attention to the interests and needs of a wide range of audiences. 18. We recently commissioned research into public attitudes to the purpose of museums, with support from Arts Council England, Museums Galleries Scotland and CyMAL (Museums Archives Libraries Wales). See www.museumsassociation.org/museums2020/11122012-what-the-public-thinks This found that museums are widely seen (by all except those who haven’t visited since school) as having changed for the better over the last generation, going from stuffy, sterile and boring to entertaining, interactive and stimulating. 19. “The most immediate finding from this research was the strong, resilient positivity felt toward museums and the passion which some of the discussions elicited. Interestingly, this was displayed by visitors and non- visitors alike, suggesting that museums are perceived to have a societal role that is broader than just satisfying individual visitors.” (p26) 20. The research also found that “museums are in a rare position of being trusted to provide accurate and reliable information in a national conversation increasingly dominated by bias and vested interest.” (p26) People “view museums as incredibly trustworthy… This is in stark contrast to other public institutions, such as the media, politicians and business, which the public sees as biased, politically motivated and fundamentally untrustworthy.” (p20)

The Potential of Museums 21. The economic and educational impacts of museums are well known. Museums have the potential to make significant social impacts, too. In 2012, the Museums Association launched Museums 2020, an initiative looking at the future of museums and their impact. See www.museumsassociation.org/Museums2020. The ensuing discussion revealed the potential and ambition of museums to contribute to society. Following the cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Museums 2020 consultation, on 1 July we publish Museums Change Lives, our vision for the impact of museums. See www.museumsassociation.org/museums-chage-lives This shows the wide range of benefits museums can bring to individuals, communities and society.

22. Museums have always seen themselves as being for everyone and increasingly they are aiming to meet all people’s needs, whatever their background. It is no longer enough for a museum to merely acquire, care for and display its collection. That work will, of course, continue; but museums now need to do more if they are to be relevant to a wide range of people and meet their needs. There is increasing recognition that museums can help address a wide range of social problems and needs. Museums have a critical role to play in generating understanding between different groups and cultures—one of the future’s biggest challenges.

23. There are many inspiring examples of museums contributing to positive social change, usually working in partnership with public or third-sector partner organisations. These include National Museums Liverpool’s House of Memories training programme for dementia carers; Colchester Museums’ work with homeless people; Luton Museums’ Truck Art project that aimed to strengthen links between Luton and Lahore; and the Tank Museum’s work with young offenders that included the achievement of qualifications in basic skills and engineering.

24. The Museums Association argues that faced with austerity, museums should focus on the contributions they can make to their communities. They must not retreat and turn inwards. Museums Change Lives argues that every museum is different, but all can find ways of maximising their social impact.

25. Museums Change Lives sets out an ambitious agenda, but ever deeper cuts to museums threaten this and mean museums will not be able to achieve their full potential for society. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by the Campaign for Science and Engineering

The Campaign for Science & Engineering (CaSE) is the leading independent advocacy group for science and engineering in the UK. CaSE works to ensure that science and engineering are high on the political and media agenda, and that the UK has world-leading research and education, skilled and responsible scientists and engineers, and successful innovative business. It is funded by around 750 individual members and 100 organisations including industries, universities, learned and professional organisations, and research charities.

The contribution of science and engineering to the UK’s prosperity and identity is dependent on a rich network of contributors, public and private. It is vital that our Science Museums are considered in the context of that holistic view of UK science. They provide access, inspiration, education and outreach. This directly drives the generation of our skilled workforce and world-leading research base. Therefore the Science Museums are of international significance because they play a crucial role in upholding the UK’s ambition to be the best place in the world to do science.

The Confederation of British Industry published its annual Skills Survey1 last week which showed that “39% [of firms] are struggling to recruit workers with the advanced, technical STEM skills they need—with 41% saying shortages will persist for the next three years.” The Science Museums Group directly tackles this by feeding the pipeline of STEM-skilled workers through informal learning. The Science Museum reaches an audience of over 5.2 million each year and 600,000 through learning programmes—more than any other museum in the UK.

The proposed cuts to the Science Museum Group budget represent a real threat to the Group’s ability to deliver this pipeline of skill and learning. The Science Museum has had 25% real term cuts since 2010 during which time the science base (funded by BIS) has endured around a 10% cut by comparison.

CaSE urges the Committee to consider the impact of its decisions on the whole of UK science. We urge the government to take a cross-departmental view to support for science. And we urge DCMS to fund the work of the Science Museums Group to a level that enables it to remain a vital contributor to our place as a leading scientific nation. June 2013

1 www.cbi.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2013/06/businesses-fear-skills-shortage-could-hold-back-growth/ cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Written evidence submitted by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PSC) 1. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) is the largest trade union in the civil service with 260,000 members in the civil service and associated public bodies. This includes over 4,000 members working in the culture sector in our museums, galleries and heritage sites. 2. We welcome the committee’s decision to hold a short inquiry into the future of the Science Museum Group. Even in the event of the recent Ministerial announcement that they are not to be closed, we consider it useful in terms of their long-term prospect particularly in light of further budget cuts. 3. Our submission has been compiled with the assistance of our representatives who work in the culture sector. They have given their account of why these institutions hold such significance and options to improve their financial situation. 4. The Department for Culture Media and Sport has cut 15% from its running costs and a further 7% cuts have now been announced for 2015–16. This means that our members are losing their jobs and suffering worsening conditions. We are also concerned at the impact such massive spending reductions are having on access to our famous cultural sites. 5. The funding of community sports, arts and museums will be reduced by 5% as opposed to the 7% cut being suffered in the wider Department. As the proposed cut has been decreased it means that the Science Museums will no longer face the threat of closure. We welcome the announcement that they will remain open but are concerned at what cutting their funding says about the government’s commitment to education and the sciences. 6. We represent members who work in the Science Museums group and were involved in supporting the recent campaign to save the institutions from closure. We argued that the museums on Bradford, Manchester and York, hold collections of international significance and should remain open, staffed by professional curators and assistants, with free entry to the public. Closure of the museums would not only have hit jobs and local economies, which benefit greatly from visitors, but would have meant the loss of important UK cultural institutions. 7. That the museums are to remain open is to be welcomed. We remain concerned that further cuts of 5% could still lead to at least partial closure of one of the museums and is likely to lead to the loss of jobs and services. Keeping the doors open will not be sufficient unless staffing levels are enough to ensure that security, cleanliness, interpretation services and access to collections are all maintained. 8. PCS members in the Science Museum Group who work in security have had their jobs privatised. We were able to successfully protect their terms and conditions under TUPE when they transferred. However, staff morale has suffered as those working on the security contracts no longer feel like part of the museum family as they are no longer directly employed by them. The disenfranchisement of staff is of concern and is likely to have on staff turnover and retention. PCS believes that these jobs should be brought back in-house and that any further privatisation would be detrimental to the museum’s services. 9. Educational activities were one aspect that is seen as a major benefit. Many students who study science, geography, history, art and music would struggle with their studies if the museums where not available to them for their primary research. One of our members at the National Museums Liverpool used the Science Museums when studying for their degree in Museum Studies and said he would not have achieved such a high grade if the resources available at the museums had not been available to him. 10. The Science Museums are extremely important as they provide a unique interactive experience of getting up close to things we usually only see in books, newspapers or on the television. Seeing a steam train for example, is a completely different experience to seeing an image of one in a book or on postcard; the perception you get of something from a second hand source is often entirely different to the one you get when you see something with your own eyes. 11. As for education, going to the museums can bring what is taught in schools to life, by seeing artefacts/ objects for example. If people are learning about a point in time of different forms of transport, for example, and they go to an exhibition full of artefacts dating from an early period to the present day, they are more likely to find it interesting and want to learn more about it. Many museums now deliver education sessions for schools were you can have the opportunity to interact with staff and the collections. Research has shown that those who have had firsthand experience of such information are more likely to retain it in later life. 12. A significant loss of the services offered by science museums to society would have a wide-ranging and detrimental impact at many levels. At a time when the UK economy needs people working in science and technology in British industry and in research and education, science group museums provide inspiration, motivation and knowledge, in particular to the younger generation. No price can be put on their educational value to children of school age. These museums are a significant resource for teachers and schools, especially those challenged with low budgets to devote to science teaching. Museums of all kinds can be a window on a new world to many children, especially those who face the challenges of poverty and who lack opportunity in their lives. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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13. The Science Museums play a huge role locally. They are very popular with schools (both Primary and Secondary) as an education tool as they allow pupils to see the practical applications of all that science and maths they are learning in the class room. Outdoor learning is increasingly being used to engage pupils in the world of science and technology. It not only inspires those students who are interested in science to take it further academically and professionally, but can generate interest among those who had not been as engaged in classroom based science learning. 14. The Science Museums Group contain a wealth of exhibits and displays covering virtually every aspect of pure and applied science, history of medicine, railway engineering, and film. To consider closing one of them seriously brings into question the government’s commitment to science and engineering. 15. At the Global Health Policy Summit in 2012 David Cameron listed science as one of the UK’s five main strengths. Indeed, the United Kingdom has a strong scientific and innovative history, but in recent times the amount spent on the sciences (such as research and development) has fallen in comparison to our competitors such as the US, Japan, Germany and South Korea. Any short term cuts will lead to a long term decline in the country’s standing and will have an impact culturally and economically. We are concerned about what signal it sends to the local and international scientific community if the government forces the closure of places of cultural significance. 16. The government should invest in museums and not allow them to be in a poor financial position. Museums are a boost to our economy as they bring in visitors from across the world and generate tourism. Closing museums or cutting their funding would be counterproductive in economic terms. Museums may not create direct sources of revenue, but that is not their purpose. They are there to educate and inspire, without their influence we could lose potential inventors and innovators which will affect the countries future productivity and strength. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Arts Council England 1. Arts Council England is the national development agency for museums in England. It does not have direct responsibility for the national museums such as the Science Museum group that have direct funding relationships with DCMS. However, it does work closely with the national museums individually and collectively to maximise the benefits of great museums to England. 2. While there are important and worthwhile actions all museums can take to ensure their financial sustainability, the Science Museum Group is a national museum and it is the core responsibility of DCMS and the group itself to ensure it is effectively supported

The Value of the Science Museum Group 3. The different branches of the Science museum group form a part of a rich museum ecology containing various funding and governance models. All have been successful in bringing visitors and wealth to their locations and all have the capacity to continue as successful museums. They have internationally important collections, iconic buildings in key locations and specialist staff. 4. The Northern sites of the Science Museum Group are a vital part of both the Museum and broader cultural offer in Yorkshire, the North West and North East of England. Their presence in the North of England alongside other nationals such as the Royal Armouries and National Coal Mining Museum also help sustain a cohort of skilled museum professionals who can then support the work of other independent museums and local authority provision locally. 5. Northern economies are becoming increasingly reliant on tourism, and the Museums are important in the attraction of visitors to Bradford, York and Manchester. We have no doubt that all of these museums can be successful contributors to their local and the national economy and cultural offer, as they are now and have been in the past, and should not be considered in any way at risk. 6. The Science Museum Group have responsibility for collections of national importance and owned by the nation. So it is right and proper that there should be a level of public investment in their long-term care. However, all museums should, given the right long-term planning parameters and good leadership be able to construct business plans that put the right level of public investment to the maximum use while levering in other funding streams.

Sustainability of Museums 7. Across the sector there are cohorts of similar museums, particularly in the independent sector, with sustainable business models serving large audiences and making a major contribution to local tourist economies. Many also deliver powerful learning and educational services. Good examples include Ironbridge, Chatham Historic Dockyard, Beamish, National Football Museum, Critch Tramway Museum, SS Great Britain, the Tank Museum Bovington. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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8. All of these museums to one extent or another do rely on some public subsidy—core national or local authority funding, support through Renaissance or HLF, or rely on charging visitors, but all have put together a mixed funding model that makes their call on the public purse reasonable. Most importantly they have been well led so offer security for long-term investment. 9. The Ironbridge Gorge Museums receive over 545,000 visitors per annum with around 70,000 of these being visits from schools. Over half of the Trust’s revenue income is earned from visitor admissions including Gift Aid and the remaining balance comes from revenue generated from retail sales, conference & banqueting, tenanted properties and income from grant making trusts and individuals. A recent economic assessment estimated that Ironbridge generates around £20 million of income per annum to the visitor economy of Telford & Wrekin and the wider area. 10. A key challenge for museums, in common with the arts, in the near future will be the reaction of Local Authorities to continued budget reductions. We can no longer expect councils to step in to support museums in financial difficulty. There is a firm responsibility on DCMS and the Science Museum group to take responsibility in this situation. More widely the Arts Council is helping museums to build their local business models and diversify their revenue streams.

Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester. 11. MOSI holds nationally important collections central to the development and understanding of the science and industry of the North West. Its entire holdings have Designated status and feature Liverpool Road Station, the oldest railway station in the world. It supports an active loans service and holds extensive archives including oral history recordings detailing the stories of the people of Manchester. Its Collections Centre, the first of its kind in the country, allows the museum to make more of their collections accessible to the public and is a well utilized local resource. 12. Its influence and support of the wider museums sector is widespread, having specialist staff in scientific and industrial areas, playing a role in the national subject specialist networks and are involved in key regional key pieces of work including the current Industrial Textile Machinery Review, supported through Museum Development North West. 13. MOSI supports the wider cultural offer in Manchester through hosting an annual nationally renowned Science Festival and plays a key role in the cultural life of the city being well supported by local and regional audiences from a varied visitor demographic.

National Media Museum, Bradford. 14. The Arts Council has invested over £4 million in the National Media Museum since its opening in 1983. The Museum has a unique cultural offer which is not replicated by any other institution nationally, and has been a major factor in the regeneration of Bradford. 15. As a centre for British photography, the Museum’s Bradford Photography Fellowships, initiated in 1985, have launched the careers of a number of photographers and trail blazed the collection of British photographers amongst UK institutions. The Arts Council has sought to extend the City’s impact in photography, supporting the relocation of Impressions Gallery from York to Bradford, and investing in Ways of Looking, the region’s photography festival. 16. When the Museum opened visitors topped one million people. Visitor figures have dropped to around 500,000 however Bradford is an area of very low arts engagement with less than 32% of Bradford residents experiencing the arts three times in a year. The Museum has worked hard together with the local authority to attract people back into the city centre. The Museum’s presence has contributed to the Council’s regeneration of the City Park, and attracted national broadcasters to screen the first live outdoor Bollywood “opera “ on BBC3. In these circumstances, of city poverty both financial and material, visitor figures are respectable, and the Museum is regularly packed particularly during school holidays.

National Railway Museum 17. The National Railway Museum (NRM) plays a key part in the cultural and economic life of York, not only in encouraging tourist spend in the city but as a valued employer and also by creating cultural events and opportunities for visitors and local residents. The NRM is actively engaged with the key organisations events and festivals in the city and is keen to play a leading role in new initiatives. The history of the Railways is an important part of the history of York and its communities and the location of this museum is significant and meaningful to the people of York. The strength of support has further shown that the NRM is well loved, not only by locals who are very proud of this great institution, but by visitors and researchers regionally, nationally and internationally. 18. The NRM play a significant and important role in the local, regional and national museums sector. Staff have had a long tradition of being involved in specialist networks and in the regional federation as well as taking a leading role in the Yorkshire Museums Directors Conference. Staff are widely and actively engaged as mentors and curatorial advisers for museums and collections across the region. The NRM carry out an cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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important role in working closely with railway groups and organisations across the region as well as nationally. Many railway museums and preservation societies (who are often entirely volunteer run) depend on the expertise and support of the NRM. 19. The NRM has an active education and schools programme and has significant and important links with local Universities. The Institute of Railway Studies is a collaboration between the NRM and the University of York and is a research centre of international importance. The Designated collections and archives at the NRM are of national and international importance underpinned by a long history of scholarly research.

Locomotion: the NRM at Shildon, County Durham 20. Locomotion was the first national museum to be built in the North East. This joint venture with the local authority enables more of the NRM’s collections to be housed properly and enjoyed by the public and is helping to develop tourism in Shildon, the birthplace of the modern railway.

21. Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund helped to create the NRM outpost at a cost of £11 million. Locomotion has engaged with Museum Development in the region mainly through community engagement projects such as Broadening Horizons (2009–10). More recently it has been enrolled in the Green Tourism Business Scheme supporting the Green Museums project. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by the National Museum Directors’ Council

1. About the NMDC This response is submitted on behalf of the National Museum Directors’ Council (NMDC). The NMDC represents the leaders of the UK’s national collections and major regional museums. Our members are the national and major regional museums in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Archives. While our members are funded by government, the NMDC is an independent, non-governmental organisation. For more information on our activity and a full list of members see our website: www.nationalmuseums.org.uk

The Director of the Science Museum Group is a member of the NMDC. This submission is intended to support that of the Science Museum Group and offer additional input on the wider context of UK museums and their funding, governance and activity. It first addresses the immediate scope and context of this Inquiry, before the outlining the economics of national museums and how their financial model works and briefly summarising some of the key ways in which museums contribute to the UK economy and society.

2. Introduction National museum funding

The current funding difficulties experienced by the Science Museum Group are typical across the sector. By 2014–15 cuts to government funding—including the initial cut to revenue funding of 15% in the 2010 CSR, plus major reductions in capital funding and subsequent additional in-year cuts—will mean that total grant-in- aid received by national museums is 24.3% less in real terms than 2009–10.

NMDC welcomed the Government’s recognition in the 2013 Spending Round of the unique and vital contribution of museums to our economy and society, and is glad that arguments for the importance of investment in museums have been heard. We also welcomed the announcement of new operational freedoms for national museums around staff pay, procurement and financial management, which will enable them to better raise and spend their own funds, encourage philanthropy and cope with the impact of cuts.

However, the announcement of a further 5% cut for 2015–16, combined with an as yet unknown cut to capital funding allocations, will result in national museums’ public funding being reduced by around a third in six years. The full impact of these cuts is still to be seen. Whilst museums are becoming ever more successful at fundraising and generating their own income, repeated and rapid reductions in public funding exacerbate the challenge of coping with existing cuts, and inevitably mean a reduction in the services museums are able to offer. Section 3 below outlines why the high fixed costs of caring for collections means that cuts impact disproportionately on museums’ front line services.

Museums did not benefit as much as other areas of public services in the boom years. The level of government funding for national museums since the readjustment to deliver free admission in 2001 only approximately tracked the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to 2009–10, and has fallen since. Cuts mean funding for national museums will drop below the level prior to the introduction of free entry, meaning that national museums will be directly subsidising free entry to a hugely increased number of visitors, and fulfilling a Government policy commitment, from their own resources. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Governance As non-departmental government bodies national museums operate at arm’s length from government, and the arm’s length principle is key to their independence and successful governance. The primary responsibility of national museum trustees is to fulfil their obligations under charity law to care for the objects in their collections and ensure the widest possible access to them to educate, entertain and inspire. In the context of repeated and ongoing cuts to public funding, whilst being required to maintain the Government policy of free admission, national museum trustees are forced to consider unpalatable options— including the potential closure of museum sites—in order to fulfil their charitable and statutory obligations for the effective governance of their museums and to safeguard the national collections for future generations.

Self-generated income Museums combine income from commercial activity and philanthropy with government support to provide a responsive, relevant and high quality service. They are adept at raising their own income and an ever- increasing percentage of revenue is self-generated—for some national museums this now represents the majority of their income. As well as developing an excellent track record in soliciting philanthropic donations, museums are increasingly entrepreneurial and generate income in a variety of ways, including ticket sales for special exhibitions and events; retail sales through shops, restaurants and cafes; donations from visitors through a variety of means including digital giving; membership and friends schemes; grants from trusts and foundations; business sponsorship and partnership; corporate hire of museum spaces; providing consultancy services on specialist areas of expertise in the UK and abroad; developing endowments; and licensing the use of images and audiovisual material in their collections. Success in leveraging funding from such a wide range of sources relies on government funding as a base. The following section provides more details on the importance of sustained public funding in enabling museums to generate their own income as part of a mixed income model.

3. The economics of museums (a) Introduction In his paper for the Getty Leadership Institute, Planning in a Cold Climate, Adrian Ellis referred to museums as “red-ink businesses”, ie we are not sustainable as commercial entities. This is in part due to the nature of our supplies (our outputs) and in part due to the nature of our demand. In terms of supplies: — Some of our outputs have the characteristics of merit goods—ie services which society should have on the basis of need, rather than willingness or ability to pay. In the wider economy, schools or libraries are merit goods. Within the museum sector examples would include the educational aspects of our activity; — Some of our outputs have the characteristics of public or common goods in that they are non- excludable—ie no one can be effectively excluded from their benefits. This makes these services difficult to sell to those who can get them for free. Defence is a public good, and examples within the museum sector would include caring for the collection or attracting tourists to the UK; — Many of our outputs are joint outputs—ie there is more than one product from a process so that individual costs cannot be directly allocated to specific outputs (for example the costs of preserving a painting support both the aesthetic and educational benefits of displaying the painting); and many of our benefits are not separable (for example it is not possible to charge for the entertainment provided by an exhibition without charging for the educational benefits). When combined these characteristics make it very difficult to disaggregate individual outputs for commercial exploitation. In terms of demand: — The majority of our beneficiaries have yet to be born. We hold collections in trust for future generations who are not in a position to contribute financially to the museum sector (an issue where there are strong parallels with the challenges faced by the environmental lobby). Therefore in economic terms the market does not generate enough demand at a sufficiently high price to stimulate supply. There is a market failure, so that without intervention there would be under-provision and under-consumption of the outputs provided by museums. From a financial perspective this means we cannot generate enough commercial income to cover our costs. This difference between income and expenditure tends to be made up through support from the state or donors. The exact balance varies—the US model favours philanthropic funding, European museums rely more heavily on the state. In the UK National Museums and Galleries usually fall in the middle of the spectrum with funding derived from commercial, charitable and state sources. We operate in all three sectors, a hybrid approach. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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This hybrid model maximises public value and public benefit, but there is a further advantage because diverse income sources reduce income volatility. To understand the importance of financial stability to museums we need to examine the operating model.

(b) The financial model Expenditure Museums’ cost base has two specific aspects which are worth exploring: — Museums have high fixed costs. Because of the nature of our beneficiaries the absolute priority of Trustees will always be to safeguard the collection for future generations. There is therefore a significant, unavoidable cost to secure and care for the collection. In addition there are a number of other areas of expenditure where it would make little sense to reduce our investment, including profit making activity and legally restricted expenditure. Furthermore in areas such as academic activity reducing costs to cover an impermanent shortfall makes little sense as rebuilding the existing expertise in the collection could take decades. Therefore because of the high fixed cost base any cuts in income flow straight through to reduce our variable costs. And our variable costs are mainly public programmes. Therefore fluctuations in income have a disproportionate impact on front-line public services. There is a structural gearing effect within the business model. For example, if one assumes 75% of our costs are fixed then a reduction in income of 10% requires a reduction of 40% in variable expenditure. Conversely a 10% increase in income would produce a 40% increase in variable expenditure. — The profile of capital expenditure tends to be very uneven. This is a result of periodic substantial investment in building projects and acquisitions.

Income Museums generate income in many different ways. This mixed income model has a number of consequences, not least our reliance on contributory income and philanthropy.

Contributory income Some income streams are very profitable; some simply cover the cost of certain activities; and some only make a contribution to an activity. That contribution obviously helps reduce the call on the public purse, but it results in one of the unusual characteristics of the mixed income model by creating a gearing effect (on the public benefit delivered by public investment) which amplifies the gearing caused by high fixed costs. So whereas an investment from public funds allows disproportionate public benefit because it attracts private income, a reduction in the public contribution to the museum results in a disproportionate reduction in public benefit when the matching funding is withdrawn. This issue is not restricted to philanthropy. It also exists in commercial activity—specifically where commercial income provides a contribution to a core activity rather than generating a clear profit. These core activities can include exhibitions, web provision, multimedia guides and publications. They represent great public value because the contribution from the public purse is a fraction of the public benefit they deliver, but without a contribution from public funds they would not be commercially viable.

Philanthropy Museum donations tend to be high value and low volume, which is distinct from other large charities like the National Trust, RSPCA, Oxfam or the NSPCC which receive millions of low value donations. This has four consequences: — It is extremely hard to forecast the timing and scale of donated income accurately because the decisions of an individual donor will have a material impact on the overall position. — Donations tend to follow high profile capital campaigns, as permanent high profile projects (such as new galleries or capital developments) have an appeal to this donor group which operating activity lacks. Therefore donations tend to mirror the uneven profile of capital expenditure. — It is often difficult to cover the full costs of any project from donated income because in Europe (where a state contribution is assumed) the philanthropic culture differs from the US. This is much less of an issue for charities reliant upon mass low value donations, where exclusivity is not expected and volume rather than value drives income levels. — National Museums face international competition for donations. In a global economy many high net worth individuals have interests in many countries. UK museums are therefore in direct competition with other world collections for funding. There is an enormous volatility in charitable income which combines with a high fixed cost base to make consistent, stable, government funding the key foundation for the success of this operating model. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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In fact it is structurally unworkable without it: partly because of the need for pump-priming funds; partly as a demonstration of government support; partly to cover the full cost of activities; and partly to smooth cash-flow.

(c) Conclusion

UK museums are internationally pre-eminent, and very few British institutions equal their reputation. They represent incredible value for money, delivering enormous public value for modest public investment (0.06% of public expenditure). This is possible because of the innovative exploitation of many different income sources. Yet this very success, when coupled with high fixed costs, has resulted in structural gearing. This gearing delivers dramatic returns on investment but amplifies the impact of cuts. The sector has thrived in this fragile financial ecology but world-class collections, once weakened, cannot be re-created.

4. The Contribution of Museums

Museums are more popular than ever, as attested by the continual rise in visitor numbers. In 2012 there were over 50 million visitors to the UK’s national museums alone,2 and over half of all UK adults and 61% of children now visit museums each year.3

The policy of free admission for national museums has played a major part in boosting the number of visits, making the UK national collections accessible to all by removing economic barriers to entry. Visitor figures have increased markedly at all the formerly charging DCMS-sponsored museums, rising by over 150% in the 10 years following the introduction of free admission from 7.2 million in 2000–01 to nearly 18 million in 2010–11.4

Free admission is only possible through the ongoing support of central government. NMDC welcomed the Chancellor’s commitment in the 2013 Spending Round to free entry to national museums. However, continued cuts to government funding make it increasingly difficult to maintain.

Briefly outlined below are some of the key ways in which the UK’s national and major regional museums contribute to the UK economy and society.

(a) Tourism

The UK is home to some of the world’s pre-eminent collections and highest profile museums and galleries, which attract an ever-increasing number of international tourists. They are at the heart of the UK’s cultural offer, which is frequently cited as the main reason to visit.5 Eight of the top ten visitor attractions in the UK are national museums.6

The pull of the UK’s diverse museums and art galleries helped to secure £1 billion of inbound visitor spending in 2009.7 Museums drive economic growth and local investment because of their centrality to the tourism industry—they are an all-weather attraction, encourage secondary spending, directly and indirectly create jobs and make an area more desirable for investment. They are able to do this because of public investment and consequent excellence in research, learning, interpretation and collections care, all of which underpins the high-quality visitor experience.

Overseas visits to national museums have increased by 95% in the past decade, with over 19 million overseas visits in 2011–12.8 The cultural institutions on Exhibition Road in South Kensington (including the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and the V&A) receive more visitors per year than the city of Venice.9 48% of international holiday visits within England and 55% in London include a visit to a museum, and one in four visit an art gallery.10

NMDC’s recent briefing on Museums and Tourism11 contains more information and case studies illustrating the key role of museums in the UK’s tourism economy. 2 NMDC data—total visitors to national museums in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in 2012 3 DCMS Taking Part annual survey 2012–13 4 DCMS data: https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/maintaining-world-leading-national-museums-and-galleries-and-supporting-the- museum-sector 5 Culture and Heritage Topic Profile, VisitBritain, 2010 6 ALVA annual visitor figures 2012 7 VisitBritain Foresight, Issue 83, September 2010 8 Total international visitors to DCMS-sponsored national museums, DCMS data 9 http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/london-exhibition-road-cultural?newsfeed=true 10 Activities Undertaken by Visitors from Overseas in Different Areas of the UK, VisitBritain (November 2010) http://www.visitbritain.org/Images/Activities%20by%20Area%20of%20the%20UK_tcm29–14612.pdf 11 http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/media/documents/what_we_do_documents/nmdc_museums_and_tourism_briefing_ 2013.pdf cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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(b) Education and learning Learning is at the core of what museums do. They are the nation’s great learning resource—they inspire and inform, introduce new subjects, bring them alive and give them meaning. UK museums have extensive learning programmes and are recognised as vital centres of knowledge in the community alongside schools and universities. While the national collections are centres of debate on global issues such as climate change and international affairs, museums all over the UK enable people to explore their history and identity whether personal, local or cultural. Museums reach people in different ways, from formal learning via schools and degree courses to informal learning through family activities and personalised learning for the interested visitor, both onsite and online. Learning programmes cater for all audiences to suit different levels of prior knowledge and cultural and educational backgrounds, interests and learning styles, in order to promote knowledge and encourage engagement with the collections. Museums support all aspects of the curriculum and welcome thousands of school groups every year. They also provide a vital source of learning outside the classroom—more than two thirds of children aged five—11 visited a museum outside of school last year.12 85% of learning in the UK takes place outside formal schooling and eight out of ten museum and gallery visits by young people operate outside school lessons.13 80% of parents think that museums and galleries are among the most important resources for educating their children.14 Museums also make a major contribution to higher and further education. National museums have established links with 244 UK universities, 52 further education colleges, and over 80 overseas universities. 14 national museums have been recognised by Research Councils as academic research organisations equivalent to universities.15

(c) International working Some of the most comprehensive and internationally important collections of natural history, ethnography, technology, art, literature and design are held by UK museums. UK museums have a rich history of working in partnership with their counterparts overseas to unlock and tell these world stories. Loans, academic study, special exhibitions, research, staff exchanges and maintenance of permanent galleries provides the means of building international networks and relationships. This work maintains UK museums’ pre-eminence, allows them to ensure greatest public access to their collections and their expertise and enables them to deliver a relevant and vibrant public programme. Museums can maintain good relationships when more formal channels of communication prove challenging, meaning cultural exchange can flourish in the most unlikely of circumstances. It is UK museums’ independence and freedom from the direct control of government which allows them to pursue such relationships. Museums’ international activity is also a driver of economic growth through tourism and promotes Britain around the world, encouraging overseas investment. Both are critical in the current economic climate. NMDC’s 2012 World Collections briefing16 contains more information and case studies illustrating the range and value of museums’ international working.

(d) Contributing to society and communities Museums of all sizes perform a valuable social function in their community—be that local, regional, national or international; geographically local or an extended community of interest. Museums provide people and families with free, inspiring and uplifting things to do and places to go. They give people the opportunity to think about the world and their place in it. Communities thrive by doing and creating things together in safe and inspiring places: museums are those places. By working with local partners museums engage communities with their cultural heritage right across the UK. Many people form ongoing relationships with museums and they play an important part in people’s lives. They contribute to civic engagement: there are 3,000 volunteers and over 140,000 friends linked to major UK museums.17 Museums are spaces in which identities are understood, formed and shared. They provide a stimulating public space in which people can come together and be inspired. As the recession challenges peoples’ values and beliefs, museums are needed more than ever. 12 DCMS Taking Part annual survey 2012–13: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-culture-media-sport/ series/taking-part 13 DCMS, 2007 14 MORI, 2004 15 Research Councils UK, 2009 16 http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/sharing-skills-and-collections/contributing-world/ 17 Tony Travers (2006) Museums and Galleries in Britain: Economic, social and creative impacts, LSE. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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(e) Supporting the creative industries Museums are catalysts for creativity, inspiring and presenting the best of British design and innovation. They support creative practitioners in a variety of ways and showcase UK creativity and innovation to audiences worldwide. They undertake work with artists, designers, architects, scientists, engineers, writers and filmmakers. They licence the use of images and audiovisual material in their collections and in doing so support a huge range of creative industries. Museums also educate and inspire the creative practitioners of the future, acting as centres of learning for the creative industries and providing the infrastructure vital for the development of a workforce with creative skills. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Department is pleased to respond to the Select Committee’s call for evidence requesting views on the future of the Science Museum Group. We look forward to seeing the Committee’s findings and responding to their recommendations.

The Local, National and International Significance of the Institutions within the Science Museum Group The Science Museum, now known as the Science Museum Group, has the status of a “national” museum because it is governed by primary legislation and has a funding relationship with Government. The National Heritage Act 1983 vests the collections of the Museum in the Trustees, who hold them in trust for the nation. They have a legal obligation to care for, exhibit and add to them, to make them available to the public for research, and to promote public education and enjoyment. The Science Museum Group (SMG) incorporates: the Science Museum, the Science Museum Library and the Wellcome Collections of the History of Medicine in South Kensington; the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, which merged with the Science Museum Group in 2012; the National Railway Museum in York, which was established in 1975 following the transfer of the British Transport Commission’s railway collection; the National Railway Museum at Shildon, which was opened in 2004 in partnership with Sedgefield Borough Council; and the National Media Museum, which was established in 1983 with the support of Bradford City Council. As a whole, the collections form a record of scientific, technological and medical change since the 18th century, and are described by the SMG as being the largest, most comprehensive, and most significant in the field in the world. The Museum aspires to be the UK’s leading centre for the public history of science, technology, medicine and advocacy. The Science Museum in South Kensington displays collections of national and international importance around the themes of science, medicine, ICT and engineering. The science displays include instruments from Pompeii, the collection made for King George III, the second-oldest surviving clock in England and third- oldest in the world, and one of the first mechanical models of the solar system. The medical collections present the history of medicine throughout the world and across cultures. The ICT collections show the development of information systems from the 19th-century Difference Engines of Charles Babbage and include the oldest working computer in the world. The engineering collections cover the impact of changes to manufacturing techniques, including the Museum’s foundational collection of the industrial revolution, transport technologies and the British and international histories of flight from the Renaissance to the present day. Of the 3.1 million visitors to the Science Museum in 2012–13, 37% were from overseas and 23% from outside London and the Southeast, with 47% of virtual visits coming from outside the UK. The Museum loaned objects to 93 UK venues and 23 international venues. Working internationally, the Science Museum has signed a letter of intent to co-operate with Brazil on science communication and education, works in South Korea, Hong Kong, Southern China, Turkey and Malta and hosts visits from many countries around the world. The National Railway Museum explores the story of railways and how people fit into that story, with the aim of becoming the world’s premier railway museum. The historic site includes a former steam locomotive depot, redisplayed in the last year to recreate the experience of a station from the past, a former railway goods depot, and a diesel depot which was transformed into an award-winning public access store in 2001. More of the collections were given public access at Locomotion in Shildon in 2004. The Museum is a key part of York tourism, with 57% of its 930,000 visitors in 2012–13 coming from outside the region, and 7% from overseas. The Museum loaned objects to 83 UK venues in 2012–13. The aim of the National Media Museum is to help audiences understand the social and cultural impact of communications media in all their forms. It is home to the national collections of cinematography, television and new media, including the world’s earliest known surviving negative, the earliest television footage and the camera that made the earliest moving pictures in Britain. The Museum is also the home of the BBC in Bradford, the UK’s first IMAX cinema, and hosts the Bradford International Film Festival and Bradford Animation cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Festival .Of the 493,000 visitors in 2012–13, 73% came from Yorkshire and the Humber, with 77% of visits to the Museum and 23% to the film programme. The Museum loaned objects to 34 UK venues in 2012–13.

The mission of the National Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester is to explore the meeting of science and industry and the beginning of the modern world, and to understand the impact that Manchester science, technology and innovation continues to have on people’s lives. The galleries show how Manchester emerged as the world’s first industrial city, explore the city’s 200 years of scientific advances, its pioneering role in the development of transport methods, and probe the social changes that came with industrial development. The Museum aims to be internationally recognised for its interpretation of these themes. Eighty per cent of the Museum’s 642,000 visitors in 2012–13 came from the Greater Manchester and Northwest region, with a further 14% from elsewhere in the UK and 6% from overseas. The Museum loaned objects to 14 UK venues in 2012–13.

The Scope for further Commercial Development to Support each Institution’s Cultural and Educational Activities and other Options to Improve the Financial Position of the Group

National museums and galleries such as the Science Museum Group operate as public bodies receiving grant-in-aid from Government, as independent charities and as visitor attractions run upon commercial lines.

In the 2010 Spending Review, the Government limited the cut in resource funding for the national museums and galleries to 15% in real terms, in order to protect their world-class collections and front-line services, and to ensure that free entry to their permanent collections would continue to be available.

As public bodies, the national museums and galleries operate within a framework of accountability, however Government has promoted a culture of independence and enterprise among the museums, giving them the freedom to establish their own corporate strategies and business plans with limited interference, and retain self- generated income.

As a sector, the national museums have shown an innovative and enterprising approach to fundraising, attracting record visitor numbers in the last decade, opening new branches and galleries funded largely through private contributions and Lottery funding and maximizing the scope for income generation through charges for special exhibitions, retail, catering, membership schemes, and through philanthropic giving.

In the 2010 Spending Review, DCMS provided national museums with the freedom to access £143 million of their historic reserves to 2014–15. This was an important step towards delivering on the Coalition commitment to providing museums with greater administrative freedoms and to enable them to attract further philanthropic donations.

The Government recognises that the national museums, wherever they are based in England, have an important role in driving economic growth and local investment, attracting tourists, inspiring creative industries and promoting innovation. Tourism is the 5th largest industry in the UK and museums are a significant part of this: amongst the membership of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA), eight of the top 10 UK visitor attractions in 2012 were national museums funded by DCMS, with the Science Museum in South Kensington occupying 6th place.

Recognising their unique contribution, Government announced that cuts to resource allocations in 2015–16 for the national museums and galleries will be limited to 5%, which is a favourable outcome in challenging economic times. The Chancellor has also written to the chairs of nationally important museums and galleries setting out a package of measures that the Government will introduce to transform the way in which they can raise and spend self-generated income, further empowering them to manage their budgets and set employees’ salaries to attract expertise.

The Science Museum Group received £41.003 million grant-in-aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2012–13. Grant-in-aid accounts for approximately 60% of the Group’s total incoming resources each year. The Department trusts that, given the relative protection of the national museums in terms of public income, and the significant freedoms which will be made available to them to attract and manage their self- generated income, the Science Museum Group will take the opportunity offered to maximise income from commercial activities, including partnerships, and paying special exhibitions, across its family of museums. The Department is also working alongside the Science Museum Group to identify relevant sources of public funding and facilitate contact with Government agencies, local authorities and education. June 2013 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Written evidence submitted by the Science Museum Group SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP WRITTEN EVIDENCE TO THE CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT SELECT COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO THE FUTURE OF THE SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP Executive Summary 1. The Science Museum Group holds the world’s most important collection of scientific and engineering objects in four national museums. We attract over five million visitors every year and reach many more through our outreach work, objects loaned to other museums and our touring exhibitions. 2. Eight of the top ten visitor attractions in the UK are museums.1 They are at the heart of the UK’s tourist industry which is worth £115 billion a year, employs 2.6 million people and accounts for some 9% of the UK economy.2 3. As well as being an integral part of the UK’s cultural heritage and tourist industry, the Science Museum Group is a showcase for industry and research playing a central and trusted role in the engagement between scientists, policymakers and the public. Every year around 600,000 people visit our museums in educational groups, more than any other museum or gallery. We reach nearly 1.8 million children and a further half a million 16–24 year olds every year, and we have a strong focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and encouraging both girls and boys to take an interest in science and engineering. In this way we help inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers at a time when there is a skills shortage in this sector.3 4. At the same time as the Government has ring fenced science research and substantially increased capital investment in science,4 the Science Museum Group will experience a 25% real terms cut in grant-in aid funding over five years. The Science Museum Group is an important part of the UK science base and we believe that, given its welcome support for science and research, Government should better coordinate its spending plans across departments to ensure that its strong focus on science and technology is not undermined in the longer term. 5. Over the last five years the Science Museum Group has more than trebled its charitable income, but we rely on Government funding to open our doors safely to the public every day and preserve our collections. We welcome the Chancellor’s commitment in the Spending Round 2013 announcement to maintain free entry to our national museums. We also welcome the announcement of new operational freedoms for museums and look forward to their early implementation. 6. The Chancellor’s statement limited further reductions to national museum funding to 5% in 2015–16. However until our capital budget is confirmed, we are unable to make decisions on how we deal with these cuts. Any reduction to our capital allocation, which enables us to undertake essential maintenance and improvements to our estate, will effectively reduce our resource allocation still further. We note that DCMS’s capital settlement for 2015–16 is a reduction of more than 50% on their 2014–15 allocation.

About the Science Museum Group 7. SMG comprises the Science Museum in South Kensington; the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) in Manchester; the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York and in Shildon; and the National Media Museum (NMeM) in Bradford. Collections stores are located at Wroughton in Swindon, Blythe House in West Kensington and Brunel Avenue in Salford. 8. SMG was managed directly by Government until 1984 when the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum was established under the National Heritage Act 1983. The recruitment of Trustees takes place in accordance with the procedures defined by DCMS and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Descriptions of the roles required are advertised, interviews conducted and recommendations made to DCMS for appointment by the Prime Minister. 9. The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum is responsible for the Science Museum Group as a whole. Each Museum also has an Advisory Board chaired by a Trustee. Board of Trustees and Advisory Board members bring a range of skills and expertise and are drawn from diverse backgrounds, half the current membership are based outside London and the South East. 10. As set out in the National Heritage Act 1983 “so far as practicable…the Board shall — Care for, preserve and add to the objects in its collections; — Secure that the objects are exhibited to the public; — Secure that the objects are available to persons seeking to inspect them in connection with study or research; and — Generally promote the public’s enjoyment and understanding of science and technology and of the development of those subjects, both by means of the Board’s collections and by such other means as they consider appropriate”. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Figure 1 OUR COLLECTIONS The Science Museum has unrivalled collections recording the Industrial Revolution and one of the world’s most comprehensive and wide-ranging collections representing social, cultural and scientific aspects of medicine (on permanent loan from the Wellcome Trust). The National Media Museum’s collections encompass some of the finest and most compelling visual material to be found anywhere in the world and incorporates the National Photography, National Cinematography, National Television and National New Media Collections. Amongst these collection are three pivotal firsts— the world’s earliest known surviving negative, the earliest television footage and the camera that made the earliest moving pictures in Britain. The BBC recently gifted its collection of almost 1000 historical objects to the Museum as part of its 90th anniversary celebrations. The National Railway Museum is the largest and most important railway museum in the world. Its mission is to enable people to explore the story of railways and how they fit into that story The Museum of Science and Industry uses its preeminent collections to tell the story of where science met industry and the modern world began. This is set against the backdrop of MOSI’s five listed buildings and the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world. Inside these buildings are the textile machines, mill engines, earliest computers, and scientific equipment used by Dalton and Joule. 11. We are a group of national museums housing world class collections (figure 1) comprising over seven million artefacts. Our collections form an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical change. They are the largest, most comprehensive and most significant in their field anywhere in the world. Our public programme (figure 2) gives the visitor unique opportunities to engage with these collections.

Figure 2 OUR PUBLIC PROGRAMME The Science Museum is world renowned for its inspirational galleries and exhibitions. Construction is currently underway for Information Age, a ground breaking £16 million new gallery that will be the world’s foremost celebration of information and communication technologies. This autumn we will open Collider (an exhibition on the Large Hadron Collider developed with CERN), next year we will open Cosmonauts (on the Russian space programme) and a climate change exhibition. In 2012 the National Media Museum opened Life Online, the world’s first permanent gallery dedicated to the internet. The Museum is also home to the annual Bradford International Film Festival and regularly tours its exhibitions to other UK venues. With the Science Museum, it is working on Media Space, a project to showcase its world class photography collection. MOSI curates and produces the Manchester Science Festival. The 2012 Festival, included MOSI’s first citizen science project, Turing’s Sunflowers, that drew participants from 13 countries and generated the largest- ever data set investigating Alan Turing’s hypothesis about the mathematical patterns in nature. The Festival generated 140 pieces of media coverage reaching an audience of 136 million world-wide. In October this year NRM will mark the 75th anniversary of Mallard breaking the speed record as the fastest steam locomotive in the world, by reuniting all six surviving A4 locomotives. We are delighted that HRH The Prince of Wales has agreed to be our patron for a series of events to mark this anniversary. As a Group of Museums we can do more than we can alone. In July, Brains: the Mind as Matter will open at MOSI courtesy of the Wellcome Collection who have specially curated this version of the exhibition for MOSI. This exhibition would not otherwise have been seen outside London.

Our reach 12. We are the largest alliance of science museums in the world. More than five million visits were made to our Museums last year, over 600,000 in education groups alone, and our audience is diverse (figure 3).

Figure 3 OUR AUDIENCE Museum of National National Science Science Science & Railway Media Museum 2012–13 Museum Industry Museum Museum Group Physical visits 3,084,000 642,000 930,000 493,000 5,149,000 Visits in education groups 400,000 64,000 101,000 42,000 607,000 Visits in School groups 279,000 41,000 43,000 30,000 394,000 Number of visits by 1,078,000 249,000 276,000 146,000 1,749,000 children under 16 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Museum of National National Science Science Science & Railway Media Museum 2012–13 Museum Industry Museum Museum Group Instances of participation 741,000 222,000 451,000 132,000 1,546,000 in on-site activities Online visits 14,943,000 466,000 2,036,000 1,310,000 20,494,0005 Overseas visitors 1,141,000 40,000 51,000 8,000 1,240,000 % all UK visitors from 17.4% 6.2% 3.4% 7.5% 11.3% BAME background6 % UK education visitors 45% 22% 5.6% 20% 26% from BAME background % all UK visitors from 22.3% 50.2% 26.3% 43.5% 29.7% NS-SEC 5–87 % UK education visitors 32.8% 42.1% 41.6% 43.7% 29.8% from NS-SEC 5–8

13. Both individually, and as a Group, we are an established national partner with Government, education, science and philanthropic organisations who share our passion for inspiring young people and the wider public about science and strengthening the UK’s science base. Our partners include the Wellcome Trust, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, Teach First, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Royal Society of Chemistry, Prince’s Trust, and STEMNET. 14. We welcome the Government’s commitment to science and engineering and the recognition that investment in science and engineering skills and is essential for UK industry and future economic growth. However the UK faces a real science and engineering skills gap. A report by Engineering UK, launched at No 11 Downing Street in December 2012, highlighted the need to double the number of annual recruits into engineering by 2020 to meet projected demand.8 The Science Museum Group plays a vital role in helping to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Nearly 1.8 million under 16s and half a million 16–24 year olds visit one of our sites every year. We have a strong focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and encouraging both girls and boys to take an interest in science and engineering, for example through our High Performance festival in March 2013 which celebrated extraordinary women in science and technology. 15. The Science Museum Group plays a major part in both formal and informal UK science education (figure 4). Last year alone we reached nearly 400,000 children in school groups and delivered training to nearly 2,000 teachers. Through informal learning opportunities at our Museums and elsewhere we enable people to engage with the complexities of scientific research and we raise the level of scientific literacy in this country (figure 5). The Science Museum in particular is the public face of contemporary science research (figure 6).

Figure 4 OUR WORK WITH SCHOOLS Over five years our Talk Science education programme has delivered STEM education training to over 2,600 secondary science teachers with the potential to reach over half a million students. It has trained over 250 scientists, including Royal Society scientists, to effectively communicate their research to young people and it has developed an online education game that has reached over 300,000 people to date. In June 2013 we announced Enterprising Science with Kings and BP. This five year project brings together Talk Science with a research programme conducted by Kings College into children’s science and career aspirations in order to develop techniques that bring science to life for young people, their teachers and families both inside and outside the classroom. The Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, the Science Museum and The Prince’s Trust recently launched a scheme in which Museum outreach staff will visit Prince’s Trust xl clubs in schools across the country to inspire 13–19 year olds in STEM subjects Last year alone we delivered training to nearly 2000 teachers, and worked with 125 scientists from the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineers and Royal College of Pathology, supporting them in their science engagement work.

Figure 5 INFORMAL LEARNING AT OUR MUSEUMS Last year over 380,000 people enjoyed our free science shows at the Science Museum. The Science Museum’s monthly Wednesday Lates programme attracted over 35,000 young adults last year. At one, Zombielab, more than 5,000 came to explore the science of consciousness with the help of university researchers. The researchers are currently submitting two academic papers to science journals. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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The Great Innovation Vote, a unique partnership of Science Museum Group with the GREAT campaign, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society, Engineering UK and the British Science Association, garnered more than 50,000 votes in two weeks and stimulated a huge amount of interest on twitter (from the PM to Stephen Fry). Last year, Bradford City held its first Science Festival with the National Media Museum playing an important role. The well-established Manchester Science Festival is produced by MOSI, and delivered across Greater Manchester. Last year 85,000 took part in 252 activities hosted across 51 venues.

Figure 6 CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE RESEARCH Last year, our genetics and neuroscience gallery, Who Am I? was visited by over 1 million visitors. Fourteen research teams have taken up residency in this gallery since 2010, providing visitors with the opportunity to take part in real research. In one, Great Ormond Street Hospital took 3D face scans from 13,000 visitors to create a database for use in reconstructive surgery. 700,000 visitors went to atmosphere our gallery about contemporary climate science. This gallery was developed with help from the Met Office, the Grantham Institute at Imperial College, as well as other scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Our Antenna science news gallery is updated daily. This together with our relationship with Nature and Science academic journals ensures that our visitors have access to the very latest in science research. Content appears in our gallery reaching 750,000 visitors every year and online where it reaches 1.5 million people. 16. The Science Museum is also a trusted voice and venue for engagement between scientists, policymakers and the public and the backdrop for nationally significant moments. In January 2013 the Museum hosted Science Policy in the Real World, a discussion about the experience of being Science Minister between the current incumbent, David Willetts, and two predecessors, Lord David Sainsbury and Lord William Waldegrave. In May this year the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the UK Space Agency chose the Science Museum to announce the first British Astronaut in space for more than twenty years. This month, the Science Museum will be the venue for the Science and Technology Select Committee’s hearing into the public understanding of climate change. 17. We are rapidly increasing the reach and scale of our international work to enable us to be the leading international museum championing the understanding, enjoyment and prestige of science in modern society (see figure 7). We are also increasingly working with organisations such as the British Council and UK Trade and Industry and as part of the GREAT campaign to showcase what Britain has to offer in science and technology.

Figure 7 OVERSEAS TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT Brazil is a strong focus for the Science Museum, fulfilling the aspiration to co-operate set out in the Letter of Intent signed by the governments of Brazil and UK and the Science Museum in July 2012, in which the museum committed to help establish a new Brazilian science museum in Sao Paulo. This relationship is an opportunity to raise the profile of British companies already working in Brazil. The SMG Director also joined the Prime Minister’s delegation to Brazil in September 2012. We are currently collaborating with a range of organisations in Russia in the development of our Cosmonauts exhibition which will be a centre piece of the UK-Russia Year of culture 2014 and a foundation for broader collaboration between UK and Russia on space science. In the past year our Learning teams have worked with institutions in South Korea, Turkey, Malta and Saudi Arabia providing consultancy and training. NMeM’s summer 2012 Exhibition In the Blink of an Eye will be touring to the Polytechnical Museum in Moscow. In December 2012, NRM cemented their relationship with the Railway Museum in Saitama, Japan with the signing of a sisterhood agreement between the two museums. Our Learning teams have delivered science shows to 7,000 people in Hong Kong and Southern China as part of a British Council initiative. International Interest in our ability to engage people with complex contemporary science continues to grow— for example a delegation of MPs from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka requested a tour of atmosphere, our climate science gallery. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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18. Our national and global significance enriches what we bring to the local communities in which we are based. Our Museums are iconic parts of the places in which they are located serving local schools, drawing local visitors to programmes which resonate with and are relevant to local people (see figure 8).

Figure 8 LOCAL ENGAGEMENT In a partnership between Science Museum, NRM, MOSI, @Bristol and Catalyst we’ve been working with Year 9 students to engage them with climate science. Last year 51 schools took part, and used science journalism skills to research climate change stories in their local area, culminating in the Atmos magazine. This year 60 schools are taking part to develop and deliver climate science events to their peers. Exhibitions documenting their work are currently touring the partner museums. The Science Museum’s Building Bridges project works with schools and families from five partner London boroughs, providing them with access to scientists, research and our collections. As part of the Cultural Olympiad, the National Media Museum worked with local communities to document their experiences of moving to and living in Yorkshire. These included Polish and Roma/Gypsy communities. The resulting series of short animated films—“Fragile Stories” have been screened across Yorkshire. Nearly 60 organisations joined MOSI in creating the museum’s first Mini-Maker Faire in 2012, where individual inventors demonstrated their own innovations in robotics, music, gaming, architecture and art. From a laser harp, to a 3D printer and soldering demonstrations, to robots and giant games made from arduino boards or Raspberry Pi technology, the event encouraged visitors to interact with a wide array of items and learn how to make their own. Many of the hands-on activities were linked to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). There are plans under way to hold another Mini Maker Faire at MOSI in August 2013. In March 2013, NRM hosted the regional National Science & Engineering Week working with a range of partners including Institute of Civil Engineering and the National Science Learning Centre to engage families and schools with engineering challenges. 19. We also reach a massive digital audience. Last year traffic to our websites reached 20 million, a four million increase on the previous year. The Science Museum alone has more than a quarter of a million twitter followers. Our YouTube video of the National Media Museum’s discovery of the world’s oldest colour film has been viewed by more than 430,000 people. We have developed award winning educational computer games and, working with the University of York, the NRM has developed an App to explore its collection.

Achieving financial sustainability 20. Grant-in-Aid represents approximately 60% of the Group’s total incoming resources each year. The chart below shows our total incoming resources in 2012–13. We have developed and diversified our income streams significantly in recent years, building both commercial and charitable income to mitigate, as far as possible, year-on-year reductions in public funding.

Figure 9 TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 2012–13 (MILLIONS) cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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21. Our operating expenditure is relatively fixed because of our statutory obligations to maintain and secure our collections and ensure they are available to the public, both now and for future generations. 22. We manage substantial estates across five museum sites, which include grade 1 listed buildings, in addition to our two storage sites at Wroughton and Blythe House. In order to open our doors safely to the public every day and preserve our collections, we have to maintain our estates. We also have to provide security and visitor services to ensure our public and our collections are kept safe. Maintaining this level of infrastructure carries unavoidable back office costs, which, together with the direct costs of storage, estates, security and visitor services mean that our fixed costs represent around 70% of our total operating costs. 23. Cuts in our funding therefore tend to have a disproportionate impact on our public offer, as it is only our exhibitions, programming and educational activities that are truly discretionary. They are also the activities that are of greatest appeal to our sponsors and funders. These activities are broadly represented by the section of the pie chart below entitled “science education and communication”.

Figure 10 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 2012–13 (MILLIONS)

24. As a group of museums, a proportion of our fixed costs are services which are delivered on a group- wide basis. This includes estates management, and back office functions such as finance, HR and ICT, an operating structure which makes it difficult for us to fully disaggregate our budgets by museum. Expenditure in relation to each Museum is, however, broadly commensurate with the level of visitor numbers. The Science Museum in London accounts for about 60% of visits, the NRM in York and Shildon 18%, MOSI in Manchester 12% and NMeM in Bradford 10%. Grant-in-Aid for 2013–14 broken down in proportion to visitor numbers is as follows: Science Museum £23.8 million; NRM £7.1 million; NMeM £4.0 million; MOSI £4.8 million. 25. In real terms, the cuts we have experienced since 2010–11 represent a real terms reduction of 25% in our total Grant-in-Aid over five years. In 2010–11 our original total Grant in Aid settlement (resource and capital) as announced in the 2007 CSR was £46.5 million.9 In 2014–15 the total Grant in Aid settlement for the Group as a whole10 will be £39.3 million. This is a cash reduction of £7.2 million. Figure 11 shows our Grant in Aid settlement compared with what we would have received with an inflation-only increase each year. The cumulative impact is equivalent to £11.5 million or 25% of the original total settlement in 2010–11.11

Figure 11 REDUCTIONS IN GRANT-IN-AID SINCE 2010–11 Grant-in Aid Cumulative Inflation-only Cumulative real- (£000) Resource Capital Total cash cut increase terms cut 2010–11 original 41,000 5,510 46,510 46,510 2010–11 revised 40,570 4,510 45,080 1,430 46,510 1,430 2011–12 39,296 2,284 41,580 4,930 47,501 6,550 2012–13 38,618 2,385 41,003 5,507 48,688 7,810 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Grant-in Aid Cumulative Inflation-only Cumulative real- (£000) Resource Capital Total cash cut increase terms cut 2013–14 37,199 2,486 39,685 6,825 49,662 10,102 2014–15 36,716 2,587 39,303 7,207 50,655 11,477

26. Any further cuts imposed by the spending review for 2015–16 will therefore come on top of an already significant reduction in our public funding. Figure 12 below shows the cumulative impact of the cuts to date for the group as a whole (including MOSI throughout for comparative purposes).

Figure 12 CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF GRANT-IN-AID CUTS TO DATE (£000)

27. To manage the impact of this real terms 25% cut, we have implemented a range of efficiency measures across the Group and we have actively increased our income from a range of sources. 28. The efficiency savings we have made over this period include procurement efficiencies, storage rationalisation, sharing services (most notably through the out-sourcing of security services through a joint contract with NHM and V&A worth in aggregate c. £8 million per year over five years) and a change programme which has resulted in a reduction of 8% in headcount through redundancies since April 2011 and a further 10% of staff redeployed to different roles. These measures, together with significant increases in the level of our self-generated income, have enabled us to balance our budgets, despite the growing cost of utilities (our budget for utilities in 2013–14 is 35% higher than 2012–13). 29. During this period of financial restraint, we have brought another museum into our group structure and begun to invest in areas of historic under-funding; we have fundamentally re-shaped our senior management team in order to deliver to an ambitious and far-sighted strategic agenda; we have undertaken a major master- planning exercise and we will, this year, not only open a major new gallery in Media Space but also launch the first in a series of world-class ground-breaking exhibitions with Collider. 30. Despite the success of the efficiency measures undertaken to date, it is hard to see how our museums can continue to maintain business as usual with further funding cuts. The level of additional cuts being advanced in the spending review represent a tipping point, at which we need to reduce activity and deliverables to create a sustainable cost base. Whilst continuing to build self-generated income over the medium term will form a central part of our financial strategy, we cannot plan with any certainty on increasing income to meet the immediate shortfall we will experience with further funding cuts. 31. We regularly discuss our financial position with DCMS and have also been actively discussing the financial challenges we face with our partners in Bradford (see Appendix 1). Our 2015–16 Spending Review submission to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport set out the actions we would need to take to withstand additional cuts of 10% to Grant-in-Aid. These are cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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— Implement a charge for school groups visiting our museums. This would reduce the number of school groups able to visit and compromise our ability to raise corporate support for our learning programme. — Cut interpretation in our museums. We are sector-leading in our approach to interpreting our collections and engaging the public in science. Further cuts would necessitate a fundamental restructure of interpretation services in our museums. — Reduce our exhibition and contemporary science programmes. Future exhibitions already in development would have to be abandoned and we would reduce our thriving contemporary science agenda. — Implement a site closure. 32. Our Grant-in Aid includes a capital grant which has fallen from over £4.5 million in 2010–11 to £2.6 million in 2014–15. This grant is critical to enabling us to perform essential capital works: to replace lifts, refurbish and restore roofs, replace damaged flooring and to ensure we are able to safely open the doors of our museums. The extensive site at MOSI includes grade I listed buildings of great historic significance and is in need of substantial investment. The merger with MOSI has resulted in additional capital Grant-in-Aid of just £208k each year towards the upkeep of this estate. 33. To realise our longer term plans for new gallery and building developments requires capital investment of a different magnitude. Our recent success in funding both Media Space and Information Age demonstrate that we are able to raise significant amounts of capital investment from the corporate sector. However, it is vital that we are able to invest up-front in these high profile projects and we have to be able to commit capital funding of our own to approach potential donors with credibility. 34. Our charitable income has more than trebled over the past five years from £3.1 million in 2008–09 to £9.8 million in 2012–13. Funders have confidence in our ambitions and want to be part of our future. We continue to enjoy support from our long standing supporters such as Wellcome Trust, BP, Shell, Accenture, Bank of America, Wolfson Foundation and more recently, we have attracted new organisations to invest in our future: Google, BT, Sony, Fidelity UK Foundation, ARM Holdings, Virgin Media, BG Group and Hyundai. 35. Recent examples of the charitable income we have raised include: — £4.8 million towards the Science Museum atmosphere gallery. — £11.6 million towards Information Age at the Science Museum. — £2.1 million to support delivery of Media Space. — £430,000 for the refurbishment of Station Hall at NRM. 36. We, like other cultural institutions, find fundraising in London more lucrative compared to fundraising at our other museums. Over the last three years we have raised five times as much for the Science Museum than for our other sites combined. 37. Over the last three years we have developed strategies to grow our unrestricted income and have seen an increase from £1.58 million in 2011–12 to £2.35 million in 2012–13. This includes corporate membership at all sites, which has seen an income growth of 116% over the past two years. Our Patron programmes at the Science Museum and National Railway Museum have seen a 106% uplift in membership numbers from 2011–12 to 2012–13. 38. Our engagement with donors at all levels has dramatically increased with significant growth in income from our visitors. Three years ago we introduced a proactive visitor giving scheme, and we have seen income grow over this period from £100,000 to £1.6 million. This equates to a 32p donation per head average across all our Museums in 2012–13. 39. We are planning to continue to invest further in our development team to enable us to generate more charitable and sponsorship income. This includes a greater focus on individual philanthropic giving, further building our corporate fundraising activity and working to develop international fundraising streams. 40. Our commercial activities currently bring in £16.3m per annum from on-site and off-site operations. £6.8 million comes from our retail and catering operations, £5.7 million from our on-site interactives, including our IMAX cinemas and simulators, £2.9 million from corporate hire and £0.9 million from our licensing and picture library. Our profits are gift-aided back to the museum which in the prior financial year, excluding sponsorship, totalled £2.9 million 41. We have plans in place to deliver growth in profit from our commercial activities with a target of £1 million growth in the bottom line over the next two financial years. In particular we will be investing in creating additional dedicated corporate hire facilities as this is an area of significant potential interest. 42. We are actively exploring options with a number of commercial cinema operators with a view to forming a partnership that will deliver a better and more cost effective cinema offer for Bradford from the NMeM. To- date these conversations have been very positive and we are confident that we will have a viable agreement in place before the end of this financial year. June 2013 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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APPENDIX 1 TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS This is not intended to be comprehensive 5 December 2012 Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement. Cuts of 1% in 2013–14 and 2% in 2014–15 announced. 20 March 2013 Budget statement. Further cuts of 1% in 2013–14 and 1% in 2014–15 announced. Timetable for SR 2015–16 with likelihood of 10% budget reductions also announced. 8 April 2013 DCMS outlines timetable for SR 2015–16 and emphasises severity of cuts in meeting with ALBs. 11 April 2013 SR 2015–16 commissioning letter issued. SMG requested to model the impact of cuts at 5%, 10% and 15% for return by 18 April 2013. 18 April 2013 SMG submit Spending Review submission to Culture Secretary. 23 April 2013 SMG Director meets Culture Minister to discuss National Media Museum. May and June 2013 On-going dialogue between SMG, Bradford, York and Manchester Councils. 3 June 2013 Mirror runs story about threat of NMeM closure 5 June 2013 SMG Director speaks at Science Media Centre Press Briefing 17 Jun 2013 Culture Minister meets Bradford MPs and SMG Director. Select Committee Inquiry confirmed. 26 June 2012 Chancellor of the Exchequer’s SR 2013 Announcement limits reductions to funding to 5%, maintains the Government’s commitment to free entry and announces pilot of operational freedoms. There is no indication given of SMG’s capital settlement.

End Notes 1 Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, 2012 Visitor Figures 2 Visit Britain 3 Engineering UK, The state of engineering 2013 4 Spending Round 2013, HM-Treasury 5 Includes pan-SMG websites 6 MOSI and NRM figures are partly based on estimates 7 National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification. MOSI and NRM figures are partly based on estimates 8 Engineering UK, The state of engineering 2013 9 Includes SMG (£41.6 million) and MOSI (£4.9 million) for comparative purposes 10 This excludes the National Coal Mining Museum, for which Grant in Aid has been received by the Science Museum Group since 2012–13. 11 Inflationary increase has been calculated using the GDP deflator at 2.13% for 2011–12; 2.5% for 2012–13 and 2% for subsequent years cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Written evidence submitted by Mark Charnley I live in Eccles, Salford which is an area enclosed by the Bridgewater Canal, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and the Manchester Ship Canal. All three of these great industrial monuments are within ten minutes walk of my home. It could be argued that I live at the centre of the birth of the Industrial Revolution. I mention this because the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester showcases these great achievements that had such a great impact on the whole world. Indeed part of the museum is the original terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. Across the road from the museum is the Castlefield Basin which is the terminus of the Bridgewater Canal. This museum is not only important to the people of Manchester but also to people from all over the world. I have met many people from all over the world who have learnt about the Industrial Revolution at school and in later years have visited Manchester and Salford to be at its heart. Surely these are important reasons that the museum should be retained and open to all, so that our heritage is on show to highlight the great achievements of our nation. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by Provident plc Summary 1. Provident Financial is one of the largest private sector employers in Bradford. More than 900 of our staff are based in our company headquarters, which is close to the National Media Museum in the city centre. Our principal interest in retaining the Media Museum within the city stems from our need to recruit and retain staff. Our staff use Bradford’s city centre amenities on a daily basis. In addition, thee educational and leisure opportunities the Media Museum offers will have been experienced by many of them who were educated in Bradford or who now live in the area. 2. Looking beyond our own interests as an organisation we can also endorse the value of the museum to the Bradford district as a whole. It is not just an attractive local asset but an important component to be retained if Bradford’s city centre is to be successfully regenerated. It deservedly can be described as a beacon which identifies Bradford nationally and internationally. With continued investment it can be part of Bradford’s ongoing efforts to secure inward investment and a key resource for the development of technical and communication skills in the district’s current and future generations. Given that high value manufacturing and media and communications have been identified as sectors of the UK economy it would be desirable to grow, the contribution the museum has and could continue to make in this regard is worth retaining.

Provident Financial 3. Established in Bradford in 1880, Provident Financial is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of personal credit products to the non-standard lending market. We serve over 2.7 million customers through a network of over 400 branches, administrative offices, call centres and web sites. More than 900 of our staff are based in our corporate headquarters in Bradford city centre.

PFG’s Perspective on the Contribution of the National Media Museum to the Bradford Economy 4. Provident was founded in Bradford in 1880. Around five years ago, when the company decided it needed new premises to handle both its current operations and to allow for future growth, it had to consider where its headquarters should be located. The company assessed sites outside the Bradford district but the final decision was to remain within the city. Thus approximately three years ago the company headquarters were relocated from premises in a historically industrial location on the edge of the city centre to new, purpose-built premises in the centre of the city facing an urban park, City Park. (The National Media Museum sits at the other end of a semi circle of buildings which also overlook City Park.) 5. An important element of Provident’s decision to relocate to the city centre was the city council’s ongoing plan for redevelopment of the city centre. This included the creation of a contemporary urban park fringed by restaurants, shops and galleries. We were persuaded that when completed, this overall package of regeneration would offer a more attractive external environment and range of amenities to current employees, potential new employees and visitors. 6. The now completed City Park is a large plaza in front of the town hall whose use can alternate between a modern, paved amenity including a substantial water feature and a venue for outdoor events such as markets, festivals and concerts. Part of the attraction for Provident relocating to a site which overlooks the park is the attractive open, outdoor facility it offers. The council’s aspiration was that over time additional businesses would be attracted to the possibilities offered by locating proximate to City Park. Such relocations would both boost occupancy rates of property and employment in the city centre. Indeed Provident has increased its employee head count from 685 to 933 since moving to its current city centre location. cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [O] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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7. However City Park was not intended to be the sole component of Bradford’s city centre regeneration, rather it was anticipated that it would contribute to an overall package of city centre amenities. As sustainable solutions continue to be pursued for proximate city centre landmarks such as the Odeon cinema complex and the proposed Westfield retail development, the importance of retaining ongoing visitor and educational attractions such as the National Media Museum has become greater. 8. As a long-established Bradford business with a strong track record on corporate responsibility, Provident Financial has a spectrum of relationships with other stakeholders in the district such as the Council, the local voluntary sector, schools and local businesses within our supply chain. Thus we are aware of the broad-based challenges the district faces and the importance of retaining ‘landmark’ amenities such as the National Media Museum within it. 9. In addition to the Museum’s obvious educational and recreational value it also serves as a positive identifying characteristic of the city. Thus it is a single but vitally important part of the critical mass which Bradford needs to retain and develop if the district is to be viewed as a location of choice for employers and employees. The museum is a nationally and internationally recognised institution and at the heart of the city’s status as the first UNESCO City of Film. Such tangible attributes are an exceptionally useful identifier for those seeking to secure inward investment to the city. 10. Provident urges the Committee to use its influence to support the retention of the National Media Museum in Bradford as a key component underpinning the commercial and cultural well-being of the city. June 2013

Written evidence submitted by the Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is pleased to respond to the Committee’s inquiry into the future of the Science Museum Group (SMG). The Science Museum and its subsidiaries have an enormously important role as national institutions to inspire, educate and engage visitors about science. The Wellcome Trust has awarded nearly £25 million to the Science Museum over the last 30 years, including £17.8 million for the development of the Wellcome Wing in 2000 and, more recently, £2.5 million for the renewal of the “Who am I?” biomedical galleries. We are also currently collaborating with the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) which will display the Wellcome Collection’s contemporary science exhibition, “Brains: The Mind as Matter” from July 2013, for the first time outside London. There are two reasons why the SMG is important for the UK. First, science museums, and the SMG, have a vital role in informal science learning. Even when in full-time education, young people spend under 20% of their waking hours in school. There is immense scope for using the out-of-classroom time to improve learning in science. In 2012, the Wellcome Trust commissioned research into the nature and impact of informal science learning, from Stanford University and GHK consulting. The review noted the importance of science museums for stimulating interest in science, building learners’ knowledge and skills as well as their appreciation of the social, cultural and historical contexts of science. The rich, multifaceted nature of museums broadens participants’ knowledge and understanding more widely, enabling young people to develop their communication skills and nurture their creativity. Specific evidence about the value of museums to learning includes: — A study of 762 secondary school pupils visiting museums found that 60% of pupils achieved higher marks in a post-visit assessed piece of work compared to three pieces of assessed work they had completed prior to the visit.18 — The PISA 2006 study shows that extracurricular activities relate to better performance, enjoyment and more positive attitudes to science. Schooling and childhood experiences contribute 17% of the variance in adults’ science knowledge; adult informal learning experiences contribute 39%.19 Exposure to informal science learning opportunities available in museums can encourage and inspire young people to consider studying science at university. This is particularly important to deliver the next generation of scientists, which will be crucial for the UK’s economic recovery. The Social Market Foundation currently suggests there is a shortfall of 40,000 STEM graduates each year. Science museums have a particularly important role for children from deprived backgrounds. Researchers have demonstrated that there is a “summer learning gap”: while learning gains during the school academic year were comparable for low and high socioeconomic status students, approximately two-thirds of the difference in learning between these groups could be attributed to the learning experiences over the summer months.20 18 Watson, Dodd and Jones 2007, quoted in Hooper-Greenhill et al (2008), The Impact of Science and Discovery Centres: A Review of Worldwide Studies 19 Falk, J H, and M, Needham, Factors contributing to adult knowledge of science and technology. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2012 (in press) 20 Alexander KL et ai, American Sociological Review (2007) 72:167–80; Downey DB et ai, American Sociological Review (2004) 69(5): 613–35 cobber Pack: U PL: CWE1 [E] Processed: [30-01-2014 10:08] Job: 035034 Unit: PG02

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Greater use of learning opportunities in informal settings such as science museums and centres could help to make up this deficit. However, this will only be achieved if freely available access to science museums is maintained. The pressure of funding reductions has recently raised questions about freely available access to science museums and the SMG has talked openly about the threat of closures. We were extremely pleased to see that the Spending Round announcement limited the reductions to national museum funding to 5%, while maintaining the Government’s commitment to free entry. We will watch with interest the detail of the allocation for the Science Museum and the SMG. The second key role of the Science Museum is to be the nation’s flagship public science institution. As such, it is important that the quality and content of the Science Museum’s galleries and exhibitions are commensurate with the quality of the UK’s outstanding scientific output. For UK and overseas visitors, the Science Museum is the lens through which they see the UK’s overall place in science. Although there are many excellent galleries, some of them clearly need major up-grading and investment. In order to fulfil its dual role as a place of informal learning and as a UK flagship, the Science Museum must have sustainable and flexible funding to allow it to plan strategically, to maintain and upgrade existing displays to a consistently high standard, and to continue to deliver its highly effective programme of educational services and visitor activities. The Science Museum has successfully built partnerships with a wide range of funders and sponsors and it must continue to have the freedom to operate commercially to develop a sustainable business model for the long-term. We therefore welcome the Government’s announcement to pilot new operational freedoms to help museums take independent decisions and build self-generated income. Given the importance of the SMG, both for informal learning and to inspire the public about science, it is essential that it has a strong champion within Government. Responsibility for the SMG currently rests with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), but it will be important to marshal support from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education, which both have clear interests in the SMG’s work. We are concerned that opportunities to support informal science learning are not given enough priority because of the lack of a coordinated approach within Government. We would be happy to discuss these issues further with the Committee. July 2013

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