The inquiry
8. On 25 July we announced a short inquiry into museum
funding in the light of the Government's initiative to secure
free admission for all to the core collections of those museums
and galleries sponsored by the Department of Culture, Media and
Sport. We selected the British Museum, which has never charged
for admissions, and the Natural History Museum, which charged
between 1987 and 2001, as candidates for closer study.[4]
9. We received written submissions from: the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport; a large proportion of the Department's
sponsored museums and galleries; the National Football Museum,
Preston, the Macclesfield Museums Trust and the Norfolk Museums
and Archaeology Service. We also received evidence from the Museums
Association; the National Art Collections Fund; two unions representing
a large number of museum staff, Prospect and the Public and Commercial
Services Union (PCS); the English Tourism Council; and Re:source
(the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries).[5]
10. We took oral evidence on 23 October 2002 from
the directors of the British Museum and the Natural History Museum,
and representatives of their respective senior management teams,
and, on the same day, from the Secretary of State for Culture
Media and Sport, Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, the Minister for the
Arts, Rt Hon Baroness Blackstone and Mr Richard Hartman, Head
of Museums and Libraries Sponsoring Unit, DCMS. We were pleased
that the Department succeeded in announcing the funding allocations
for the sponsored museums and galleries in advance of this evidence
session, thereby ending some of the uncertainty surrounding the
subject we were attempting to discuss. We were a little disappointed
that the Department chose the day before the evidence session
to announce these figures and did so without warning the Committee.[6]
11. We also visited both of our exemplar museums
following the evidence session to see the collections and behind
the scenes, and to have informal discussions. We would like to
thank all our witnesses for the evidence that they submitted,
and for the work involved, and to both our hosts for excellent
tours and kind hospitality.
4 
