APPENDIX 13
Memorandum submitted by the Tate
FREE ADMISSION
THE GALLERY'S
SUPPORT FOR
FREE ADMISSION
The Tate firmly supports the policy of free
admission.
Charging would erect barriers (physical and
psychological as well as financial) to access to the Gallery's
collection, which is best appreciated through frequent repeat
visits. The benefits to society of access without such barriers
outweigh the benefits that the extra income would bring: more
people, and from a wider range of social groups, are attracted
to the Gallery, and the quality of the experience when here is
higher. Whatever the strength of such arguments for different
kinds of museums, they apply with particular strength to Tate's
collection like that of the Gallery.
It is clear that charging would dramatically
reduce the number of visits, but less clear what the net effect
on the Gallery's finances would be. Our best guess has been that
it would be likely to bring modest financial gains, but it is
important not to overestimate the effect on Tate's economic structure.
In this context it should be noted that Tate currently raises
one of the highest proportions of self-generated income of the
National Museums and Galleries sector, whether compared to previously
charging institutions or not as a result of a relatively high
secondary spend.
Some donors would not have supported the Tate
had charges been in force. For example, the prospect of free admission
to Tate Modern was an important consideration in the Millennium
Commission's decision to award a £50 million grant towards
development costs. In any case, subsidy would still be necessary,
as in comparable institutions worldwide, whether in the form of
direct subvention or indirect support through fiscal incentives.
EFFECT OF
FREE ADMISSION
AT OTHER
NMGS ON
NG VISIT NUMBERS
Visit numbers reflect a wide range of factors:
the nature of our programme, facilities and services; global,
national, and local factors beyond our control (for instance the
quality of transport into and around central London, other factors
affecting tourism, and economic developments); and the impact
of other visitor attractions in the area.
Given this wide range of factors, estimates
of the scale of the effect on our visit numbers of free admission
in other national museums and galleries can only be speculative.
We have estimated that the effect in 2002 may have been to reduce
our numbers by about 10 per cent in London. That would be equivalent
to something around 400,000 visits.
The Tate runs an annual programme of visitor
research which examines the demographic composition of visitors.
To date, it is too early to draw firm conclusions from this research
regarding the impact of extending free admission.
FINANCIAL EFFECTS
OF REDUCED
VISIT NUMBERS
The extra costs of each marginal visitor are
very low (because the bulk of our costs arise from housing and
displaying the Collection safely and well for the public, however
many visit). On the other hand, the average contribution from
each visitor is about £2, subject to being able to do so
within capacity constraints. We therefore estimate that the financial
effect of free admission in other national museums and galleries
has been a reduction in our net income of about £800,000,
compared to what would otherwise have been achieved. However,
there is a significant financial cost in dealing with markedly
higher levels of attendance as a result, for example, of increased
building maintenance costs, security and depreciation incurred
as a result of the extraordinary public success of Tate Modern.
The grant allocated to Tate Modern does not take account of the
net costs of serving 50 per cent more visitors than originally
targeted.
The twin effect of reduced income at the margins
combined with higher core costs requires us to make unwelcome
savings to balance our budget. We hope that the DCMS grant allocations
due to be announced soon will enable us to continue to offer a
wide range of public programmes to our public.
21 October 2002
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