Future of the Science Museum Group

Written evidence submitted by John Howat [SMG 002]

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