Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ability of museums and galleries that receive public funding to make art from their display collections, but which is in storage, more widely available.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Strategic Review of DCMS-sponsored museums published in November estimates that there are 99 million objects in the collections of the museums and galleries funded directly by DCMS. The Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England published in November also cited research suggesting that there are 200 million objects in museum collections across England and Wales, although not all of these museums are in receipt of public funding. DCMS does not hold breakdowns of these figures, including distinguishing between art and other types of holdings.
It is not possible to provide a static figure on collections held in storage, which varies according to the programmed exhibitions and per institution. In some museums a relatively small amount of the collection is on permanent display but is accessible for research or in open stores available on request. For example, the V&A estimates that 25% of the collection is on display at any one time, whereas the National Gallery has approximately 60% on display, with 100% available online.
The UK’s public collections, both art and wider collections, are held on the basis of their cultural rather than financial value. Whilst values are sometimes sought for objects to support specific collections management purposes (e.g. acquisitions or loans) there is no requirement on museums to value their collections in totality.
Through the work that they do, the national museums are committed to ensuring as many people as possible across the country have access to their collections. There are many examples of best practice, including long-term loans to historic houses, skill-sharing programmes, some Subject Specialist Networks, and spotlight loans and partnership galleries - the V&A, for example, has over 1,700 items out on long term loan to partnership organisations and for them, the opening last autumn of the V&A Shenzhen, and this coming autumn of V&A Dundee, are further examples of their reach including on a global scale. Many others have partnerships with other organisations across the globe, including for touring their exhibitions.
The Mendoza Review of Museums in England today, published in November, found that this work is not always understood and could be extended further. It recommended that the work done on this front should be more strategic. Supported by DCMS, the nationals will, through the National Museums Directors’ Council (NMDC), work ACE and HLF in building a new ‘partnership framework’ to extend their reach throughout England in a more strategic way. This will look at museum and audience need and will cover areas that include: collections management, learning, working with audiences, digital, international, and commercial. This partnership framework will be in place by September.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the net asset value of the art which is in storage at any time in museums and galleries that receive public funding.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Strategic Review of DCMS-sponsored museums published in November estimates that there are 99 million objects in the collections of the museums and galleries funded directly by DCMS. The Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England published in November also cited research suggesting that there are 200 million objects in museum collections across England and Wales, although not all of these museums are in receipt of public funding. DCMS does not hold breakdowns of these figures, including distinguishing between art and other types of holdings.
It is not possible to provide a static figure on collections held in storage, which varies according to the programmed exhibitions and per institution. In some museums a relatively small amount of the collection is on permanent display but is accessible for research or in open stores available on request. For example, the V&A estimates that 25% of the collection is on display at any one time, whereas the National Gallery has approximately 60% on display, with 100% available online.
The UK’s public collections, both art and wider collections, are held on the basis of their cultural rather than financial value. Whilst values are sometimes sought for objects to support specific collections management purposes (e.g. acquisitions or loans) there is no requirement on museums to value their collections in totality.
Through the work that they do, the national museums are committed to ensuring as many people as possible across the country have access to their collections. There are many examples of best practice, including long-term loans to historic houses, skill-sharing programmes, some Subject Specialist Networks, and spotlight loans and partnership galleries - the V&A, for example, has over 1,700 items out on long term loan to partnership organisations and for them, the opening last autumn of the V&A Shenzhen, and this coming autumn of V&A Dundee, are further examples of their reach including on a global scale. Many others have partnerships with other organisations across the globe, including for touring their exhibitions.
The Mendoza Review of Museums in England today, published in November, found that this work is not always understood and could be extended further. It recommended that the work done on this front should be more strategic. Supported by DCMS, the nationals will, through the National Museums Directors’ Council (NMDC), work ACE and HLF in building a new ‘partnership framework’ to extend their reach throughout England in a more strategic way. This will look at museum and audience need and will cover areas that include: collections management, learning, working with audiences, digital, international, and commercial. This partnership framework will be in place by September.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of art which is in storage at any time in museums and galleries that receive public funding in England.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Strategic Review of DCMS-sponsored museums published in November estimates that there are 99 million objects in the collections of the museums and galleries funded directly by DCMS. The Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England published in November also cited research suggesting that there are 200 million objects in museum collections across England and Wales, although not all of these museums are in receipt of public funding. DCMS does not hold breakdowns of these figures, including distinguishing between art and other types of holdings.
It is not possible to provide a static figure on collections held in storage, which varies according to the programmed exhibitions and per institution. In some museums a relatively small amount of the collection is on permanent display but is accessible for research or in open stores available on request. For example, the V&A estimates that 25% of the collection is on display at any one time, whereas the National Gallery has approximately 60% on display, with 100% available online.
The UK’s public collections, both art and wider collections, are held on the basis of their cultural rather than financial value. Whilst values are sometimes sought for objects to support specific collections management purposes (e.g. acquisitions or loans) there is no requirement on museums to value their collections in totality.
Through the work that they do, the national museums are committed to ensuring as many people as possible across the country have access to their collections. There are many examples of best practice, including long-term loans to historic houses, skill-sharing programmes, some Subject Specialist Networks, and spotlight loans and partnership galleries - the V&A, for example, has over 1,700 items out on long term loan to partnership organisations and for them, the opening last autumn of the V&A Shenzhen, and this coming autumn of V&A Dundee, are further examples of their reach including on a global scale. Many others have partnerships with other organisations across the globe, including for touring their exhibitions.
The Mendoza Review of Museums in England today, published in November, found that this work is not always understood and could be extended further. It recommended that the work done on this front should be more strategic. Supported by DCMS, the nationals will, through the National Museums Directors’ Council (NMDC), work ACE and HLF in building a new ‘partnership framework’ to extend their reach throughout England in a more strategic way. This will look at museum and audience need and will cover areas that include: collections management, learning, working with audiences, digital, international, and commercial. This partnership framework will be in place by September.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of Historic England's announcement that it now lists 512 conservation areas in its Heritage at Risk Register.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The findings of the 2017 Heritage at Risk survey indicate that, since figures were first collated in 2010, the number of the 8000+ conservation areas in England considered to be ‘at risk’ has declined from 549 to 512. Historic England is looking to build on these improvements by working with local authorities and other partners to target grant aid through its Partnership Scheme in Conservation Areas programme, and by investing in ten Heritage Action Zones. The Heritage Lottery Fund is also continuing to invest in the enhancement of conservation areas through its Townscape Heritage grant scheme.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the ten charities in England and Wales to which they provide the greatest amounts of funding; and what was the amount paid to each of those charities in the last financial year.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
DCMS does not hold this information centrally. Government puts transparency and accountability to the public at the heart of how we do business and publishing data is key to this so, working with users across government, Cabinet Office Grants Function has designed and built the Government Grants Information System (GGIS). This records and reports grants data across government departments in a simple, standardised and scalable way. This system is new and our aim is for it to be an essential tool helping departments manage grants in an efficient and effective way.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of standards of corporate governance in charities in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Government recognises that high quality governance is central to an effective and sustainable voluntary sector.
To obtain a clear picture of the current state of sector governance, government is working with the Charity Commission, as well as a partnership of sector representatives, to carry out research. This will help in identifying strengths as well as areas for improvement. The findings of this research will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the amount that they pay annually to charities in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Government recognises that high quality governance is central to an effective and sustainable voluntary sector.
To obtain a clear picture of the current state of sector governance, government is working with the Charity Commission, as well as a partnership of sector representatives, to carry out research. This will help in identifying strengths as well as areas for improvement. The findings of this research will be published shortly.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of progress in the attempt to gain UNESCO World Heritage status for the Lake District.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Lake District’s bid for World Heritage Site status is now in the advanced stages. The evaluation mission to the site took place in October 2016, with HMG in attendance, and the expert evaluators are currently compiling their report. DCMS has provided further information to assist with this, and will continue to do so as requested. The final decision will be taken by the World Heritage Committee in July 2017.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the current levels of, and recent increases in, the total remuneration paid to the executive heads of the major charities in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Charity trustees, almost all of whom are unpaid, set levels of executive remuneration and must do so acting in the best interests of the charity. A 2014 study by The National Council for Voluntary Organisations found that senior executives in charities were generally paid substantially less than for similar roles in the public or private sectors. Charities are legally required to provide details of the number of staff in pay bands over £60,000 in their publicly available annual reports, and many charities go further in their accountability and publish full details as a matter of good practice.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 30 July (HL1682), what assessment they have made of the rate of progress in improving superfast broadband provision in Devon and Somerset; and what is their assessment of the impact of that progress on regional economic performance.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
By the end of the Connecting Devon and Somerset Phase 1 project (December 2016) over 277,000 additional homes and businesses will have access to superfast broadband. As of 30 June 2015, 121,343 premises had gained access to superfast broadband due to this public investment.
Connecting Devon and Somerset have signed a contract with Airband under their Phase 2 contract to extend superfast coverage to an additional 4,794 premises across Exmoor and Dartmoor. Roll-out to these premises will start in February 2016 and is to be completed by November 2016. Assuming completion of the announced commercial coverage, a further 106,725 premises in Devon and Somerset would remain without superfast coverage.
The economic impact of superfast broadband coverage is assessed in the study published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in November 2013 at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-broadband-impact-study--2