Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to increase the numbers of visits to museums and galleries outside London.

The Government is committed to ensuring that arts and cultural experiences like museums and galleries benefit everyone and not just the privileged few.

Our Culture White Paper set out Government’s expectation that all cultural organisations in receipt of public money should reach out to everyone regardless of background, education or geography. Earlier this month Arts Council England announced the ambition to achieve a 4% uplift in the proportion of the budget spent outside London in their 2018-22 investment.

Already this year National Museums Liverpool has seen an 7% increase in the number of visits compared to this time last year. In the coming months DCMS aims to pilot different schemes to increase visitors to museums outside London and expand the ones that work, such as the Cultural Citizens pilot with Kids in Museums in Birmingham. The Museums Review will look at evidence and make further recommendations on widening participation.