Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that the work of the National Army Museum is accessible to communities in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

I will answer the hon. Member's Question on behalf of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport as the National Army Museum (NAM) which is located in Chelsea, London is sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. The NAM works tirelessly to ensure the stories of soldiers and their service in the British Army throughout the centuries, here and around the world, are accessible to all, including the communities in Newcastle-under Lyme and Staffordshire.

To ensure the story of the British Army is accessible to as many as possible, the entry to and exhibits within the museum are free. It also has a large variety of free digital resources from dedicated pages for different Regiments on its website including those with Staffordshire connections, social media channels which communicate stories and research to global audiences and extensive online collections of information, objects, archives, and artwork in which work is being conducted for it to be further expanded.

The NAM also provides support to a network of Regimental and Corps museums around the country, including the Staffordshire Regiment Museum in Lichfield.