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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the eligibility of the Museum Renewal Fund to include independent museums.

The Museum Renewal Fund is an urgent intervention this financial year to provide time-limited support for museums with a local authority link. The Fund, delivered by Arts Council England, provided targeted support for museums and focused on supporting the financial resilience of museums caring predominantly for publicly-owned Collections, responding to a clear ask by the entire museums sector. It is now closed to applicants and the 75 recipients were announced in October 2025.

DCMS provides a range of support for ACE-Accredited museums of all types, through Capital funds including the Museum Estate and Development Fund and the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund, and tax incentives like the Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief, and Museum VAT Refund Scheme.