Jan. 22 2024
Source Page: Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums steering group recommendations: Scottish Government ResponseFound: Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums steering group recommendations: Scottish Government Response
Mar. 25 2024
Source Page: Draft regulations: amendments to the VAT (Refund of Tax to Museums and Galleries) Order 2001Found: Draft regulations: amendments to the VAT (Refund of Tax to Museums and Galleries) Order 2001
Nov. 29 2023
Source Page: Trustee reappointed to Royal Museums GreenwichFound: Trustee reappointed to Royal Museums Greenwich
Nov. 29 2023
Source Page: Trustee reappointed to Royal Museums GreenwichFound: Trustee reappointed to Royal Museums Greenwich
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that important items from national collections are shared with museums and galleries around the country.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Museums with national collections have a long history of loaning objects from their collection and touring exhibitions across the country. The 15 museums and museum groups directly sponsored by DCMS report annually on their UK loans and regional engagement, encouraging strategic dialogue between national collections to lend and foster collaborations, with data from 2022/23 showing that over 1,100 UK venues received loans. Non-national museums are also supported to borrow, through public funding, via Arts Council England, to organisations like the Touring Exhibition Group.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to tackle the practice of museums marginally editing non-copyrighted media in order to charge people to use that media.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Museums operate independently from the Government, and are responsible for managing their own commercial activities, which can include maintaining databases of images and other media. It is for museums to determine appropriate terms and conditions, in accordance with their internal policies.
Depending on their operating models, different museums will adopt differing approaches to monetising their spaces and collections to reinvest in their public programmes, expanding their reach and impact.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce a code of conduct to ensure that the remuneration provided to artists engaged by UK National Museums and Galleries meets or exceeds the national minimum living wage.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Creative and cultural practitioners are vital to the work of our museums and galleries: they bring independent visions and ideas, and offer highly developed specialist skills to the work of these institutions.
As the national museums and galleries operate at arm’s length from His Majesty's Government, the Department does not monitor payments made to artists or any other people working as contractors or freelancers at them.
While the Government has no plans to introduce a code of conduct, Arts Council England — the publicly-funded development agency for the arts and museums — has produced guidance outlining best practice for working with freelancers, without whom so much of the creative and cultural sectors could not operate. This is complemented by guidance from sector organisations such as the Museums Association.
Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidelines, policies, or codes of conduct exist that govern the remuneration provided to artists engaged by UK National Museums and Galleries; and what mechanisms are in place to monitor and enforce adherence to these standards.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Creative and cultural practitioners are vital to the work of our museums and galleries: they bring independent visions and ideas, and offer highly developed specialist skills to the work of these institutions.
As the national museums and galleries operate at arm’s length from His Majesty's Government, the Department does not monitor payments made to artists or any other people working as contractors or freelancers at them.
While the Government has no plans to introduce a code of conduct, Arts Council England — the publicly-funded development agency for the arts and museums — has produced guidance outlining best practice for working with freelancers, without whom so much of the creative and cultural sectors could not operate. This is complemented by guidance from sector organisations such as the Museums Association.
Oct. 27 2023
Source Page: Volunteering boost for charities, libraries and museumsFound: Volunteering boost for charities, libraries and museums
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 providing people under of the age of 16 with free access to (a) museums, (b) galleries and (c) heritage assets.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS sponsored museums are already free to enter for people of any age. HM Government also operates a VAT refund scheme (known as section 33a), for other museums offering free entry across the UK, with 159 museums currently benefiting from it.
Many museums, galleries and heritage sites also offer free or discounted entry to young people specifically, both through general admission or educational events and activities inside and outside school. For example, English Heritage, which manages the National Heritage Collection, offers free entry to pre-booked schools and other learning groups at any of the 400+ historic places in its care.
HM Government recognises and celebrates the critical role that museums and heritage organisations have in delivering education and supporting the national curriculum, and funds Arts Council England and Historic England to deliver the Museums and Schools and Heritage Schools programmes.