Museums may start charging as cash crisis hits funds

The National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield has launched a fierce lobbying campaign amid fears its 2.8m Government grant could be cut by almost a third, which could force it to close one day a week.

While Ministers insist general admission must remain free, bosses have asked if they would be allowed to charge for its star attraction – going down one of Britain's oldest working mines.

The organisation which runs York's National Railway Museum and Bradford's National Media Museum is also "planning for a range of scenarios" and has refused to rule out changes to opening times as it waits to find out how badly the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) budget is cut in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

The Royal Armouries in Leeds is also facing the threat of its Government grant being cut by 25 to 30 per cent as Ministers take radical action to tackle the budget deficit.

The threat to museum grants comes as Ministers negotiate with the Treasury over budgets for the next four years, with the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review due to be revealed on October 20.

Institutions categorised as national museums – which includes the National Coal Mining Museum, National Railway Museum, National Media Museum and the Royal Armouries in Yorkshire – offer free admission, and Ministers have been keen to insist that will continue.

They receive grants directly from Government but DCMS officials have written to them enquiring about the possible impact of funding cuts of 25 to 30 per cent.

The department itself is threatened with cuts of up to 40 per cent.

Dr Margaret Faull, director of the National Coal Mining Museum, which attracts 120,000 visitors a year, briefed politicians on the situation this week and has written to every MP in a coalfield constituency urging their support to protect funding. She said the threat was "very serious", and cross-party MPs are seeking a meeting with Culture Minister Ed Vaizey.

The museum costs up to 3.3m a year to run, partly because the pit legally has to be manned as if it was still in operation.

Dr Faull said a cut of up to 30 per cent to its 2.8m grant would mean job losses among the 108 workforce and possibly closing one day a week. The museum has asked whether charging would be permitted for visitors wishing to go underground but has not yet received a response, although it is feared this could hit visitor numbers.

"None of the other museums have got an underground pit and have to maintain it," she said. "The amount we get is already chicken feed compared to most of the other national museums."

Rother Valley's Labour MP Kevin Barron said it would be "devastating" if children were no longer able to visit.

"What's unique about the museum is it isn't like any other," he added. "You can't just close a wing for an afternoon and save money.

"You've got to have a core staff by law. We need to make that case."

Jason McCartney, Tory MP for Colne Valley, said: "This is a national museum and it remembers the rich cultural heritage in terms of the coal mining industry and it's important it's judged on its special cultural significance for Yorkshire."

Spending cuts have already hit several cultural projects in the region.

York Minster will no longer be getting 1m towards the restoration of its medieval Great East Window after development agency Yorkshire Forward had its budget slashed, while the National Railway Museum (NRM) has also lost a 5m grant towards revamp of the Great Hall.

A spokesman for the National Museum of Science & Industry (NMSI) – which receives 38m a year and runs the NRM, the National Media Museum in Bradford, the Science Museum in London and the National Railway Museum in Shildon – said: "NMSI accepts that in the current financial circumstances cuts in grant aid are inevitable.

"We've been working to prepare for a range of scenarios and to seek efficiencies that can serve to minimise the impact of the cuts and will continue to do so."

A recruitment freeze has already been imposed and energy savings made, and the spokesman said NMSI would be "taking a closer look" at the benefits of "flexible" opening hours.

Visitors to the museums will also be encouraged to make more donations.

Royal Armouries said it would not "speculate" on the impact of cuts.

The Yorkshire Post has also previously reported how Museums Sheffield – which runs Weston Park Museum, the Millennium Galleries, Graves Art Gallery and Bishops House on behalf of Sheffield Council – needed a 190,000 bailout from Sheffield Council to help it cope with cashflow problems after having its budget slashed by 172,000.

A DCMS spokeswoman said the department wrote to national museums a couple of months ago asking them what the impact of cuts would be.

"We won't be able to give any commentary on what level of cuts are likely to be at all ahead of October 20," she added.

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National Coal Mining Museum

Location: Wakefield

Annual visitors: 120,000

Government grant: 2.8m

Costs: Up to 3.3m per year

Entrance fee: Free

Other national museums in Yorkshire facing grant cuts:

National Railway Museum, York

National Media Museum, Bradford

Royal Armouries, Leeds