Minister calls for revamp of saved museum

Ed Vaizey told the Commons that while there is no danger of either the National Media Museum in Bradford or any of the other under-threat museums across the North of England being shut down by funding cuts, “things must change” at an establishment where annual visitor numbers have almost halved over recent times.

Mr Vaizey confirmed reports that museums will receive a five per cent cut in next week’s post-2015 spending review – half the level which the national Science Museum Group had said would lead to the closure of either the Media Museum, the National Railway Museum in York or the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

“In the context of this spending round, I think that is a significant success story,” Mr Vaizey said.

“There is absolutely no reason why any of these museums in the Science Museum Group should close because of funding levels.”

The Minister was speaking in a Commons debate last night called by Bradford West MP George Galloway, following the huge outcry right across the North sparked by the museum group’s announcement that one of its regional museums may close.

Mr Galloway praised Mr Vaizey for his assurances earlier this week that all the museums will remain open, before turning his fire on the museum group and its chief executive Ian Blatchford, who was paid almost £150,000 last year.

“The performance of the leadership of the Science Museum Group has been sadly lacking in this affair,” Mr Galloway said.

“Indeed, we had the spectacle of the leadership of the group rubbishing the performance of museums under their own purview; apparently oblivious to the obvious fact that if these museums were under-performing, they themselves were being paid rather a lot of public money to preside over their under-performance.”

The Respect MP said he was “not impressed” with the group leaders before meeting them on Monday, and was “even less impressed” afterwards.

“I’m not actually that confident of leaving the fate of the National Media Museum in Bradford in the hands of that leadership,” Mr Galloway said. “It’s obvious that they leaked the closure or one of these museums, which makes their position now negotiating in public very much more difficult.

“It’s all very well these panjandrums of the culture industry sitting in London in the V&A deciding which of their Northern chess pieces they can dispose of. But it is Ministers that must decide.”

Mr Galloway said the Media Museum is both a “national treasure” and “absolutely fundamental to Bradford – a city with a sea of troubles.”

Warning that admission charges would be a “death knell” for a museum which has already seen visitor numbers drop from nearly one million to 500,000-a-year, Mr Galloway suggested instead the BBC could take a more active role in supporting it in the future.

“The BBC is a national institution deeply in need of a new lick of paint to renovate its tattered public reputation,” he said. “Why doesn’t the BBC help to pay for the National Media Museum? The archive is there. The public pays for the BBC.”

Mr Vaizey said that he agreed that the Media Museum “needs to change”, but insisted he has full confidence in Mr Blatchford to help change its fortunes.

“A five-year plan to turn around the National Media Museum – I think that is absolutely the point where we are all agreed,” Mr Vaizey said. “It is simply not good enough to have a sticking-plaster solution that keeps the doors open. What we must do is use this concern to look at all the opportunities that present themselves for the National Media Museum.”