Department for Culture, Media and Sport
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Three new free museums to 'grace' Liverpool as part of European Capital of Culture
The Museum of Liverpool, the International Slavery Museum and the University of Liverpool's Victoria Gallery and Museum have today been added to the list of museums and galleries that give free access to their permanent collections.
The free access policy is a cornerstone of the Government's cultural policy and comes about through increased investment and tax changes that have allowed them to reclaim the VAT they pay on their running costs.
Making the announcement, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said:
"This is a fantastic achievement, both for the year in which Liverpool is European Capital of Culture and for taking forward the Government's cultural commitment to engage more people, schools and communities.
"The free admission policy for national museums continues to be a fantastic success. Recent figures show that visits to the former charging sponsored museums in England have doubled since the introduction of free access in December 2001.
"Additionally, 37 million extra visits have been made to once charging national museums and galleries in the six years since the introduction of free admission. This proves the impact that abolition of charges has on getting visitors through the doors. By adding three more museums to the list, we're ensuring even more people from all walks of like have access to the treasures of the past and wonders of the future that our world class museums can provide."
Welcoming the announcement, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jane Kennedy MP, added:
"I am delighted to support the extension of this scheme. It will ensure more people can experience fascinating and important museums such as ours. This change allows Merseyside's national and university museums and galleries to recover VAT incurred under HMRC's VAT refund scheme, providing free admission for everyone."
Notes to editors
1. In 1998, the Government made a commitment to restore free public access to view the permanent collections on display in the main national museums and galleries. One obstacle to the transition from levying admission charges to free access was the ability to recover VAT. While they charged for admission, many museums and galleries could - under the normal rules - recover the VAT paid on their purchases because they were engaged in a business activity. This right would cease when charges were abolished, because there would no longer be the same level of business activity to permit any appreciable recovery of VAT. To compensate for this, a special VAT refund scheme was introduced in 2001 for the museums and galleries for which the free access commitment was given.
2. Nine of the 21 DCMS-sponsored national museums and galleries, used to charge for admission at either all or some of their sites. The Government enabled museums to introduce free access by removing the VAT barrier and by compensating those museums and galleries that used to charge for entry for the loss of admissions income. DCMS currently allocates around £42 million per year (within an annual budget of £340 million for DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries)
3. Free access to the permanent collections at DCMS-sponsored charging museums was introduced for children in April 1999, for Over-60s in April 2000 and for All (universal free access) in December 2001. Tate Modern opened free from 1 May 2000; National Coal Mining Museum for England in Wakefield went free from 8 April 2002; Imperial War Museum North in Manchester opened free in July 2002; National Football Museum in Preston went free in April 2003; the People's History Museum in Manchester went free in July 2005; the International Slavery Museum opened free in August 2007 and the new Museum of Liverpool will be free when it opens in 2010/11.
4. In 2005, following Sir Nicholas Goodison's review "Securing the Best for our Museums: Private Giving and Government Support", the Government decided to extend the free access policy to collections held in university museums see http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/3076.aspx
5. The list of museums that are, from today, part of the free access policy and will benefit from the VAT refund scheme can be found at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20081339_en_1
6. Liverpool's European Capital of Culture celebrations are on course for a record breaking year, according to the latest visitor figures. In the first quarter of '08 more than 2 million people attended a cultural event or venue across the city - a staggering 30% up on 2007. In March the city's attractions welcomed more than 1 million people through its doors.
7. The rise in visitor figures from January 1 - March 31 are also treble what had been predicted, with some venues recording a 50% growth on 2007. In the same period Liverpool's tourist information centres (08 place, Albert Dock and airport) had more than 150,000 visitors and enquires are up by over 100% on 2007.
8. The VAT refund scheme was introduced in 2001 to honour the government's manifesto commitment in 1998 for free public access to the main national museums and galleries. Under the normal VAT rules, museums that do not charge admission are unable to recover VAT on their purchases and VAT was therefore a potential obstacle to the free access commitment. To overcome this, this special VAT refund scheme was introduced in the Finance Act 2001. This is in section 33A of the Value Added Tax Act 1994. It refunds to museums and galleries listed in secondary legislation the VAT they incur on goods and services purchased to support the collections made available for free public viewing.
Public enquiries 020 7211 6200
http://www.culture.gov.uk
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
http://www.culture.gov.uk
