Government extends support for national museums

Two more national museums will be able to provide free admissions to the public while reclaiming their VAT bills, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced today.

The Chancellor announced that The National Football Museum in Preston and The People’s History Museum in Manchester will in future be able to benefit from the special VAT refund scheme which has previously allowed The British Museum, The National Gallery, The Natural History Museum and other main national museums and galleries to provide free public access.

As a result of today’s announcement, The National Football Museum will be able to reclaim up to £70,000 it currently incurs in annual VAT bills, while maintaining free access for 100,000 visitors a year; and The People’s History Museum will be able to remove all admission charges for adults.

The Chancellor, who will host a reception for The People’s History Museum at No.11 Downing Street this evening, said:

“The policy of promoting free access to the main national museums and galleries has been a huge success, with attendances up across the board. The inclusion of the National Football Museum and People’s History Museum in the VAT refund scheme reflects the national importance of their collections, and ensures that hundreds of thousands of visitors will enjoy them free of charge.“

Notes for editors

1. In general, an organisation needs to charge for its goods and services in order to reclaim all of the VAT it incurs on its capital and running costs. Many museums and galleries were previously forced to make a charge for public admission in order to reclaim the VAT they incurred, representing a long-running obstacle to the Government’s policy of free admission.

2. In 2001, a new scheme was introduced to refund the main national museums and galleries the VAT they incur, provided that they allowed free public access to their major collections.

3. Originally, 26 separate institutions – with sites distributed across the UK – benefited from this VAT refund scheme, and saw a resulting large increase in visitor numbers as a result of moving to free access. A list of all the eligible institutions is in VAT Notice 998, published by HMRC and is available at www.hmrc.gov.uk.

4. In the light of the success of the scheme, and following the recommendation of the Goodison Review "Securing the Best for Our Museums: Private Giving and Government Support", the Government announced in Spending Review 2004 the intention to extend the policy of promoting free access, and the VAT refund scheme that helps deliver it, to university museums.

5. Today’s announcement will enable two further museums of national importance to provide free public access, and with it the right to reclaim VAT under the existing VAT refund scheme. These are:

The National Football Museum – a Preston-based museum, which preserves and conserves one of the greatest collections of football memorabilia in the world.
The People's History Museum – a Manchester-based museum, which offers a unique look at the lives of ordinary working people over the last 200 years, from Victorian cotton workers onwards.

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