Advocating for the sector: Our asks of government
We're in conversation with government about the positive impact museums make to communities and economies. Below you can find out more about our key policy asks.
We warmly welcome the announcement of the new ministerial team at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Lisa Nandy has been confirmed as Culture Secretary and Chris Bryant as the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, which includes the briefs for museums and cultural property, arts, and heritage.
Ahead of the general election, we set out our key facts and policy asks with all the major political parties, which were based on findings from our 2024 Museum Directors Research and a recent YouGov survey.
Key facts
There are over 2,500 museums in the UK, in cities, towns and villages, providing creative inspiration, education, social mobility, health and wellbeing, economic growth and civic pride.
89% of UK adults think museums are important to UK culture and three quarters (76%) of UK adults think museums should receive at least half of their funding from government.
Two thirds (63%) of museums in 2024 are concerned about funding shortfalls, which has increased from half in 2022. Museums need a 10-20% increase in funding just to stabilise.
Our policy proposals for government
Sustainable funding
An enquiry into regional museum funding to address regional disparities and equity of public access.
Promote philanthropy through tax incentives.
Ensure a robust arm’s-length principle for public funding and board appointments.
Public access to collections
Protect free entry to the UK’s national museums and publicly owned collections.
Introduce a Museum Collections Bill (as recommended by the Law Commission) to enable museums to continue to share rich heritage by managing their collections more effectively.
Expand central and national governments' acquisition and commissioning funds to promote a diversity of collecting and enable museums to share their collections more widely.
Cultural education
Ensure every schoolchild experiences a visit to a museum or gallery every year, within the national curriculum.
Put engagement with museum collections at the heart of inspiring communities and young people to protect biodiversity and tackle the climate crisis.
Following the general election we wrote to DCMS, the Department for Education, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to inform the ministerial departments about the positive impact museums make to communities and economies across the UK.
We are in conversation with the UK government and devolved governments about how museums are delivering against government priorities and the urgent need for sustainable investment.
To support this work, we encourage everyone to keep talking about the positive contributions of our sector to your local representatives when you have the opportunity. We'll continue to share information on our policy and advocacy work via our dedicated Policy and Advocacy webpage.