To ask the Minister of the Arts what is his estimate, in the light of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the management of museums and galleries, HC 394, of the cost of providing adequate storage space at (a) the Victoria and Albert museum and (b) the British museum.
It is for the trustees of these two museums, and of the other national museums and galleries, to assess their institutions' storage needs and the cost of satisfying them, and to determine the priority that should be given to this purpose in their strategic plans.I have provided a major new storage facility of 32,000 m
2 at Blyth road, Hammersmith for the use in particular of the British museum, the Victoria and Albert and the science museum. A total of some £11 million has so far been spent from the arts programme on the acquisition and refurbishment of this facility, in which further investment is planned for the future.