Regional Heritage and Cultural venues
Thursday, 12 November 2026
Contributions
Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)Labour (Co-op)
7. What steps her Department is taking to support regional heritage and cultural venues.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)Labour
Through our Arts Everywhere programme, we are investing £1.5 billion into culture and heritage infrastructure in places with the greatest need. That includes funding the Art Centre Penryn in my hon. Friend’s constituency, which was awarded project development grants through the heritage revival fund.
Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery is essentially the national museum for Cornwall. While £7 out of £8 of DCMS’s museum funding goes to our 15 national museums, which are free to enter, the Cornwall museum charges a fee, does not get funding from the local authority any more and, as it is trustee run, is not eligible for many funding streams. What options are there for the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery in Truro to close that funding gap?
I thank my hon. Friend for her advocacy on that issue. As an Arts Council England accredited museum, Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery is eligible to apply for the museum estate and development fund, which provides capital funding for urgent repairs and infrastructure maintenance. For other funding opportunities, the museum could also explore Arts Council and national lottery project grants and support from philanthropic organisations.
Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)Conservative
Essex and the Witham constituency have a range of fantastic heritage houses, museums and venues for people to visit. It will come as no surprise to the Minister and the Front Bench team that those venues are struggling because of increases in employment taxes and some of the other burdens they are now facing. Has the Department done a cumulative impact assessment on what that means for the sustainability of some of those big cultural heritage sites, and what more can the Government do to assist them?
The right hon. Member is a strong advocate for her constituency. This Government are investing in heritage across the country, with £230 million committed by 2030. I am sure the Minister for Heritage would be delighted to discuss it with her further.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5436633.