The proposal by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to scrap the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and in the process reputedly save £1.6bn (which IEA says would go ‘some way’ towards abolishing inheritance tax), has been receiving especially close coverage in the media.
Commenting on the implications of closing down the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Mark Littlewood, Director General of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: ‘The subsidies provided by DCMS should be ended altogether and any residual regulatory functions should be substantially liberalised and transferred to other departments. A complete closure of all DCMS functions could save the taxpayer around £1.6bn per annum. Whilst this is a small proportion of overall government expenditure, it would allow for some worthwhile reductions in overall taxation.’
Museums and Heritage writes in response:
… It also proposed an end to government funding of museums, claiming an additional £0.5bn could be clawed back if free entry to national museums was abolished. The report estimated that the cost to the taxpayer per visit per person to some of London’s National Museums and the British Library ranged from £5 to £72.
…
In a BBC Radio Four Interview between MA head of policy Maurice Davies and Littlewood, Davies pointed out that many of the estimated savings would instead be transferred to other departments: ‘The cost of actually running DCMS itself is very small – the actual cost of the civil servants – and since DCMS was set up, first as the department of national heritage, museums have become far, far better, and culture has become far, far better.’
‘All the evidence suggests that the numbers drop by about half when you start charging, which means ironically it costs more to the taxpayer for each visitor because most of the cost in those museums isn’t people coming through the door, it’s all the behind-the-scenes work.’
‘I think about 90% of the money that goes to DCMS goes straight on to funding good things that millions and millions of people in this country enjoy and learn from.’
Littlewood replied: ‘Maurice can’t have it both ways round. These are either museums and activities that millions of people gladly engage in and would pay for or they’re not – and if millions of people would gladly engage in and pay for them, let’s allow pricing to reflect that.’
In a statement after the interview, MA director Mark Taylor commented: ‘The IEA director was very muddled and did little to hide the ideological nature of the proposal.
‘He didn’t seem to understand the difference between getting rid of DCMS and scrapping any public investment in the arts, he didn’t seem to understand the contribution and impact of museums.
‘He clearly did understand the price of everything – it’s just that he understood the value of nothing.’
The IEA proposal follows rumours that the government is planning to close DCMS after the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and transfer responsibility for museums to the Department for Education.
For the Museums and Heritage report see: LINK
For the IEA report see: LINK
For the evening discussion ‘Should we abolish the DCMS?’ on YouTube, you can follow the c.27 other viewers at: LINK
