The United Kingdom’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport has come under fire from a cross-party parliamentary committee, which says the government has done too little to help the country’s national museums navigate increasing financial and security challenges.
The report, according to the Art Newspaper, also shows that the government is considering whether overseas visitors should pay admission to Britain’s national museums, a major change for institutions that have offered free entry for more than two decades. (Officials stressed that no decision has been made and that any proposal would be developed in consultation with museums.)
Published by the UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the report accuses the culture department of taking an “almost hands-off approach” to overseeing England’s 15 government-sponsored museums and galleries, which include Tate, the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. It argues that while museums have become increasingly adept at generating their own revenue, the government has failed to provide a clear long-term strategy for keeping them financially resilient.
The findings build on concerns raised earlier this year by the National Audit Office, which warned that museums could not rely indefinitely on cost-cutting and commercial income to offset years of financial pressure.
According to the committee, the DCMS lacks a clear picture of whether the £484 million ($641 million) in grant funding it provided during the 2024–25 fiscal year is delivering value for taxpayers. That funding accounted for roughly 46 percent of the museums’ combined income.
Museums have, meanwhile, become increasingly entrepreneurial. Self-generated income—from exhibitions, retail, venue rentals, fundraising, memberships, and other commercial activities—reached £563 million ($746 million) in 2024–25, a 53 percent increase in real terms since 2021–22. But lawmakers said those gains don’t eliminate the need for stronger government leadership.
The committee also pointed to governance problems. Trustee vacancies across the 15 museums stood at 15 percent in October 2025, while appointments took an average of 219 days, well above the government’s 90-day target. That, the report said, leaves boards less prepared to oversee institutions facing increasingly complex financial challenges.
Security was another major concern. The report cites the 2023 cyberattack on the British Library and the theft of thousands of objects from the British Museum as evidence that national collections remain vulnerable to both digital and physical threats, criticizing the government for responding to problems as they arise instead of planning for them.
Per the Art Newspaper, a DCMS spokesperson said the department “maintains a close working relationship with our national museums and galleries on individual and collective issues” and is already taking steps to strengthen oversight following the National Audit Office’s review. The department said it would consider the committee’s recommendations before issuing a formal response.
Neil Mendoza, the former UK Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal, pushed back on the report’s conclusions. Speaking to the Art Newspaper, he argued that the committee failed to appreciate the long-standing “arm’s-length relationship” between the government and the national museums, saying their independence is a feature of the British system rather than a sign of weak oversight.
