The re-opening of York Art Gallery last weekend was marred by a storm of protest at the York Museums Trust's decision to charge local people for entry.

Here, the Trust's chief executive Janet Barnes explains that decision ...

"York Museums Trust was created as an independent charity to look after the city’s museums, gardens and gallery on behalf of the city. One of our first decisions was to remove the council-levied entrance charge to York Art Gallery making it free to all visitors.

Like the protestors on Saturday, we would have liked this to continue, but we have been forced to make the very difficult decision to charge.

The council has massively reduced their financial support to the Trust claiming it to be a necessity due to the current climate of austerity.

York Press:

Janet Barnes

In 2012 the Trust was asked to consider operating on reduced support from the council. We understood the council's difficulties and negotiated a five year funding agreement for 2013-18 of a guaranteed £1.2m per year, accepting a cut of £300k in annual revenue funding. Since then the council has broken the terms of that agreement, cutting £100k last year and a further £500k in April. Next year the indications are that yet another £300k cut will be imposed, though we have not yet been consulted on what the implications of that would be.

In various meetings with the council, stretching back to early 2014, the Trust made it very clear what an unavoidable impact such severe cuts would have, including the necessity to charge. No formal agreement was reached with the council but as a registered charity we have a legal obligation to care for the buildings and collections and to remain solvent.

The timing of the election overshadowed public discussion of the implications and has led to the subsequent confusion.

These huge cuts mean we have to generate revenue in other ways. We already do this through our shops, cafes and by hosting weddings and events, but admissions income is now more important than ever.

How do other museums and galleries remain free? In short, national museums receive around £400 million a year from the national government. This funding isn’t available to regional museums.

Despite having to care for one of the largest designated collections in the country, York Museums Trust is now one of the museum services least supported by its local authority.

York Press:

A last minute dust-up before the gallery's official reopening

This year's £600,000 funding does not even cover the costs of maintaining and securing the historic sites and collections in our care, so we are having to make very difficult decisions. Further cuts will no doubt lead to more difficult decisions.

York residents have always made a contribution to the Trust’s running costs through council tax. However, because the Trust’s revenue from the council has been so drastically cut, those who choose to visit are now asked to make a direct contribution through charging. It is true that tourists and people from outside the city make up the majority of our visitors, but it is no longer economically possible to overlook the funding support that could be made by charging residents.

The decision to charge £7.50 for a one off visit to York Art Gallery was the result of much thought and research and the figure is in line with other attractions in the city. But we hope residents will buy the new YMT Card which they can get for as little as £10 a year with a York Card, offering 12 months access to the York Art Gallery, York Castle Museum and Yorkshire Museum. This reduces to £5 a year for anyone aged 17-24 or on most forms of benefit. Children under 16 will continue to get in free. We believe that this is very good value.

York Press:

Part of the gallery's collection of ceramics

It is against this financial landscape that the Trust is working to make York’s museums and gallery both excellent and sustainable and to do this we need the support of residents. The newly developed York Art Gallery is now generally held to be of international standard. This will significantly enhance York’s cultural offer and be of benefit to the city’s tourist profile as well as being a cultural resource for residents."

 

And here, Green councillor Dave Taylor, who led a protest at charging local people for entry, explains why he thinks the decision was wrong...

"I believe in a more equal society where art is not just available for the wealthy few, and that ordinary people should have access to see the greatest artworks that they could never hope to own. Public galleries and museums provide that – to educate and inspire – and perhaps particularly in a UNESCO City of Media Arts, to spark our own creativity.

Thirteen years ago the council placed our museums and art gallery into a trust, asking it to maintain buildings and collections, to increase the number of visitors, and to ensure free access to York Art Gallery for residents - the art collection partly bought by tax-payers’ subsidy and partly donated by benefactors or artists who might have expected their donations and work to be freely available.

York Press:

Dave Taylor

Since national museums became free, visitor numbers have risen by over 50% as well as becoming more inclusive for ethnic minorities and lower socio-economic groups. York Museums Trust has also been highly successful in attracting capital funding as well as boosting admissions. It has built a bigger empire which needs more to feed it in times when revenue is harder to obtain.

Numbers will plummet if charges are introduced. Not only have residents said they will bypass York Art Gallery if charges are permitted, but they’ll also tell visiting friends and family to avoid the place due to the high charges – the proposed £7.50 is one of the highest in the country outside the capital. A salutary tale comes from National Museum Wales which introduced charges 20 years ago. Visitor numbers declined but when they started to recover, the demographics had changed: no more low-waged visitors but wealthy middle classes on coach trips. Years later, when the admission charge was dropped, admissions almost tripled overnight.

York Museums Trust can’t expect to increase visitor numbers – another key part of its agreement with the City of York Council, if it reneges on the principle of free access for residents.

York Press:

A last-minute dust-up before the gallery's re-opening

So what if charges were introduced only for tourists, and for special exhibitions, like ‘Thomas The Tank Engine’ events at the National Railway Museum? Well, that could be part of a sensible negotiation with the new Council administration as we know that tourists are the larger percentage of admissions to York Art Gallery. An open negotiation about finances would be preferable, not building a business plan on a nod and a wink at a meeting apparently held with senior council figures before the election. That’s not acceptable. We should all want York Museums Trust to survive and prosper, but the cards must be dealt on the table, not under it.

I must support YMT and the council by clarifying that the savage cuts in grant to York Museums Trust were brought about by the tens of millions of pounds cut from the council’s budget by central Government. This is where ‘austerity’ gets us: services reduced or cut, outsourcing to companies who pay workers less, higher charges, and people working for nothing as volunteers. The rich may be able to tighten their belts. The poor merely have to do without.

 

What it will cost you to get into York Art Gallery

As things stand, everyone visiting York's recently-reopened art gallery will have to pay for entry - residents and non-residents alike.

The cost of a single ticket is £7.50 on the door.

York residents with a York Card can, however, buy a half price YMT (York Museums Trust) card for £10 (£5 for those aged 17-24 or on income related benefits) if you buy by direct debit. The card costs £11 (6 for those aged 17-24 or on benefits) if you pay by other means. The card gives 12 months access to the art gallery, plus the Castle Museum and Yorkshire Museum. Up to four children under 16 go free with one adult YMT card holder.

In addition to charging for entry to the art gallery, York residents will now have to pay for entry to the Yorkshire Museum and Castle Museum, although York Cards bought before July 31 will continue to allow free entry to the two museums (but not to the art gallery) until they expire.

How long the current system of charging will remain in place is anybody's guess, given the level of political wrangling over the issue.

Nigel Ayre, the Liberal Democrat Executive member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism, said in a statement that the new ruling Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition would be working with the Museums' Trust to "find a solution for residents". Such a solution, he said, would need to ensure "as wider access as possible for residents while also making sure that the financial realities facing both the YMT and the council are recognised."

A council report on legal and other issues relating to the museums trust's new charging policy will go to the council's Executive in September. But Coun Ayre stressed he was keen to avoid costly legal wrangles. "Open, cross-party negotiation with the YMT is the only way forward. This is what I am focusing my efforts on," he said.