Brighton Museum is to charge non-city residents £5 admission in a bid to help plug the council’s budget gap.
The new charge will come into force from May 1 this year, and is expected to net Brighton and Hove City Council £200,000.
A report to the council’s economic development and culture committee which meets next Thursday says: “In support of the 2015/16 budget strategy and the need to deliver savings, it is proposed to introduce admission charges for the first time to Brighton Museum.
“A full-year saving of £200,000 has been proposed.”
It adds: “It is anticipated … museum visitor numbers will drop by 50% following the introduction of admission charges.”
As with the Pavilion, concessions will be available for pensioners, disabled people and those on low incomes – and a joint ticket covering admission to the museum and Pavilion will be introduced.
The report also details increases in charges across the council’s leisure facilities.
Free use of library computers will also be limited to one hour, with a £1 an hour charge thereafter.
A proposed charge for the popular Baby Boogie sessions at the city’s libraries has been scrapped, and replaced with a call for donations at a suggested rate of £1 per child.
However, child’s craft activities will be charged at a minimum of £1 per participant, and book groups will have to stump up £30 a year.
Beach hut charges will also increase by 50% over the next two years, which for the most expensive huts in Hove will take the annual charge from £928.86 in 2014/15 to £1,393.29 in 2016/17. In Saltdean and Rottingdean, the annual charge will rise from £541.25 to £811.88.
An absolute outrage .. A tax on knowledge, history and culture. How dare they do this without asking the electorate. Presumably because they know what the answer would be.
Have they looked at the experience of Chichester.
They’ve had REMOVE the entry charge as NO ONE was going to the museum..
The Museum have over 2 million objects in their possession,how long would it be before every object was able to be displayed?Why not sell a few every year instead of charging people or lease them to other museums and places of interest.
A sad day for the city and charges that will hit those with the least income. However, given the scale of the £26 million cuts next year following on from year on year cuts (I think we are about £70 million down per annum compared to 2010) this is inevitable and in the coming years we will be seeing museum and service closures.
More likely its a huge pice of negative electioneering… “Look,what the nasty central government’s made us do”…
The fact is that this council seems to find vast sums of cash to spend on vanity projects while neglecting the basics..
I suggest people should dry their wee baby eyes. It’s still free if you live here and less than the price of a KFC pus bucket special if you don’t.
Anyways it’s clearly preferable for the council to go bankrupt and have to close the museum, innit?
H “Storage” Jarrs, how will the fact that the museum and internet usage is still free “hit those with the least income”? Could you perhaps be talking rubbish again?
If you are visiting Brighton on a cheap bus or train ticket with the kids and live Ardur or Newhaven, Eastbourne or Crawley then a £5 fee may well put you off visiting this lovely museum.
Of course, those with the least income probably can’t even afford the bus fare or an internet connection due to your scum bag governments attack on those that subsist on benefits. And due to their continuing cuts to the city’s grant, next year will see the imposition of charges for non-residents, then, if the cuts continue as forecast to 2019-20, residents will be charges and museums possibly close or be for the select few only.
My understanding was that British museums were free. The ones in London were the last time I went which was about 3 years ago. Why is it Brighton council want to charge when others don’t. Its a disgrace.
Because they don’t have enough money to keeo them open, Theresa, and probably think that what money they do have would be best spent on adult social care so that elderly people don’t have to lie in bed all day in their own faeces, rather than on making museums free.
H’storage’Jarrs, what do you mean “my” scumbag government? I voted Green.
Appologies. For “your”, read “the”
Yesterday the Museum started to charge non residence for entry.
This means that I will no longer entry the Museum or any other Gallery, Library or Theatre owned by the City Council.
This is the most retrograde step the city has ever taken in its cultural life and will be one of the reasons that dissuades people from coming here at all.
I cannot express here in acceptable language how angry this make me feel.
Omg, seriously rostrum!, I support the £5 charge to help keep our museums open, but people like you who won’t help support them with the minimal fee of £5 don’t deserve to be in this city, either that or your a grumpy old man who complains about anyone and anything.