Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:39 pm on 23 January 2018.
Thanks to the Minister for bringing today's debate. I haven't yet had any formal contact with the new Minister, either in the Chamber or in committee, so I'd like to officially welcome him into his new role. I think we all feel, certainly in this section of the Chamber—by which I mean the UKIP seats—that he has shown a lot of promise, and I believe he could be a valuable addition to the Government's ministerial team. I have certainly marked his name down as somebody with a bright future in Government.
On to today's matters. I've heard what the other contributors have said, but I want to go slightly further than the Thurley review and float a more contentious idea. I appreciate that there has been a commitment from the Welsh Government to the principle of free entry to the national museum network. I don't want to unduly restrict people's access to these museums, but I think it is possible that we could consider stretching this principle slightly so that Amguedda Cymru can generate some income and operate more effectively. A token charge of £1 for adults to enter a museum, with children going free, would not, I feel, put off parents who are considering visiting a museum as part of a family day out. Of course, there could be an argument, then, as to what will stop this £1 charge from rising and rising until it becomes exorbitant. Well, as the museums are a public facility—and will still largely be publicly financed with a grant from the Welsh Government still being the main source of income—then, surely, the Government can draw up terms under which the charge can only rise annually in line with the consumer price index, the measure of inflation that tends to rise at a lower rate than the retail price index.
There is also the issue of special exhibitions. To get many of these exhibitions to come to Wales will take considerable effort in terms of time and cost, so I feel that Amgueddfa Cymru should be able to try and recoup some of this cost by charging extra for access to these exhibitions, or at least certain ones. I appreciate what Suzy said earlier—she didn't want to have a look at what happens in London—