Campaign saves Museum of Science and Industry from threat of closure

National criticism forced the government to backtrack over planned spending cuts

The government has been forced to backtrack over planned spending cuts to the Science Museum Group that would have caused the closure of one of its museums in the North of England after a national outcry from campaigners.

Last month, Ian Blatchford, the director of the Science Museum Group, said it may be forced to shut either the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the National Railway Museum in York or the National Media Museum in Bradford as a result of the government’s squeeze on budgets.

Blatchford said the prospect of a further 10% cut in funding meant “almost certainly” that one of the museums would have to close. However, after being faced with strong criticism from politicians, local representatives and industry, and an active campaign on social media sites, the government decided to cut the Science Museum Group’s funding by only 5% in the post-2015 spending review. 

But culture minister Ed Vaizey warned that “things must change” at poorly performing museums such as the National Media Museum in Bradford where annual visitor numbers have almost halved recently.

He said: “There is absolutely no reason for any of the museums in the Science Museum Group to close because of funding levels.”

Vaizey added that the government intended to “sit down” with the Science Museum’s management to discuss what sorts of improvements could be made. He reiterated the Science Museum’s importance in interesting young people in engineering. 

Vaizey said: “The Science Museum is the most formidable organisation in this country for promoting science and technology in exciting ways.

“We must use it not only as a repository for a science collection, but as an opportunity to excite young people and the wider population and engage them.”