Covid-19: Museums, Galleries and Historic Buildings Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Lord Shutt of Greetland
Main Page: Lord Shutt of Greetland (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Shutt of Greetland's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Covid-19: Museums, Galleries and Historic Buildings
Lord Shutt of Greetland Excerpts(4 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Shutt of Greetland (LD)
My Lords, I declare my interest as a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Railways. Heritage railways embrace getting on for 200 moving museums and are normally enjoyed by 13 million visitors each year. They are supported by 4,000 employees and 22,000 volunteers. They rely on earning enough money from visitor journeys and providing catering services through the summer to have the resources they need to spend on repairs and enhancement during the winter. There is now serious doubt about whether there can be any operations this summer, with social distancing being a particular challenge. They are worried that they are in the middle of a time which appears to be three winters in a row. In her reply, can the Minister say what specific measures can be made available to assist heritage railways through this famine, so that they will still be here to be enjoyed in the future?