Agenda item - Fees and Charges at Royal Pavilion and Museums 2019+

Report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture

1)            That the Committee approves the fees and charges for Admissions for 2019-21 set out in Appendix A to bring RPM in line with competitors and provide opportunities to maximise future income growth for the service. 

2)            That the Committee approves the fees and charges for Room Hire set out in Appendix B.

3)            That the Committee approves the fees and charges for Photography & Reproduction set out in Appendix C.

4)            That the Committee approves fees and charges for Schools, Guiding and Bookings for 2019/20 in set out in Appendix D.

47.1      The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture that sought approval for fees and charges for the Royal Pavilion & Museums services for 2019/20 and where applicable, 2020/21.

47.2      Councillor Norman asked for clarification on pricing for under 5’s as the cover report stated that admission would remain free yet the appendix stated that all ages up to 15 years old would be charged admission.

47.3      The Head of Enterprise & Visitor Services explained that this was an error in the report and admission for under 5’s would remain free.

47.4      Councillor Mears thanked officers for their work and commended the clarity and quality of the report.

47.5      Councillor Allen welcomed the three year loan from 2019/20 of key objects and expressed his hope that loan could be extended beyond that period. Councillor Allen not that a significant rise in fees was proposed for students and hoped that could be closely monitored.

47.6      The Head of Royal Pavilion & Museums clarified that any fee increase was carefully monitored to assess its impact and adjustments were made as appropriate. The Head of Enterprise & Visitor Services added that any students based in the city would qualify for the lower, resident adult fee.

47.7      Councillor Druitt noted that the report detailed that an increase in prices would enable the offer of better discounts to third-party sellers and group discounts and in turn increase take-up. Councillor Druitt asked an impact assessment had been undertaken in relation to the increases and evidence from previous years regarding the general impact of an increase in prices.

47.8      The Head of Enterprise & Visitor Services explained that value for money statistics was closely monitored and visitor feedback on value for money was positive for all attractions. The Head of Enterprise & Visitor Services added that detailed trends were shared with partners via the Visit England attractions monitoring as well as sharing information with city based attractions on specific local trends. In relation to third-party sales, a travel trade review had been undertaken as well as significant benchmarking on the issue and that showed that the group discounts offered at the city’s attractions was much lower than other national visitor attractions. Furthermore, discussions had been held locally with language schools and coach trip organisers where the same point had been made.

47.9      Councillor Platts thanked officers for the high standard of the report and welcomed the free elements of the pricing structure for local people.

47.10   RESOLVED-

1)            That the Committee approves the fees and charges for Admissions for 2019-21 set out in Appendix A to bring RPM in line with competitors and provide opportunities to maximise future income growth for the service. 

2)            That the Committee approves the fees and charges for Room Hire set out in Appendix B.

3)            That the Committee approves the fees and charges for Photography & Reproduction set out in Appendix C.

4)            That the Committee approves fees and charges for Schools, Guiding and Bookings for 2019/20 in set out in Appendix D.