Quinquennial Review response

The National Portrait Gallery has recently been subject to a Quinquennial Review conducted by the department for Culture, Media and Sport which looked at all aspects of the Gallery and its operation and, in particular its relationship to the National Gallery.

Response by the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery to its Quinquennial Review

The Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery have welcomed the process and the publication of the Quinquennial Review. It provides a timely opportunity for the Gallery together with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to stand back and reflect on the Gallery's current operations, strengths and weaknesses and the challenges of the future. It has come at a moment when, following the opening of the Ondaatje Wing in May 2000, the number of visitors has - for two years running - been in the region of one and a quarter million, more than double the average number of visitors per annum a decade ago. This reflects the Gallery's extensive and inclusive programme of displaying the permanent collection, pursuing its educational programme, and mounting special exhibitions. The Trustees and management are grateful to Dawn Austwick for the thoughtful consideration with which she conducted the Review on behalf of the Department.

The Trustees acknowledge the accuracy of the picture which the Review paints of the National Portrait Gallery as a whole: an institution which has undergone major development in the last five years, transforming its physical appearance and facilities and greatly increasing its audience. However, correspondingly, stresses and strains continue to increase from the failure of the Government Grant-in-Aid to keep pace with the Gallery's expansion. The National Portrait Gallery now has the lowest level of Grant-in-Aid per visitor of any national collection.

The Trustees endorse the view expressed in the Review that the Gallery would greatly benefit from increased investment in its collections-based functions in order "to develop its research and scholarship base, and to consolidate and develop its collections management systems and processes". However, these areas, which are vital to the core responsibilities of the Gallery but largely conducted behind the scenes, are well-known to be amongst the most difficult purposes for which to raise funds from private sources.

The Gallery also has ambitious aspirations to extend its coverage outside London, probably in the North East, on a larger scale than encompassed by its present three regional partnerships. Accordingly, it would be natural to conclude that additional investment for such core purposes might appropriately come from Government sources, not least as a catalyst to generating further private support.

The Trustees and the Director look forward to discussing the conclusions and consequences of the Review with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in a spirit of constructive partnership.

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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 20 November 2008