Museums and galleries in the UK have given a mixed response to a Parliamentary report which said adequate funding is "crucial" to maintaining free admissions.

The report, by a select committee by the the House of Commons select committee Culture, Media and Sport, said funding was needed to avoid financial problems prompting institutions to charge visitors.

The British Museum welcomed the report, describing it as "detailed and effective".

A spokesman for the museum described the funding as "an important contribution" to "maintaining free admission for all".

"It will enable museums to play their full part in the social and educational life of the country," he said.

Who gets DCMS funding?

British Museum National Gallery National Portrait Gallery Tate group Wallace Collection Horniman Museum Victoria and Albert Museum National Maritime Museum Museum of London

But Sir Neil Chalmers, head of The Natural History Museum, was quoted in the report as describing the process of allocating funds as "opaque".

The museum, which receives �38m a year, is currently pushing for more funds to cope with the extra number of visitors since it dropped admission fees in December last year.

Its spokeswoman Sarah Farroway said: "Our visitor numbers have risen by 70%.

"That means we have to employ more staff to help maintain the museum.

"We are very conscious that we need more funding in order to deal with these issues."

Admission charges

April 1999: Charges for children dropped April 2000: Charges for over-60s dropped Dec 2001: Free admission for all Cost to government: �26.2m by March 2002

Bob Scott, acting director of Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry, generally welcomed the report.

Mr Scott described it as "important in widening understanding of the need to ensure reliable and sufficient funding to help maintain free museum admission".

The museum recently received an extra grant of �851,000 over three years.

The resources and display items of the UK's museums and galleries were praised in the report and described as "a treasure trove of artistic, cultural, historical and scientific artefacts and expertise".

It also noted that they "make substantial contributions to the welfare of the country as a whole", noting their educational value.

The UK has nearly 2,000 registered museums and galleries in the UK, with about 1,500 of them in England.

Tate Britain recently received �350,000 for improvements

The report said that a small "but very important" minority of those were funded by the DCMS, and that they were the main focus of the findings.

It also noted that several institutions, including the British Museum, the Tate group and the National Gallery and Portrait Gallery had always been free.

Tessa Jowell, the DCMS Secretary of State, said she did not think criticism of the report was "fair", and defended the department's approach to funding, saying it was the result of a great deal of government negotiation.

Ten museums across England were recently given a boost by the government with a �2m windfall to help improve the way their collections are displayed.

Visitor increase

They are part of a new five-year Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund.

The report also noted that although visitor numbers had been hit by the foot and mouth crisis, the events of 11 September and the poor performance of the US stock market, overall they had still increased.

It said there had been a rise in visitors of 62% in the first seven months of admission charges being dropped.

The British Museum and the Natural History Museum between them "welcomed over seven million visitors" it said, while Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry had a rise in casual visits of 102%.