Ian Blatchford, the Director and Chief Executive of the Science Museum Group, said that it was essential that the Government’s science policy was more joined up and was reflected in an on-going commitment to funding across the scientific community.    

Speaking to the T&A yesterday about challenges faced by the regional museums, Mr Blatchford said the National Media Museum had “lost its way” but had “enormous” potential and denied it was the intention to get the museum moved to London.

“I would rather have three world class museums than four mediocre museums,” he said. “I should add that charging is not on the agenda because Government policy precludes it.

“I am really impressed that Brian Cantor from York is coming to Bradford University which is a fantastic partner for that museum.

“We are not making some easy choices. Bradford has really shown great leadership in talking to Manchester and York and looking at the bigger picture. But out of the three museums it has drifted from its core mission and I am not entirely sure changing its name was a good idea because no-one understands what media means.

“I have been very blunt with the Council and Bradford has to get into science and education. There is an issue in Bradford and we are going to solve it.

“Should Bradford be worried? Yes. Do they need to tell us more? We are already vividly aware of the economic importance and we totally get it.

“If we get through tough waters in the next few weeks we have some great plans such as getting more science collections on display and getting Bradford part of the touring circuit.

“We have a media gallery in London which is not a secret plan to leave Bradford, but to benefit it. We will not know exact spending review details until the end of June, and will not make a decision until the autumn.

“The three criteria if one had to close would be how strong the relationship is with the local authority and what they are doing for us, what we think of the local industry and university, and how strong our impact is on education. Bradford has a lot of disadvantaged communities and we do a lot of work with them.

“The problem is how the heck do you compare three different cities? At the end of it I would love to be able to say this is the rebirth of the museum in Bradford and with a lot of goodwill and money it will go up again.”