National museums face almost £3m budget gap

The planned “business-as-usual” Welsh budget would leave national museums facing a near-£3m shortfall and lead to more cuts, the Senedd’s culture committee has heard.

Jane Richardson, chief executive of Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales), was quizzed about the impact of Welsh Government plans for a standstill budget rising only in line with inflation.

She said a flat settlement in the draft budget – which will be initially unveiled on October 14, with the detail to follow on November 3 – would leave Amgueddfa Cymru nearly £3m short.

Giving evidence on October 8, the chief executive told the culture committee: “We would need to find ways of reducing programming and activities to address that shortfall.”

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan, who worked for Amgueddfa Cymru until her election in 2021, sought assurances that Wales’ seven national museums would be maintained.

Kate Eden, who chairs Amgueddfa Cymru, replied: “They’re not currently under review, no. But, as you’re aware, we do always have to keep under consideration the span of activities that we undertake but currently there is no plan to actively review those.”

‘Drastic slashing’

Pressed about rationalising the seven sites, Ms Richardson told Senedd Members: “Not under the current financial arrangements. Were we to have a drastic slashing of our budget, that’s of course what we would have to do.”

The chief executive stressed: “We’re very committed to being a national museum with national reach – we don’t want to be a museum of Cardiff plus a few others.”

Ms Richardson warned an inflationary increase for longer-term capital funding would be “very problematic” in terms of tackling a backlog of building works.

She called for more money to be “baselined” through the museum’s core “grant in aid” funding, warning of a significant resource drain from having to justify each project.

Despite dozens of redundancies due to a previous £4.5m budget deficit, Ms Richardson told the committee staff surveys show morale has since improved significantly.

She explained the museum has introduced new income streams – from commercial flannel production to brand licensing – while making a £1m operating profit from catering and retail.

‘£40,000 insurance bill’

On introducing charging, she said: “We believe that charging for added-value experiences is an important contribution to increasing the income we receive as a museum.”

Ms Richardson told the committee the museum would continue to pursue charging for activities such as certain exhibitions, including a “pay-what-you-can” model.

She explained the extended charging trial for the underground tour at Big Pit national coal museum, which runs until June 2026, will remain under review.

But she said: “There has been no drop off in the number of people or the percentage of visitors doing the underground tour… since the charge was introduced… feedback is clear that the overwhelming percentage of visitors support and understand the need for a charge.”

Ms Richardson raised the “Art of the Selfie” exhibition, saying Welsh Government insurance did not cover the cost of loaning the Van Gogh self-portrait from Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

She said the museum paid £40,000 for a private insurance policy for one painting but more than recovered the costs by charging a £1 minimum fee.

‘Wales should lead the world’

She told the committee: “Had it run at a loss, we would then have to think: can we afford to bring in such high-value and important works… to the people of Wales?”

Ms Richardson outlined the “NMC 100” vision for the 2027 centenary of the grade one-listed National Museum Cardiff which aims to display collections in a uniquely Welsh way.

The project would also see an overhaul of maintenance issues such as a leaking roof, with only 30% of the building, which is the size of 24 Olympic swimming pools, open to the public.

Ms Richardson stressed: “We owe it to the people of Wales, that we perform at the same level as other national museums both within the UK and more widely in Europe.”

Supporting Wales’ future generations commissioner’s calls for a bill to safeguard services, the former council director warned culture is always among the first areas to be cut.

During a difficult week, in which the St Fagans national museum was hit by a burglary, Ms Richardson told Senedd Members: “Wales should lead the world on culture… it’s our best and greatest export, so we should be proudly defending it.”