Museum ‘optimistic’ after budget announcement

Chris Haines – ICNN Senedd reporter

National museum chiefs expressed optimism despite one of the most difficult years in its history and “major flooding” of the gallery in Cardiff during recent storms.

Jane Richardson, chief executive, told the Senedd’s culture committee that Museum Wales was excited for the future after the Welsh Government’s draft budget announcement.

She said: “We’re in a very, very different place today than we were a year ago…. we’ve been through an extraordinarily difficult year, one of the most challenging in the museum’s history.”

She stated the museum received a 3.5% or £900,000 uplift in day-to-day revenue spending, adding that employer national insurance hikes will cost about £500,000 over the year.

“We really needed about £2m as a standstill position so it is a bit of a shortfall,” she warned as she appeared before the committee for annual scrutiny on December 11.

‘Major flooding’

Ms Richardson said the museum fared better on capital allocations for long-term investment, with an indication of £8m for museums in Cardiff, Swansea and Llanberis.

She told the committee: “It’s fantastic news, that money will make a really big difference. The concern we will have is how quickly we will be able to draw down that money.”

Ms Richardson, who was appointed in November 2023 shortly before a 10% cut to the museum’s budget, called for more flexibility on the museum’s project-based funding.

She pointed to the example of £1.3m announced by the Welsh Government in May for urgent repairs at National Museum Cardiff, with a grant letter arriving on December 10.

She said: “About ten days ago we had major flooding in the ground floor and into the natural science galleries. Those were spaces we didn’t know were a risk until the day of that flood.

‘Horrow show’

“We desperately needed to undertake surveys to understand where the water’s coming in. So, the business case bounces back and forth over a period of time.”

Last year, Ms Richardson revealed staff were on standby overnight to move priceless art due to the risk of damage and four buckets were placed outside her office door to catch rain.

Labour’s Alun Davies, a former minister, raised concerns about the “horror show” public bodies continue to face in dealing with the Welsh Government.

He said: “It seems to me that this is almost some sort of bureaucratic nightmare.”

Ms Richardson said business cases of £2m or more can take a year to 18 months as she called for project funding to be incorporated within the museum’s core grant.

‘Dark times’

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan, who worked at the museum until her election in 2021, pressed the executive about redundancies over the past year.

Ms Richardson said the museum lost one in six staff, with 144 roles made redundant.

Asked about morale, she replied: “It has been a difficult year and there have been some dark times for our colleagues but, on the whole now, I would say morale is improving significantly.

“And there is a real sense of excitement looking forward … there’s a strong team ethos that we’ve come through together.”

Ms Richardson told the committee the museum has listened to, and sought to address, concerns about fewer people being left with the same amount of work.

Entry charges

The chief executive, who has dealt with four ministers in one year, confirmed site closures, further redundancies and entry charges are no longer on the table following the budget.

But she suggested charges will be introduced for underground tours at Big Pit after a trial. “That goes beyond the traditional free entry model for a museum,” she said.

Mr Davies raised concerns about fees creating a barrier to access, saying it amounts to an entry charge because most people go to Big Pit to go underground.

Ms Richardson replied: “It’s very difficult to be an organisation that has its budget cut so radically and is told it cannot generate income from the very few opportunities it has.”

She added: “I don’t have any concerns about whether this will be the right thing to do and I will be recommending it to the board on behalf of the team at Big Pit who feel the same.”