National Museum Cardiff—Wales’s national cultural institution—could close if funding is not provided to repair the deteriorating building, the museum’s chief executive Jane Richardson has said.
She told BBC Radio Wales that Museum Wales is facing a £3m reduction in its grant from the Welsh government as well as a year-on-year deficit of £1.5m, leading to the possible loss of around 90 jobs. "I always said that to get to the kind of number that we needed to we would be looking at least 90 jobs and that has proven to be the case, but we're still not at a total figure yet,” Richardson said.
The poor condition of National Museum Cardiff, which is based in the Cathays area, is also a cause for concern. "Unless we're able to secure more funding for that building, that will have to close… when you have water coming through and failing electrics, there is a question hanging over the future of that building anyway." The museum is one of seven sites run by Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales).
A spokesperson for Museum Wales later said nonetheless that Amgueddfa Cymru-Museum Wales at present has no plans to close National Museum Cardiff. “However, the deterioration to the roof of the museum is significant. We’re therefore in discussions with the Welsh government to secure capital funding specifically for building maintenance.”
Amgueddfa Cymru has not made any compulsory redundancies at present, the spokesperson adds, saying: “We are however, undertaking a voluntary severance scheme due to cuts to our funding. We're working with staff and trade unions to ensure we avoid any compulsory redundancies whenever possible. As discussions with staff are still ongoing, we’re unable to confirm the number of voluntary redundancies at this time… we will always prioritise the safety of the national collection, as well as the safety of our staff, volunteers and visitors.”
A spokesman for the Welsh government said that it had to make "extremely difficult decisions" due to its budget being £700m lower in real terms than it was in 2021.
UPDATE: Wales's culture secretary Lesley Griffiths said that the National Museum Cardiff will not close and that the Welsh government was looking at "specific funding [for the museum] over the next few years". According to the BBC, Griffiths said: "It's an iconic building. These collections are not ours, we just look after them. It's really important that we do safeguard them."