Our response to the Scottish Parliament budget scrutiny 2024-25

29 August 2023

The Museums Association has responded to the Scottish Parliament’s budget scrutiny consultation on funding for culture.

Responses to this consultation will help the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee to make recommendations to the Scottish Government ahead of its budget for 2024-25.

The key points we raised in our response were:

• The lack of investment in the museum sector is impacting the ability of museums to deliver against Scottish Government priorities
• Museums continue to face long-term budget pressures
• Museums need urgent investment in buildings and maintenance to support the ambition to reach net zero by 2045
• Low pay and low morale are affecting the museum workforce
• Cross-departmental working needs to be formalised to truly embed culture across policy areas
• Any actions for the sector in the refreshed Culture Strategy Action Plan must be supported with funding for them to be achieved