The final piece of the comprehensive spending review jigsaw was revealed last month when national museums were told how much their capital allocations would be for the next three years.

The total amount going to nationals is more than £191m. Over half of this is for maintenance, with the rest for new projects.

The biggest single winner was Tate Modern, which landed £50m towards the £215m cost of a planned extension to the museum.

The scheme will increase exhibition space by 6,000 sq metres and should be completed in time for the London Olympics in 2012.

Tate director Nicholas Serota said the remaining money would be raised mainly from private sources, although he didn't rule out applying to the lottery.

Sharon Heal