National Museum Cardiff will remain open, culture secretary pledges

Specific funding will be made available to repair Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd – National Museum Cardiff after warnings it could close, the Welsh culture secretary has told the Senedd this week.

Lesley Griffiths, who was appointed culture secretary last month, was responding to questions on the future of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales after the institution’s chief executive, Jane Richardson, told of the severe challenges it was facing following a £3m cut to its grant-in-aid.

These include the possible closure of one of the institution’s seven sites, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd – National Museum Cardiff, which requires urgent funding for repairs, as well as the loss of least 90 staff from Museum Wales’s workforce within a matter of weeks.

Responding to a question on National Museum Cardiff, Griffiths pledged that "specific funding over the next few years" would be made available to repair the museum building.

"It's an iconic building. These collections are not ours, we just look after them," she told the Senedd. "It's really important that we do safeguard them."

She added: "I want to reassure everyone the national museum is not closing."

Griffiths said that while her department’s budget is small, the museum’s future is "not just a matter for me, it's a cross-government issue".

Museum and heritage workers have requested urgent talks with Griffiths after comments from the first minister, Vaughan Gething defending the budget decision.

Members of the union Prospect have written to Griffiths to request a meeting to discuss the impact of the cut. The 10.5% grant-in-aid reduction, combined with a £1.5m year-on-year deficit, meant the institution had to reduce its 2024/25 revenue budget by £4.5m by the end of March.

Prospect’s Jane Lancastle said: “The union has regular meetings with senior management at the museum to work through the consequences of the funding issues.

“We have written to Lesley Griffiths, cabinet secretary for culture and social justice, to seek a meeting to discuss the impacts of the Budget 2024-25 and we are awaiting a response.

“We continue to campaign for a properly funded heritage sector in Wales and work to further the social partnership with all bodies in our heritage sector.”

Opposition parties have strongly criticised the Labour Welsh Government and raised alarm over the future of Museum Wales.

Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for culture, said: "The Labour Welsh Government just don’t get culture.

"While they’re happy to pose for a picture outside one of Wales’ national museums or benefit from invites to exhibits, the reality is that 25 years of Labour rule has seen our culture and heritage institutions cut to the bone.

"We’re now seeing job losses, museums potentially closing, and national collections at risk.

"The new cabinet secretary for culture must fully grasp the seriousness of the situation and take urgent action to safeguard our national collections, and the workforce that cares for them.

"A country so rich in its history, heritage and culture cannot risk losing its national memory.”

Fychan pointed out that the Welsh Government’s position is at odds with the Labour Party’s stance in Westminster, where opposition leader Keir Starmer has pledged to protect culture.

She said: “The irony is that while Starmer pleads that a UK Labour Government will end the war on culture, their track record in Wales says the opposite."

The Welsh Conservatives have also raised alarm over the cuts to Museum Wales, with shadow culture secretary Tom Giffard saying the scale of redundancies is “concerning not just for the individuals who will be impacted, but for all of us".

He criticised first minister Gething, who defended the cuts saying they were necessary in order to prioritise spending in other areas.

Giffard said: "The Labour Welsh Government should scrap its vanity projects and use those funds to protect our cultural history."

New culture secretary

Lesley Griffiths was named cabinet secretary for culture and social justice after Vaughan Gething became Wales’s new first minister in March.

Her remit includes the national museums and galleries of Wales, local museums and collections, Cadw and the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments, the historic environment in Wales, the sponsorship and remit of the Arts Council of Wales, and the National Library of Wales.

Griffiths’ appointment comes after a tumultuous few months for the Welsh culture and heritage sector following the announcement of the Welsh Government’s budget last December, which included 10.5% cuts to Museum Wales, the arts council and the national library, along with cuts to heritage bodies and local museums.

The Museums Association (MA) is seeking a meeting with the new culture secretary to discuss the future of the sector.

MA director Sharon Heal said: “We very much welcome the appointment of the Lesley Griffiths as the new secretary for culture and social justice. There are brilliant examples of museums across Wales that are delivering against government priorities on child poverty, health and wellbeing and creating a greener, fairer future for all, and we hope to meet with the new secretary at the earliest opportunity to discuss the value that museums deliver and the challenges that are facing the sector.”