University museums face 26% cut in Scottish Funding Council grant

The funding body for higher education in Scotland has cut its regular grant to university museums, galleries and collections by 26% for 2024/25.

The Scottish Funding Council has reduced the available Museums, Galleries and Collections grant pot from £1.2m in 2023/24 to £884,000 in 2024/25 in response to a “particularly challenging” budget settlement.

The funding council has also made the decision to withdraw university museums that do not hold Recognised collections from the grant altogether. Institutions with Recognised collections will see their grants reduced by 20%.

University Museums in Scotland (Umis), the network representing Scotland's university museums, as well as sector bodies including the Museums Association, have written to the funding council to express alarm at the cut and call for it to be reversed.

Umis says the cut was made without consultation or impact assessment, and warns that university museums in Scotland risk falling behind those in the rest of the UK as a result, in light of the 20% uplift in the Higher Education Museums, Galleries and Collections Fund awarded by Research England.

Museums Galleries Scotland says the loss of funding will “halt excellent collaborative work”.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Funding Council said: “We understand the value of the university museums, galleries and collections. However, in the context of a particularly challenging budget settlement we cannot afford to fund everything, and we have had to make some very difficult choices.

“We will continue to invest £884,000 in supporting university museums, galleries and collections which have Recognised Collections of National Significance to Scotland as designated and supported by the Museums Galleries Scotland Recognition Scheme.”

Wider change

The cut comes at a time of upheaval in the Scottish Government and change for the wider museum and culture sector.

As part of a reshuffle by the SNP’s new first minister John Swinney, the Scottish Government has axed the post of culture minister, which was most recently held by Kaukab Stewart. Instead, the remit for culture, museums and heritage has moved to the culture secretary Angus Robertson.

However, arm’s-length culture bodies in Robertson’s Edinburgh Central constituency will report directly to deputy first minister Kate Forbes to avoid a conflict of interest.