Exclusive:National Galleries warns 'precious' artworks, attractions 'at risk' over inadequate SNP Government funding

The National Galleries of Scotland has raised concerns that precious works of art, its buildings and infrastructure will be at risk over a new Scottish Government funding deal it has branded inadequate.

The Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. | Neale Smith

The organisation responsible for some of Scotland's most important works of art and busiest cultural attractions has claimed it will struggle to balance its books despite being promised a 9 per cent funding increase next year.

An exhibition devoted to the artist Sir John Lavery was staged by the National Galleries of Scotland this year. Picture: Neil Hanna | Neil Hanna

The National Galleries said almost all of the funding rise will be absorbed by the impact of increasing employer National Insurance contributions and the Government's public pay policies.

The organisation, which gets around £19 million in annual revenue funding, told The Scotsman it is struggling to meet rising maintenance costs across its galleries, as well as pay for its exhibitions and events programme.

Photographer Robert Wilson's image of Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa is now in the permanent collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. Picture: Neil Hanna

The organisation has said its funding is "not enough", just weeks after revealing more than a million visitors had flocked to new exhibition galleries for Scottish art since they were unveiled at the National Gallery in September last year after a £38.6m project that took nearly five years to complete.

The alarm has been raised after Scottish culture secretary Angus Robertson visited the National Gallery to highlight what he claimed would be "game-changing" new investment in culture.

New exhibition spaces dedicated to showcasing Scottish art treasures opened at the National Gallery in Edinburgh in September 2023. Picture: Neil Hanna

The government has pledged an additional £34m for the coming financial year and a further £20m in 2026/27 as part of a commitment to provide £100m in new resources by 2028.

Mr Robertson said: "Scotland’s arts and culture are at the very soul of our nation. They speak to how we see the world, how we share ideas, and how our people can give expression to their hopes. Our draft Budget could not be clearer in our steadfast support for Scotland’s arts and culture sector."

The National Galleries will have to share the £4m allocated in new funding for the "national collections" with both National Museums Scotland and the National Library of Scotland.

Around £12m in additional funding is being provided to Creative Scotland, £4m is being allocated to festivals across Scotland, £1m will be shared among national performance companies like Scottish Ballet and Scottish Opera, and £2m for the film and TV agency Screen Scotland.

The Government has also committed £4 to revive the Culture Collective programme, which will fund a network of community arts projects across the country.

The National Galleries is the first major arts organisation to criticise its funding deal for the coming financial year.

However, theatres, festivals and arts venues were due to get decisions on long-term funding applications worth an annual value of £87.5m last month, but are now not due to hear anything from Creative Scotland until late next month.

The National Galleries urged the Government to be aware of the "precarity" of Scotland's culture sector and suggested it had been "underfunded" for years.

A spokeswoman said: "We're committed to providing the widest possible access to the national art collection, but this requires adequate funding. While a 9 per cent revenue grant-in-aid increase may seem positive, the reality is that it is not enough.

"The increase will be almost entirely absorbed by our staffing costs, after the impact of the 2025/26 public sector pay policy and employer National Insurance contribution increase has been taken into consideration.

"We already operate on the minimum staffing levels required to care for the national art collection, and for all our sites to operate safely and with integrity.

"This leaves no additional budget for our activities, including our exhibitions and events programme, and is particularly challenging with increasing costs required for the maintenance of our historic galleries, creating a risk to our building fabric and infrastructure.

“It’s our mission to make art accessible for everyone, and we will continue to do everything we can to promote wellbeing through culture. We are in the process of reviewing the allocation, but we believe it will be increasingly challenging to reach a balanced budget.”

The national collections organisations are represented on Culture Counts, one of the arts organisations involved in a new campaign launched last month to demand the Government "follow through" on its promised £100m in new investment.

Culture Counts described last week's Scottish Budget announcement as "a change in trajectory for the culture sector”.

A spokeswoman said: "We hope this decision brings renewed optimism to the sector fighting tirelessly to state the case for the importance of investment in culture, most recently via the Invest In Culture campaign, which has been energetically championed by Scotland’s arts organisations, as well as by writers, musicians and performers.

"After years of campaigning and making the case, we're heartened to see concrete action from the Scottish Government in line with their stated ambition for culture, and look forward to working with them on the longer-term future of the cultural sector, increasing capacity and resilience for years to come.

"Ultimately, this decision to invest in culture is an investment in all of us – in our people, our places, and our communities."

A spokeswoman for National Museums Scotland said: “We're pleased to have received a 5.9 per cent uplift to our grant-in-aid for 2025/26. We look forward to working with the Government over the coming weeks to review the details of our allocation.

"This core funding is vital in enabling us to continue to preserve, share and make accessible to all the collections in our care, and to use and research them to enhance our understanding of our past, present and future.”

A spokeswoman for the National Library said: "In these extremely challenging times, we're grateful that this Budget recognises the enormous impact that culture, including libraries, has on communities across Scotland.

"Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of a national library in Scotland, and we will be focused on exploring ways to protect our cultural heritage for the next 100 years and beyond, in collaboration with partners and communities around the country.

"Culture is vital in helping us to address society’s main challenges and we can’t lose sight of that."