Museums and galleries to receive £50m in funding

SCOTLAND’S museums and galleries will receive nearly £50 million in public funding next year. National Museums Scotland will get the largest chunk of the cash, £29.12m Around £14.44m will go to National Galleries of Scotland while non-national museums and galleries will 
receive £3.18m.

Around £3m is going to the V&A in Dundee, which is set to be an international centre of design when it opens in three years time. The cash allocations mean that funding for the museums and galleries sector will total £49.74m in 2013-14.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop, speaking at the Museums Association Conference in Edinburgh, said: “Museums and galleries are tremendously important to society and the economy.”

There are believed to be 340 museums and galleries in Scotland, looking after more than 12 million objects. They attract an estimated 23.5 million visits every year, generating around £660m for the economy.

The NMS funding is down around 2 per cent on the total it received in the current financial year. The National Galleries of Scotland 2013-14 pot is down 3.9 per cent from the £15.04m received for 2012-13.

But the Scottish Government said the current year’s figures include additional capital funding. When the money allocated in the draft budgets for both years is compared, the drop is 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.