Over the decade from 2009 to 2019 total expenditure on local government museums in Wales fell by 31% in real terms. It was a decade of significant financial constraint. Local authorities have been traditionally one of the key sources of financial support for UK museums. This has impacted on not only museums in Wales but in the whole UK, with cuts in funding having a noticeable effect. This ranges from closures, transfer out from local authority control, reduced hours, lack of staff capacity, introduction of admission charges and reduced funding for maintenance of buildings and collections.

There is variation in levels of cuts to museums in different local authority areas due to factors affecting various decision-making processes. These include:

• Pressure to fund and prioritise statutory services.
• Political preferences within the local authority.
• Political value of the museum service to the local authority.
• Financial cost of running the museum service.
• Capacity to source additional resources such as grants

The Museums and Austerity report examines, verifies, and collates data into a report that shows the impact of austerity.

The report determines the situation in terms of core public funding, closures, changes in staffing levels and changes to governance structures.  It also tries to include more hidden impacts such as changes to opening hours and the introduction of admission charges, but detailed data was not always available.

This report from the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales was funded by Welsh Government through its Culture Division.