‘Major flooding has impacted the National Museum in Cardiff again. It was previously revealed that on nights where heavy rain is forecast, museum staff are on call to go and move valuable pieces of art from the walls to avoid damage.
In December 2023, the chief executive of Amgueddfa Cymru said she was “really worried” about pieces of work including works by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh.
In a damning statement, Jane Richardson told the Senedd’s culture committee: “When we are expecting a storm or heavy rain, we have to put the staff on standby so they can come into the building in the middle of the night to take paintings off the wall. I’m not exaggerating there, that is what our staff do. We never, ever compromise the safety of the works … but that is the reality of my colleagues’ working life at the moment.”
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The chief executive, Jane Richardson and chair, Kate Eden, were at a hearing of the Senedd’s culture committee today (Wednesday, December 11) where Ms Richardson revealed that 10 days ago, there was further “major flooding” of the ground floor and into the natural science galleries. “Those were spaces we didn’t know were a risk until the day of that flood”.
She admitted there were galleries at the National Museum which are unable to open due to staff shortages but said funding announced in the draft budget had taken any potential site closures off the table. She said there had been lots of questions about charging for exhibitions, but they were “really clear” they will not charge for entry. “The collection belongs to the people of Wales,” she said, but the museum had to generate more income. She said where there is an activity which requires extra resource, exhibitions, talks or tours, that is what they will charge for but it will be on a case-by-case basis.
She said there had been pressure on the museum by Welsh Government to begin urgent works, but she said surveys needed to be carried out to see where water was getting into the building. She said there was a delay then in the business case being “bounced around”. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
There was concern from committee members about how long getting government money released had taken. Ms RIchardson said they had been in consultation with Welsh Government since May about how a promised £1.3m should be spent. Approval was given for that the day before the meeting (December 10).
She said the museum was optimistic about the draft budget, announced by Mark Drakeford on December 10, She said they expect to get 3.5% uplift which is £900,000 but they needed £2m so there was a shortfall. However, of that they face a £500,000 bill to meet requirements of the UK Government’s changes to employer National Insurance contributions. If that were met by the government, she said, they would be able to balance the books.
They are also in line for about £8.2m more in capital – longer term spending – for National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans, the Waterfront Museum in Swansea and the National Slate Museum in Llanberis. “That money will make a really big difference,” but she said there was a concern about how quickly they would get access to the funds because there is a process to follow with business cases have to be prepared for any spending under £2m.
In relation to the national museum in Cardiff, that money is, in effect, an installment of a total of £30m pledged by Welsh Government for urgent requirements there. That, she said requires, a full business case and there is a risk they would not be able to produce that in time to draw down the money within the financial year.
Amgueddfa Cymru chief executive, Jane Richardson speaks at the Senedd’s culture committee -Credit:Senedd Cymru
The museum had previously been criticised over a £750,000 bill to settle an employment dispute which the Auditor General said had shown a “questionable use of funds”. You can see that here.
There was an impact on morale, which Ms Richardson said had got “really bad” and then cost-cutting measures had further impacted staff. Ms Richardson said between mid-February and April 1, they lost one in six staff with 144 roles going via a redundancy scheme, she said. Some roles had been created and aren’t all yet full, she said. The opening hours have been reduced in winter and there have been front of house changes, but morale is now improving.
Plaid Cymru MS Heledd Fychan said an impact on visitor experience had been noted. Ms Richardson, said: “We have to do less now than we could before. At the National Museum in Cardiff there are galleries not open to the public because we don’t have enough staff. It really affects our collections work because everything will be slower to do and more limited, whether it’s the items we acquire or loan because there aren’t the people there. We have to manage expectations of the public.”