Museums in Hampshire at risk of closure as cash-strapped county council set for cuts to culture

Hampshire Cultural Trust’s boss has said a “bigger conversation” is needed over funding as the actual regional system to fund these services is not working.

To tackle the estimated £132 million budget gap for 2025/26, Hampshire County Council has taken early action by unveiling a raft of measures to save money.

Thirteen proposals have been prepared by the council, one of which is to reduce the annual grants given to Hampshire Cultural Trust.

The trust manages and preserves artistic collections and objects owned or loaned by the county council. In addition, the trust delivers public services to residents who visit the county council’s properties, such as the Aldershot Military Museum, the Allen Gallery in Alton, the Forest Arts Centre in New Milton, or the Gosport Museum and Art Gallery.

Currently, the trust receives £2.5 million annually from Hampshire’s local authority but, if the cuts go ahead, that could be slashed by £600,000 by April 2027.

Paul Sapwell, the chief executive of Hampshire Cultural Trust, said he understands the council’s position but said it will force them to make tough decisions.

For instance, the trust may have to shut down some venues, such as the Ashcroft Arts Centre in Fareham, the Andover Museum, and the Museum of the Iron Age in Andover which are all “at risk”.

Mr Sapwell said: “This is an incredibly difficult period for Hampshire County Council, and I understand they must balance their budget. Of course, I would rather it didn’t hit us as much, but we are where we are.

“We have to make decisions about how we can balance that budget looking forward. We are confident that our growth plans will cover some of those cuts, but we also have to make some cost reductions.

“One of the trust options would be funding from district and borough councils. In Gosport, we receive revenue funding from Gosport Borough Council. But in Fareham, we don’t.”

The trust is looking at other options such as working with community groups and local authorities. He said the trust “probably” does not have any plans to close these museums until 2026.

Mr Sapwell said: “None of the venues proposed for closure receives any local (district and borough) council funding. Subject to the consultation, Ashcroft Arts Centre and Eastleigh Museum would close from January 1.

“Westbury Manor is different because it is not in the consultation because it is not a Hampshire County Council-owned building. We gave formal notice to them that we would hand it back on January 1 2025, and after that, what they do with the museum is up to them.”

The proposed cuts could lead to the closure of the venues, which Mr Sapwell said would result in axing programs targeted to specific groups, such as adults with learning disabilities or vulnerable individuals.

He said that would be a “significant loss” for the residents who rely on these services as they are life-changing tools.

He added: “The model for funding culture, whether museums, galleries or art centres, in the regions, is not working because local authorities in England combined are the largest funders of culture in the country. But there is no legal obligation for them to do it.

“We are not statutory services, and although they fund everything collectively, they give more money than anyone else, they don’t have to. So what we are seeing is that culture is the first place, or one of the first places that they look when they need to cut money.

“The cuts happening at the moment to the trust are for services that contribute to well-being, happiness, health… preventative areas. We work with older people with dementia, and we help people keep active by accessing culture; if they are not coming to our services, then they are going to cost more in the long run for the care system.

“From the council’s point of view, I understand why they made those decisions, but there needs to be a bigger conversation around how we fix funding for culture.”

Public consultation on the plans is open for residents until March 31, with the county council saying it has “no choice” but to consider cutting back on the financial support it gives to organisations until a sustainable, long-term national funding solution can be found. It said that will ease the “intense financial pressures” it is facing.

You can give your feedback using the online consultation response form. Or, if you prefer to complete the response form offline, you can download a printable version.

You can also email a written response directly to Hampshire County Council using [email protected] or write to Freepost HAMPSHIRE (Please also write PandO, IEU, FM09 on the back of the envelope).

Here, you can find more information on the full public consultation process.