Britain's crumbling museums spent £29m on repairs as taxpayers help cover bill

Britain's crumbling museums spent £29 million on repairs in the last three years – and taxpayers helped foot the bill.

London’s Victoria and Albert(V&A), Tate galleries and Imperial War Museum had to fork out the eyewatering sum to keep their buildings safe for visitors, the Mirror can reveal. The V&A, first opened over 150 years ago, paid out £8.8 million for new toilets and other refurbs between 2022 and 2024.

Fresh furniture and general building work cost the much-lovedImperial War Museum over £16 million. And the Tate, which has galleries in London, Liverpool and Cornwall, had to find £4.2 million to keep things ship shape.

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The shock figures, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, come as Brits continue to face soaring living costs. While museums do their own fundraising through cafés, gift shops and paid exhibitions, they rely heavily on taxpayer funded grants to make ends meet.

Sharon Heal of the Museums Association said public support is essential, adding: “Our national institutions are often housed in historically significant buildings which need sustained investment in order to keep them open to the public. The current repair bill is not surprising and if you look at regional museums and galleries, which hold our national collections across the UK, the need is huge, with current outstanding repair bills running into hundreds of millions of pounds.

"The Museums Association is calling for the government to invest strategically in museums so that buildings are fit for the future and audiences can continue to explore, enjoy and learn from the collections that they hold.”

Chris Davison, CEO of buildings specialist NavLive, said museums could utilise AI to cut costs. ”Many of these buildings were first constructed over a century ago, meaning maintenance bills are both essential and costly. That’s why it’s critical that AI is deployed to speed up surveys and refurbishment, reducing overheads and ensuring these treasured institutions are always open to the public.”

Over 47 million Brits visited public museums in the year ending March 2024. The vast majority, including the V&A, Tate and Imperial War Museum, are free to visit.

A Tate spokesperson said: “The government's continued investment in our world-class museums through the Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund and the Museum Estate and Development Fund has been vital to the sector and we are very grateful for this support. These funds are urgently needed right across the museum sector for maintenance and repairs and will enable museums like Tate to continue caring for and providing access to the national collection alongside the incredible public benefit we deliver.”

An IWM spokesperson said: “This figure covers essential running costs across our five branches: IWM London, IWM North and our historic sites IWM Duxford, HMS Belfast and Churchill War Rooms. This includes waste disposal, cleaning, building maintenance and repairs, allowing us to protect our collections and stay open for more than two million annual visitors.”

The V&A was approached for comment.