Cuts to culture funding could see Eastleigh Museum close for good among other venues.

The reduction of funding to the Hampshire Cultural Trust could also see Ashcroft Arts Centre in Fareham, the Andover Museum and Museum of the Iron Age, and Curtis Museum in Alton at risk.

Hampshire County Council is set to cut the funding it gives to Hampshire Cultural Trust by £600,000 from April 2027 as part of the 13 measures to address the budget deficit of £175m for 2025/26.

The museum is currently shut to visitors but could be closed down for good.

In 2014, the county council transferred the management and operation of its arts and museum services to Hampshire Cultural Trust, an independent organisation.

An agreement with the council sees the trust get grant funding to support the operation and management of the venues.

Within the agreement, the trust delivers arts and museum services from various venues, including museums, art galleries, art centres, and unique historical attractions, 17 of which are leased from the county council.

But initial assessments by the trust have identified the “most likely” potential closure in the “near future” of the Ashcroft Arts Centre and Eastleigh Museum if the grant funding is cut.

In July 2024, the county council agreed to the trust’s request for a temporary pause in arts and community programming at Ashcroft Arts Centre in Fareham, effective at the end of September 2024.

According to the trust, this was because of the “operational challenges and realities of running a public programme in a venue that is under threat of closure”.

Eastleigh Museum, which shows what life was like in the 1930s, closed its doors to the public in April 2022, following the departure of One Community, which staffed the venue. The trust’s website said it is in talks with Eastleigh Borough Council and Hampshire County Council regarding the museum’s long-term future.

The total grant paid by the county council to the trust has been subject to regular review, and in 2023/2024, it was £2.5 million.

Due to the council’s financial deficit, the proposal aims to reduce the annual grant to the Trust by £600,000 from April 2027.

The report, which will go to the cabinet for approval on October 14, said that a few venues could be closed as a consequence of the reduction.

The proposal is one of the 13 included in the ‘future services consultation’ that the county council launched to generate £17.5m of savings.