Scottish Government In £10m V & A Pledge

An extra £10 million of Scottish Government funding has been pledged to the construction of the V&A museum in Dundee.

It comes after it emerged on Friday that the cost of building the museum has risen by more than £30 million.

The previously approved budget for the construction of the museum was £49 million but the total building cost has gone up to £80.11 million, the city council revealed.

The extra funding announced today increases the Scottish Government's capital contribution towards the project to £25 million.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: "V&A Dundee will be an iconic statement at the heart of the Dundee Waterfront development. The signature building will create local jobs and contribute significantly to the regeneration of the Dundee and its waterfront, giving the city and Scotland a world-class design museum and visitor attraction.

"The cornerstone of the ambitious Dundee Waterfront development, V&A Dundee is expected to generate more than 270,000 visitor engagements per year and contribute an additional £11.6 million per year to the local and national economy.

"The #25 million capital funding we have allocated to this iconic project underlines the Scottish Government's firm commitment to working with the project board to ensure its delivery, success and long-term sustainability."

Work on the project, which is set to transform the city's waterfront area, could begin in March if councillors approve the funding strategy set out in a report published on Friday.

If it is given the go-ahead, the Kengo Kuma-designed museum is expected to open by June 2018 but later than originally planned.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop, said: "V&A Dundee will be an incredibly important asset to the city and to Scotland as a whole in both cultural and economic terms. The project has already played a major role in the recent award of Unesco City of Design status for Dundee.

"It will highlight Scotland's exceptional design talent and illustrious design heritage, stimulate design innovation and attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from far and wide to its world-class exhibitions.

"The Scottish Government's strong support for V&A Dundee builds on our extensive programme of investment in cultural infrastructure in recent years, including for exhibition and storage facilities for the National Museums, National Galleries and National Library in Edinburgh and new performance and rehearsal facilities for Scottish Opera, the RSNO and the National Theatre of Scotland in Glasgow."

According to the report, to be discussed in the coming weeks by the Policy and Resources Committee, around £6.6 million of the extra cost would come from private fundraising while the Scottish Government has been asked to contribute further through a funding strategy.

An additional £4.5 million is being sought from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £6.5 million can be accommodated within the city council's capital programme for 2015-18, the report said.

The Scottish Government said it is also currently in discussions with the local council and the Dundee Design Limited project board in relation to the proposed creation of a growth accelerator model (Gam) package for the Dundee Waterfront Project, anchored by the V&A project.