Museums are in grave danger of forced closure and need millions of pounds of extra funding to survive, according to the Policy Studies Institute. The latest issue of Cultural Trends, published by the PSI, sounds a 'loud warning bell' for the future of museums. Author, Adrian Babbidge, suggests that because a period of uncontrolled expansion has now run out of steam, museums need an additional £29m each year. As the market is 'static', the increased running-costs of lottery-funded new buildings and extensions, could prove a disaster for many museums, according to the PSI. Babbidge believes that there is a substantial risk that many museums will find themselves over-committed and fail at a time of reducing public subsidy, increased competition from other kinds of visitor attractions and static visitor numbers. The report says that many projects are only now being launched, so the full picture will probably not emerge for another two years - although the £9m Centre for the Visual Arts in Cardiff, part-funded with Lottery money, closed its doors a little more than a year after opening. The PSI report puts the critical situation down to four main factors: Less than one per cent of Heritage Lottery Fund money has been spent on documenting collections or reducing conservation backlogs, while 55 per cent has gone on new capital projects or extensions, with significant implications for future running costs. Local-authority funding for museums is falling in real terms Independent museums are experiencing a long-term decline in visitor numbers because of increasing competition from other types of visitor attractions. Central government funding remains uneven. Currently, almost 90 per cent of government funding on museums is spent in London and the south-east. Babbidge says a coherent national museums policy is now essential: Without one it will be impossible to test what should be saved and what should go. Maurice Davies, deputy director of the Museums Association, takes a more positive view of the future: The lottery is bringing in resources undreamt of just five years ago and as a result, dozens of museums are brighter, better and more popular than ever before. A regional task force has now been set up by Culture Secretary, Chris Smith and is being taken forward by Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries.