TORFAEN Museum Trust could face a funding cut of £26,700 over the next four years as part of council savings.

The county borough council is proposing to gradually reduce grant funding from £76,700 to £50,000 over the next four years, with a reduction of £6,675 each year.

Torfaen council's cabinet has been recommended to approve the proposed reduction in funding at a meeting on Tuesday.

A report prepared ahead of the meeting says: "Torfaen County Borough Council has worked with the Trust over the last few months to agree a funding reduction package that will enable both the authority to meet budgetary saving requirements and the Trust to manage the repercussions of a funding reduction.

"Meetings have taken place with firstly the executive member, and then followed by a meeting with the leader and the local MP.

"The Trust, whilst obviously anxious about reductions, were appreciative of the engagement and came forward with the phased reduction and have already begun to explore ideas for future revenue income generation."

Risks identified in the report include that the Trust, which manages Pontypool Museum, may not be able to find additional funding to bridge the shortfall which could lead to staff redundancies.

But the report says the council will continue to support the Trust to find funding and become "more sustainable as an organisation to manage the repercussions of any funding shortfall."

The reduction in funding will start in the financial year 2019/20 if approved.

The council report adds: "The local authority has always been, and will continue to be, supportive of the cultural organisations including the Museum. It is hoped that by reducing the funding in smaller increments over a longer period of time, this will allow the organisation the time to adapt and make any of the necessary changes needed to acclimatise to the reduction in grant funding."

The county borough council is faced with a funding gap of £25million over the next four years. This has resulted in every area of operations being examined for budget savings, the report says.

The Trust was set up in 1979 to look after and make accessible the county borough’s heritage object collection.