THREE of Southampton’s top museums could soon be under new management.

The Daily Echo can reveal that the SeaCity Museum, Tudor House and City Art Gallery could all be under the management of another organisation by the end of next year.

It comes as Councillors say the attractions need to be managed by a third party – possibly the Hampshire Cultural Trust – to avoid their “demise”. If a charitable body can take on the running of the three museums then it is hoped they could bring in millions of pounds in grants, which the council is unable to do.

Discussions are taking place at a time when the cash-strapped council, which must find £90m of savings by 2020, is subsidising the museums.

The council told the Daily Echo it was unable to provide information on how much each museum was subsidised by the authority, saying the information would have to be sought through a Freedom of Information request.

However last year it was revealed that the council had subsidised SeaCity by £430,000 in the two years since it opened to great fanfare and at a cost of £15m.

Labour city council leader Simon Letts said talks about plans to transfer the management – but not the ownership – of the three attractions were at an 'advanced stage' and that staff employed at the attractions would be transferred to the new managers.

He added: “They will go as a package and we don’t anticipate they will be run by the council within the next 18 months. “I know the discussions are at a fairly advanced stage.The advantages are that we are not a charity so we could get gift aid, and if you are part of a wider group you can share marketing costs.”

Staff employed at the attractions would be transferred to the new managers.

The Hampshire Cultural Trust, set up by Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council in 2013, could be the body to take them on. Both councils still own the collections at attractions including Winchester City Museum and Eastleigh Museum, but the trust loans them to manage while the authorities still own the buildings.

Southampton City Council had been involved in the negotiations but pulled out as it was unable to guarantee funding for three years.

Speaking in a council debate this week Conservative opposition resources and leisure ownership John Hannides said: “Unless we do something more than we are doing now I’m afraid we will be overseeing their demise.

“I genuinely believed this is the right time to find operators who know more about running attractions and attracting visitors than we do.

“The gallery, SeaCity and Tudor House are costing the taxpayer a lot of money, they are being very heavily subsidised.”