At least 17 councils in Scotland have had to close heritage or museum facilities over the past few years due to Covid-19, repair and maintenance needs, or other resourcing 2 Bullets 1& 2 from a survey by the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) in summer 2022 https://aim-museums.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Seeking-Certainty-AIM-snap-survey-Sept- 2022_opt.pdf 3 From multiple sources, AIM Summer 2022 survey, Heritage Pulse Surveys in Summer 2022 and feedback at OPOF consultation events held in late 2022/early 2023 https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/about/insight/research/heritage-sector-concerned-about- financial-outlook-committed-environment issues.