Goéry Delacôte, chief executive of UK-based science centre At-Bristol, has urged the government to create a permanent fund for science centres.

He said the state should be decisive with regards to the funding issues faced by science centres and to react urgently by introducing a peer-review fund.

he said: “We are advocating the creation of permanent fund, not an entitlement, that is administered through a peer-review system with guidelines and stringent monitoring processes.

“In the US, science centres receive an estimated US$70m (£34m) per annum on initial or extended transformation. For science centres in the UK to operate at the same level, the UK government would only have to spend £17.5m a year on the sector – a fraction of the £320m per annum distributed to museums and galleries in the UK.”

Delacôte’s comments were a response to a report issued by the Science and Technology Select Committee, published on 22 October.

The report highlighted a funding gap faced by science centres in the UK, and concluded that the sector deserves continued support for its contribution to society.

Earlier this year, At-Bristol was forced to close two of its struggling attractions and axe up to 45 jobs in an effort to cut its costs.

The centre’s Wildwalk attraction and IMAX theatre closed in April 2007, due to poor attendances.

At the time, Delacôte said the decision to close the attractions was partly due to the lack of long-term government funding becoming available, and that it was important to “move to make At-Bristol financially sustainable.”