The restructuring reaches its official conclusion at the end of this month, but the level of long-term funding from central government remains uncertain, with the allocation for 2015/16 yet to be announced (at the time of going to press), and the General Election in May adding a further layer of uncertainty. ‘If it continues at the same rate of decline we’ve had in the past two years, then we’re into some really serious and unpalatable options,’ Deverell, who joined Kew from the BBC (where, among other things, he was in charge of children’s programming), said last month. These options would include having to close Kew Gardens to the public for part of the year, and Deverell cannot rule out further job cuts in the future.