Kew Gardens staffing levels are now "at the bones" after a reduction in funding triggered a restructure - with an extra £2.3m for next year welcomed, but a stop-gap.

Earlier this year, the Royal Botanic Gardens faced a £5m hole in its budget which could not be filled without losing a sixth of staff, mainly in scientific areas.

The deputy prime minister announced in September the Government would pledge £1.5m to continue its current level of funding and yesterday it announced a further £2.3m would be given to Kew to support research until April 2016.

Parliament's science and technology committee held a one-off evidence session this morning, addressing the issue of the budget gap, job losses and the Unesco world heritage site's strategy for the coming year.

Richard Deverell., director of Kew Gardens said: "We have been very open with our staff. We are trying to achieve two things - one is a reorganisation so Kew is fit for purpose and that we have a strategy. The other is downsizing because of the financial crisis we faced at the start of this year."

Mr Deverell confirmed that although the £2.3m funding was announced yesterday by Nick Clegg, Kew was made aware "about a week ago".

He said: "When we were planning the budget in February, we had to work on what we knew then. We had to plan on that basis.

"While the investment in September and yesterday is welcome, it is only for one year. It is a tactical investment. The biggest risk we face is volatility."

Mr Deverell said the restructure was "substantial" but added there would still be 216 full time scientists at Kew and he did not want to make a single person redundant.

Jule Flanagan, officer at Prospect union, said because of the restructure in scienticfic areas, she believed some areas of work at Kew had completely stopped.

She added: "Some of the decisions about the restructure have been very difficult for the staff to understand."

Lord de Mauley, parliamentary under-secretary at the Depatment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), told the committee the Government was listening and aware of the problems Kew faced.

He said: "I do acknowledge the concerns. The science at Kew is absolutely critical.

"Until this year we have absolutely maintained the rate of funding. But we are subject to pressures. We talk to Kew all the time and help them meet the pressures they face and we have done the best we can."