Urgent explanation needed about Arts funding say Plaid Cymru

FOLLOWING concerns around the amount of funding available to the arts industry following the £59 million announced by the UK Government, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Culture Minister says Welsh Government must give clarification

Sian Gwenllian MS has written to the First Minister and the Culture Minister, Dafydd Elis Thomas, to express concern about the confusion about the amount of funding available to the arts industry following the £59 million announced last week.

In the letter, Ms. Gwenllian notes that it seems that the initial sum announced is “nowhere near the amount that will be made available”, and requests an explanation on what funding will be made available, and how it will be distributed amongst the desperately struggling industry.

Ms. Gwenllian also referred to a letter Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price MS and herself had sent the First Minister last week, imploring the Welsh Government to “work with the sector on a road map for the arts ” – a call that was backed by over seventy industry representatives and signed online by hundreds more.

Redundancy consultations across the industry are referred to in the letter, with Ms. Gwenllian warning that “some of these steps are already irreversible”.

Sian Gwenllian added,

“I was dismayed to hear in the Senedd on Wednesday that the Welsh Government cannot provide any clarity or indeed any concrete information to the arts sector in Wales about COVID support funding despite the announcement from UK Government last week that £59M was available from the Treasury.

“Either the UK Government has misled the arts sector in Wales with their announcement and that there is no such money – or the Welsh Government has decided to ignore the announcement and use the money elsewhere.

“This confusion has created panic within the sector. They are on their knees already and they urgently deserve clarity and transparency from the Welsh Government. They also need to be supported as an important part of the economy, employing nearly 60,000  people.  And they deserve recognition – the arts sector has a vital part to play in the recovery process – helping us to express and analyse what we have all endured during the COVID Lock-down. But if the financial support doesn’t materialize very soon, Wales’ once-thriving industry will simply disappear overnight and recovery will take many years.”