Drakeford to ‘wait and £59m to support the
FIRST Minister Mark Drakeford has refused to commit to giving £59m to Wales’ struggling arts sector as a support package.
Mr Drakeford yesterday said the Welsh Government would decide how any additional money is spent only after UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak gives his summer economic update later this week.
The sum was triggered by the UK Government’s announcement of a £1.57bn support package for the UK arts sector, including museums, galleries, theatres and music venues.
But yesterday, Mr Drakeford said he would wait to assess whether other areas of Wales’ funding were to be affected following Mr Sunak’s speech to Parliament on Wednesday.
“I want to wait until we see the whole package, then Cabinet will sit down, knowing how much money we have at our disposal, and attend to the many demands there are for help here in Wales, including help that is needed by the arts sector,” he told the Welsh Government’s daily press briefing.
He added: “When the UK Government
announces a headline figure, what they very often don’t tell us is what is new money, and what is money that they are simply recycling from existing budgets.
“There was an announcement about a week ago of money for tutoring in the education service. It turned out when we looked at it that most of that money wasn’t new at all, it was just money they were reimbursing from their own budgets.
“It’s why I’m reluctant today to commit to saying anything on the £59m, because so easily on Wednesday we could learn that we are losing money from other changes made at Whitehall and there won’t be £59m after all.”
On Friday before the announcement was made, Mr Drakeford had accused the UK Government of “trailing but not delivering” a package of support for the sector.
Venues are still not allowed to reopen, with the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff having cancelled all shows until April 2021 – putting 250 jobs at risk.
The annual turnover of industry in Wales is round £2.2bn a year and employs 56,000 people.
The Welsh Conservative Party said the Welsh Government had “no excuses” not to “quickly” use the £59m sum to protect the country’s cultural venues.
Its leader in the Senedd, Paul Davies, tweeted following Mr Drakeford’s press conference: “No ifs or buts. The Welsh Government needs to urgently see to the £59m reaching out cultural venues.”
The comments came as an open letter from Plaid Cymru calling for the £59m to be spent on the arts sector “in full” has been backed by Charlotte Church and Catrin Finch, the former official harpist to the Prince of Wales.
The signatories also include actor Carys Eleri, national poet of Wales Ifor ap Glyn and actor Mark Lewis Jones.
Plaid leader Adam Price said: “The announcement of £59m coming to the Welsh arts industry will no doubt be a great relief to so many within the sector. However, the Welsh Government must now show leadership in Wales by establishing a task force that ensures that the money is distributed fairly across the sector.
“Having spoken to members of the arts sector, it is clear that they have been shouting from the rooftops for help, support and leadership during this crisis. Redundancy consultation periods are happening today across the country and in a few weeks, that process will be irreversible. Many freelance workers who fell through the gaps have not received a penny since this crisis began and are already facing