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Arts in crisis for a decade, ex-minister says

Catrin Haf Jones
BBC News
BBC Penny, a woman with dark blonde hair, sits at a desk with a pile of books next to her, holding an open book which she is reading while smiling. In the background of the shop she is sitting in you can see shelves of yarn.BBC
Penny Thomas of FireFly Press says she knows people who are working for nothing

The Welsh Labour government "obviously doesn't believe the arts are important", a former culture minister has said.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas, a former Plaid Cymru member in Cardiff Bay, said the sector has faced "a crisis for the last decade".

But Culture Minister Jack Sargeant has rejected the claims and says he's "not hiding away" from the sector's challenges.

On Friday, he announced an extra £4.4m a year for the arts, culture and publishing in Wales, restoring funding to 2023/24 levels.

In January, a cross-party Senedd committee found there had been "historic underfunding" of the arts in Wales, with the Arts Council of Wales saying there was "a crisis currently facing the culture sector".

But Sargeant told culture committee members he "wouldn't describe it as a crisis".

The committee said this raised "significant concerns about whether the minister fully appreciates the extent of the pressures the sector is facing".

Welsh National Opera chorus members protest against funding cuts on stage during a curtain call in Cardiff earlier this month

'Perfect storm' for publishers

The publishing sector in Wales says it's seen a real terms funding cut of almost half since 2010.

Rachel Lloyd, head of publishing at Gwasg Rily, said it's been a "perfect storm" for the industry.

"We've had the cost of living crisis, then school cutbacks, library closures. I work in children's publishing and they were all customers to us."

Another Caerphilly-based publisher, Penny Thomas, of FireFly Press, said: "I know people working for nothing.

"Owner-publishers who don't take their own salary or cut their own salary. I can think of three or four examples of that."

But publishing is one of many areas in Welsh cultural life feeling the strain.

Theatre's 'ongoing struggle'

Paul Davies, artistic director at Volcano Theatre in Swansea, said it was an ongoing struggle.

"We're not funded enough, we got a real terms cut with regards to inflation."

The theatre company, based in an old Iceland shop on High Street, puts on regular productions and also hosts a number of weekly community groups and activities.

"It means our fundraiser is left just chasing her tail, trying to scramble to get money together from charitable foundations to fund the men's group, the women's group, the Storyopolis project which is about children's literacy.

"The say 'Volcano, you're doing great work with all your activities at the front of the building, but we're not going to fund them'."

Picture and quote box: Rhodri Glyn Thomas sitting in a homely setting with family photos in the background. Adjacent is this quote of his: "The arts create a Welsh identity and the national institutions of Wales are a cornerstone of our nationhood"

The Senedd's culture committee report found in 2022, Wales spent less per head on cultural services than any other country in Europe, apart from Greece, at £69.68 per head.

Thomas, a culture minister between 2007 and 2008 in the Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition government in Cardiff, said the figures speak for themselves.

"The Welsh government obviously doesn't believe the arts are important in Wales.

"But the arts create a Welsh identity and the national institutions of Wales are a cornerstone of our nationhood.

"It is a crisis, it's been a crisis for the last decade and it's got worse every year."

He also dismissed Welsh government suggestions of a trade-off between funding the arts and the NHS, saying arts funding was "miniscule" compared to the NHS.

"What would be a small investment in terms of the money spent on health would make a massive different to the arts, whereas it makes very little difference to the expenditure on health."

'Brighter future'

The Welsh government budget, announced last week, means that combined day-to-day spending for arts, culture, heritage and sport in Wales for 2025-2026 will now be £112.m, while £73.8m has been made available for capital spending for things like buildings and infrastructure.

The budget for NHS core services next year is £11.4bn.

Speaking to BBC Politics Wales, Sargeant said: "The resilience of the sector has been simply remarkable and working with the sector, with this increased funding we'll see a brighter future - an increase in funding of 8.5%... and an incredible investment in capital, £74m... in the budget this year.

"I will make the case every single day to show how important the sector is for the nation."

The Arts Council of Wales has welcomed the money, saying it helped address a 10.5% cut announced by the Welsh government last year, and that it was a "positive signal for the sector that the arts are valued by government".