, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
It's quite specific. You're saying there's no crisis. Everyone who works in the sector says there's a crisis. We as a committee have taken evidence from countless sources, we've looked at international comparisons, we see that there's chronic underfunding…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
On what evidence?
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
To be fair, the Arts Council of Wales are a key body for the Welsh Government—a strategic delivery body. They don't throw around these kinds of comments by chance. They listen to the sector, they engage. They're telling you, as the Minister, that there's a…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
I’m asking are you worried about it, that you don’t know.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
Is this of concern to you, the fact that we don’t know, really, yet—you say the devil is in the detail—what the implications will be, because, on one hand, there’s an increase, but we don’t know how much of an increase it is?
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
Thank you. So, you’ve had clarification. So, in terms of that definition of ‘public sector’, does that include Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Library of Wales and so on? I would think, in terms of the Arts Council of Wales, obviously that would not be…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
Diolch. I wonder if you could provide us with the latest position in terms of discussions with Welsh Government sponsored bodies about whether the Welsh Government will be able to cover the increase in terms of national insurance contribution costs for staff…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
I just want to understand why, if that's the case and there's more funding than ever before, the decision was taken not to restore to even the 2023-24 levels for these sectors.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
But you were able to give them more then.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership
Thank you. If you consider there was a Conservative Government for 2023-24, and if you look at the budget for the next financial year, revenue funding remains 5 per cent lower than it was in 2023-24 for the Arts Council of Wales; 2 per cent lower for…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you. If I may, Chair, I think it would be of great interest to us as a committee to understand that and have more information as that goes forward.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you very much. May I ask you about Arfor 2? Because there was a reference in the paper, but there's no clarity in terms of the funding. What discussions have you had with the Cabinet Secretary for the economy about this? Because, as she gave evidence to…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Yes. I just wanted to ask about the funding available in the budget for the Welsh language sabbatical scheme. That remains at £3.8 million, and, given all the issues we've been discussing in terms of, for example, growth in Welsh-medium education, and the…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Yes. Because I think the expectations are different, so clarity on that is key. Thank you.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Yes, please, because, in terms of clarity, I think it would be very beneficial to have that £3.5 million—
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
You referred at the beginning of this session, in response to the Chair, to the £3.5 million that was clearly from the co-operation agreement, and we had confirmation last year from the Minister at the time, Jeremy Miles, that that £3.5 million in terms of…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you for that explanation.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you very much. If we can move on, could I ask you to explain what the rationale is for transferring the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol funding out of the Welsh in education BEL, following recent Cabinet changes, and how this aligns with current ministerial…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
One of the things that I hear from the mentrau iaith in the areas that represent is that, yes, they have been staging festivals, but because of costs or other reasons—it could be Brexit or the cost of hiring equipment—the future of these festivals is…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
But evidently, some of the changes that have been funded by the Government—. If I take the example of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pont Sion Norton in the Pontypridd area and that school being moved, there was a cylch meithrin in Cilfynydd that was funded and that…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you for that explanation. I'm pleased to hear that you think that you're on track in terms of the 150 new cylch settings by 2028. Evidently, the previous Minister had noted that 43 new settings had opened by 2021, with work continuing on opening a…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Thank you, Chair. May I ask specifically about Mudiad Meithrin? Clearly, you mentioned there about organisations having a flatline budget last year. The total that they receive has remained consistent over the last few years. Can you provide us with some…
