, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Very unusually, I disagree with very little of what Laura Anne Jones has said. Have we ever heard a protest like that on the Senedd steps? I don't think so. It was truly incredible. I fully appreciate the concerns around the Welsh National Opera. I met with…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I wasn't going to say, 'I visited', but, as you say, I have. I'm trying to remember if it was in 2021 or—. I think it was 2021 I visited. I remember I had to wear a face covering, so it was around that time. And I'm ashamed to say it was the first time I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Museum development support in Wales is provided directly by the Welsh Government. This support includes a workforce development programme, a capital grant fund and revenue grants delivered through the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales. All…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Thank you. Yes, I'd certainly be very happy to meet with you to discuss. We do have some armed forces-specific sport schemes. As you know, we've got our free swimming scheme, for instance; that continues to provide local authorities with the funding to enable…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Thank you. I absolutely agree with you on that last point, and that's why I'm so pleased that culture, which obviously includes sport, and social justice have been put together in one portfolio, because I absolutely agree with you that it does play a key…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
The Welsh Government has maintained capital funding for Sport Wales at £8 million in 2024-25. The artificial turf pitch collaboration group and the court collaboration group determine successful projects following an application process.
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you. I repeat that I really do not want to hear any speculation, but I absolutely accept Welsh Government's part in the delivery of healthcare at HMP Parc. I haven't had a specific meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services, but…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you. I think you raise some very important points, and I too want to pay tribute to the staff at the prison who are having to deal with a very difficult situation, and I suppose that's what I was trying to say in my answer to Luke Fletcher—a lot of this…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you. As I say, there is that partnership approach going forward. Whilst the running of prisons is a reserved matter, of course, the health of prisoners here in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government. I’ve already met with the Minister of State for…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you. I send my sincere condolences to all those affected by the recent deaths at HMP Parc prison. The operational running of prisons is reserved, however Welsh Government is liaising with the UK Government and other partners to ensure action is being…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
Can I just come back to Alun's first point? I don't disagree with you about the funding, and, obviously, we had to make some very difficult choices. So, I've come in at a time when, as you say, the budget has been cut significantly. So, I think that, in the…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
That didn't come over to me, but then when you're talking to the Secretary of State—. You know, we're all very parochial when we're Cabinet Secretaries, or Secretaries of State, of our own departments. So, I certainly didn't get that impression, no.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
So, certainly—. As I say, I've met Lucy Frazer once, and it was in an inter-ministerial group with Scotland and Northern Ireland Ministers as well, and I would say absolutely they do. And they also understood that it was really important to recognise that the…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
So, it's really important that we have events that enable that to happen. So, we had an event last month up at Galeri Caernarfon, called the cultural mobility forum, and that's where this sort of information can be shared with people from overseas. So, it is…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
I mentioned Arts Infopoint UK. Wales Arts International certainly help with information. If you look on the website, there's information about different visa requirements, different border control issues going into—. It's not even just one set of…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
Yes, absolutely. One of the things I've been asked to do—Jeremy could help as well—is to push for visa-free status for artists within the EU. I'm going to meet with Wales Arts International to get an update on that, to see what further work we can do in…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
Yes, I agree with you, and I think in Wales we've got some very small companies that, as you say, don't have the resources to be able to access that information. We've got Arts Infopoint UK, which helps artists coming into the country, as well as the other…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
From the culture sector point of view, from Creative Europe, from that European funding that you were referring to before, I think we had about €1.9 million, but there is no bespoke funding from the UK Government now for the culture sector.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
When you refer to 'the sector'—
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
I would agree with Jeremy, certainly, having had experience in a couple of departments on that. And I think that's why the upcoming review is so important. I think on the point that Alun and Jeremy were making, that this is a kind of technical exercise at the…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
Tom's going to come in.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
I haven't got any immediate plans to visit Brussels, but what I've asked officials to do—. Obviously, they're our closest neighbour, and it's really important we continue to build relationships with them. I think, in the culture, arts and sport part of the…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
There's a queue. [Laughter.]
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
I think that certainly has an impact. As I mentioned, I think officials work at a much better level, probably, than sometimes the Ministers do. But, ultimately, if you get to know somebody in your work—. So, I'll use George Eustice as an example. I built up a…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Culture and the new relationship with the European Union: Evidence session with the Welsh Government (8)
So, Wales will have had a huge amount of money from those European programmes. It’s now gone into—. Is it global? As I say, it’s not in our portfolios, but it’s a global fund, and we’re not getting anything, really, like we were.
