Culture minister clashes with committee over funding

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

Plans for a 2% budget increase for arts and sport fail to address the fundamental issue of Wales’ relatively low cultural spending, Senedd members have warned.

Delyth Jewell, who chairs the Senedd’s culture committee, questioned whether a “standstill” budget is sufficient given Wales ranks among the lowest in Europe for spending on culture.

Culture minister Jack Sargeant said the Welsh Government’s “roll-over” draft budget, which increases broadly in line with inflation, marks a significant shift from only a few years ago.

Labour’s Alun Davies warned of a “disconnect between rhetoric and reality”, saying: “We’ve had a tussle with yourself and your predecessors about funding for the arts and sport…

“The government’s position is, I presume, that it does accept that Wales funds the arts, culture and sport less well than any other UK nation and less well than any other comparable nation across Europe. Is that the case?”

Giving evidence today (November 19), Mr Sargeant told the committee the league table includes many caveats as he questioned whether it is a like-for-like comparison.

Mr Davies pressed his Labour colleague, asking: “Does the government accept the relative position of Wales? It’s either yes or no.”

The minister replied: “We accept the position we’re in where we are funding our arts and sports sector, they had an increase in the budget last year and they’ve had an increase re-stated this year but, again, this is not the end of the process.”

But Mr Davies suggested: “The fact that you don’t say yes or no does indicate to me that you do recognise the relative situation of Wales… so there’s a recognition there that Wales is poorly funded for its arts, poorly funded for culture, poorly funded for sport.”

Mr Sargeant pointed to significant increases in longer-term capital funding over the past decade, highlighting a £700,000 investment in Mr Davies’ Blaenau Gwent constituency.

‘Fabulous’

The culture minister raised evidence the committee heard from Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales) which “described the position as ‘fabulous’” on capital funding.

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan, who worked for the museum until her election in 2021, countered: “I think that is selective use of the word ‘fabulous’… there was a ‘but’ there.”

She asked: “Do you think that it’s fabulous now, that the sector’s in a fabulous position, is that the view of the Welsh Government?”

Mr Sargeant dismissed suggestions he was using the word “fabulous” out of context, quoting from the record and recognising that challenges remain.

Mr Davies suggested: “There has been no decision in government to address the relative paucity of funding for Welsh culture, arts and sport, and there’s been no decision taken to address that fundamental issue – am I correct? The answer’s yes or no to be fair.”

‘No sense of urgency’

The minister replied: “No, the answer is that we don’t just invest in culture and sport through the culture and sport part of the portfolio. I think that’s clear for everyone to see.

“We’ve seen other investments in the budget this year, and previous years, from other portfolios and the re-stated budget allows that to happen again.”

Mr Davies, a former minister, suggested the sector will continue to be relatively  “badly” funded. “We can congratulate our football team as much as we like,” he said. “But, unless we’re actually investing in the future, then what does that future look like?

“And I’m concerned that in the Welsh Government there doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency facing this defining part of our cultural life.”

Mr Sargeant said: “I fight for the arts and sports sector every single day,” pointing to increases for culture between last year’s draft and final budgets.

‘Marmot nation’

The debate shifted to broader strategy and plans to make Wales the world’s first “Marmot nation” by tackling health inequalities, with Mr Davies asking: “What does this mean?”

Mr Sargeant told the committee change would not come overnight. He explained becoming a “Marmot nation” furthers the case for more preventive spending but he stressed ministers must simultaneously balance acute pressures in the health service too.

He earlier illustrated this preventative approach with mental health training for every Welsh football club, saying: “It’s a decision I wanted to make because of the reasons, which we’ve seen far too publicly, of the issue of suicide and mental health for young men, in particular.

“And I make no apology for making that decision. I have personal experience with that.

“My best friend of 20 years, our former colleague and indeed my dad have all had that experience, so I take pride in putting money into that initiative.”

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