Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: That question warms my heart, because in the dim and distant past, I was a director of one of these community stations, called Champion FM, in the north, and it was a very successful radio station, which is still operating. I have followed, with some concern, what has happened in terms of the ownership and control of some of our smaller stations. And I can see that there is a very strong...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much, Vikki, for providing us with that example. I didn't actually see that particular programme, but certainly I'll make sure that the communications people who work very hard to make sure that the Welsh Government's message is transmitted properly to the people of Wales are able to ensure that that message is also transmitted properly to stations received in Wales from...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Yes, I'm very happy to provide further information about outdoor sports and, indeed, the developments that we've seen over the last few weeks, where the opportunities for outdoor sports have been emphasised by the opening up of a number of sporting activities. And I have a list here, if I can locate it, of those: they include, increasingly, the sports for various courts, including tennis...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I'm willing to take another look at this and, of course, I will discuss it with Sport Wales, who are our main conduit for our relationship with the various governing bodies. And I can say that we already supported the reopening of—I mentioned tennis and bowling greens—basketball courts, golf driving ranges, cycling velodromes, athletics tracks and cricket nets. All these are now...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Well, we have a priority for increasing the participation especially of young women in various sports. We have supported netball, we've supported women's rugby, we've supported women's football and I will certainly take that as a mission during this public health crisis. Thank you.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you for that question, Siân. We do have an economic resilience fund in place already as a Welsh Government, providing a package of business support that is among the most generous in the UK. But we are also aware through our ongoing discussions with the sectors, including the arts and culture, what longer term challenges they will face and what additional support they will need.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much. I agree with the content of your question, but I cannot respond constructively on the establishment of any sort of new taskforce, because I do think that we have the effective bodies in place already in Wales, through the Arts Council of Wales, but also through local government. And I have already had discussions—this morning, as it happens—with local authorities on...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I can certainly tell him positively that the Fusion scheme is one that I've inherited through one of my long-standing political friends, Kay Andrews—Baroness Andrews—who devised the scheme, reported to Welsh Government to set it up. And I can assure you that I would regard that as a priority for further investment, because it brings together whole issues in relation to disability and...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Well, the initial discussion among Ministers will happen this week. You talk about applying for it, but we haven't yet decided whether this is to be part of an already existing scheme, backing up what the arts council have done, and I'm very grateful for the way the arts council has managed the £7 million that we made available to them before we knew we had this further funding. So, it'll be...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Is that better? That's it—is that better?
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: May I thank everyone who has contributed to this debate and thank you for the opportunity to have such a debate on sport and the impact of this public health crisis on sport, which is similar to the debate that we had on the arts? I think it’s wonderful that the Assembly can contribute in this way in setting the agenda for Government as we respond to the crisis that we’re currently...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: There we are. I did unmute myself earlier, but I was re-muted. Diolch yn fawr.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: You can hear me clearly now. Right. Thank you very much to Alun Davies for that question. The media sector is crucial to democracy in any society and the Welsh Government's media policy includes providing support for a diversity of organisations within the media to provide consistent information for citizens, and we deeply regret all of the job losses that may occur in the media sector in...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you, Alun. I wouldn't disagree with anything that you said in that question. My first response is to say that I have asked officials to ensure that we have an opportunity to meet as a matter of haste with officers from the NUJ in north and south Wales, because the media and the newspapers, such as the Western Mail and the Daily Post—all of these sectors are impacted by what this...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much for that question. The independence of journalism is crucial, first of all, and I've always had some doubts about state or governmental involvement directly in the media, because I don't think that is appropriate. I've had cause to regret on a number of occasions the unwillingness of media to be independent of their funders, and being independent of Government is just as...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you, Jenny. Media, broadcast media, are not devolved to us, and you know that I've taken the line over the years that I wasn't prepared to see one part of broadcasting of cultural production being devolved when, other areas, it wasn't possible for us to influence them. I think there are two avenues to follow here. There has to be a very serious discussion between the cultural Ministers...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: We fully recognise the pressures on the Tourism sector in Wales. We have provided considerable support via the Economic Resilience Fund and will continue to work with the sector to consider options for further support as well as pressing the UK Government to provide additional support.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: At the start of the pandemic I established a Covid 19 Tourism taskforce which has met weekly and includes representatives from across the visitor economy and across Wales. I have attended each meeting in full in order to discuss all issues associated with the pandemic including the imposition and lifting of restrictions.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: The Welsh Government is helping to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the heritage sector by providing financial support packages, guidance and advice. We are also in constant dialogue with the sector to better understand the impact of coronavirus and develop a long term vision for recovery.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: To assist our assessment of the long-term impact of Covid-19 on sport and physical activity, Sport Wales has undertaken significant research on how the pandemic has impacted participation rates, public confidence and the sport economy. This will help inform our approach as we examine the return to sport road map.
