Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: It's not an office building. Have you been in there? Have you been inside?
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Member for Blaenau Ffestiniog who knows what he's talking about.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you for the question.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: We very much welcome the UK Government's intervention on the creative industries deal. We have developed, and will be announcing, the precise nature of the activity of Creative Wales and its location within Government, which is shared by the Cabinet Secretary and myself. This will become clear very soon, and I'll be very pleased to meet with the Member and to discuss this issue in greater...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much for that further question. I have indeed seen and studied the report by the Federation of Small Businesses. I think it would be very helpful if we had a meeting with them as well in order to assess more clearly what evidence is the basis of their report, because, certainly, as far as I'm concerned, I'm seeking to organise our funds for tourism in such a way as to make...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I don't even remember which museum won the prize.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Well, that's not a small museum.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Certainly, I have met with the association representing museums. What we are working on emphasising—. If she has read, which I'm sure she has, the remit letter that I sent fairly recently to National Museum Wales, we emphasise the importance of working closely with local museums and with regional hubs in terms of museums. I'm very keen to see how we can develop this further in creating...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much. Since I took these responsibilities, I've sought every opportunity to increase and strengthen partnerships between various aspects of my responsibilities as part of Government, namely heritage and culture, as well as the arts, sport and tourism. We saw very clearly just last week how people travel within and outwith Wales to major festivals as a crucial part of our tourism.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much. As you know, I am now very cross-party, so I am more than happy to visit Resolven, and I hope that we can make those arrangements quite swiftly. I have visited a number of projects that relate to monuments, and the relationship between that and our industrial history is very important to me. The industrial heritage of Wales celebrates our past and the historic arts of...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I really enjoyed my visit to the abbey and to the ironworks—
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Yes, Mynachlog Nedd in Welsh. I had better respond to Suzy in Welsh.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I very much enjoyed my visit. It was wonderful to see the quality of the work already done on the abbey, in bringing the building back to a safe state—not all of it, but parts of it, certainly. Of course, we didn't see the most excellent works because they haven't yet been completed, but I am sure that it is being done to the highest possible standard. The way that Cadw works is that we...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I've not considered this question because I am still awaiting a report on one further proposal, which is a contemporary art gallery, and I will consider that when I receive the report. There are, of course, a number of elements of our military traditions that are already commemorated. Various parts of the armed forces do have small museums of their own. There is a museum, as you will know,...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: We are currently looking at our investment programme. We are looking particularly at how we can merge the development of Creative Wales, which is a Government commitment—a commitment made by Welsh Labour. The discussions that I've had to date are that we would anticipate that, when we do establish Creative Wales as an organisation—and I will say more about this at committee, because I do...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much for that question. The Member will know that Sport Wales acts on our behalf as the Government-sponsored body in the whole field of sport. To that end, it hosted an ethics and integrity conference last year, highlighting the importance of recognising the values of fair play in sport and for all sports organisations and individuals to uphold the highest forms of integrity.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Yes, I would be delighted to co-operate with chaplains in this field. Some of these sports chaplains are indeed known to me and I admire their work very much. I'm thinking particularly of the chaplaincy work going on in Swansea. So, yes, I would be very happy to join in that meeting because it is important to encourage the voluntary activity of faith communities, and that includes all faith...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I accept, certainly, the points that you make, and you will remember that the First Minister did respond last week to a question from our mutual friend here, Mick Antoniw, about the cross-government group that's been established to develop a strategic approach to reducing gambling-related harm across Wales, and I think it is essential that we should look again at the recommendations from the...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you very much, acting Chair, for that welcome. It gives me great pleasure to present today my priorities for the historic environment of Wales, as set out in the document that I hope that you’ve all received this morning, namely this paper, amongst our most recent publications from the culture department. These priorities cover four key themes. First, I want us to build on the great...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: On the second theme, the process of protecting and conserving our historic environment depends on an understanding of its special qualities, and on a set of specific conservation craft skills. I'm very eager to support action to foster that understanding and to grow the practical skills base. To do this, it will require the mainstreaming of heritage craft skills into the wider construction...
